Cheatsheet: Verbs

Verbs

To be

Tense	Question				Statement				Negative
Tense	Verb	Subject	Rest		Subject	Verb	Rest		Subject	Verb	Rest
A2Future	Will	I	be late?		I	will be	late.		I	won't be	late.
		you			You				You
		he			He				He
		she			She				She
		it			It				It
		we			We				We
		they			They				They

Present	Am	I	late?		I	am	late.		I	am not	late.
	Are	you			You	are			You	aren't
	Is	he			He	is			He	isn't
		she			She				She
		it			It				It
	Are	we			We	are			We	aren't
	Are	they			They	are			They	aren't

A1Past	Was	I	late?		I	was	late.		I	wasn't	late.
	Were	you			You	were			You	weren't
	Was	he			He	was			He	wasn't
		she			She				She
		it			It				It
	Were	we			We	were			We	weren't
	Were	they			They	were			They	weren't

Have and Have Got

Form	have	have got
Affirmative: I / you / we / they	I have a car.	I've got a car.
Affirmative: he / she / it	She has a car.	She's got a car.
Negative: I / you / we / they	I don't have a car.	I haven't got a car.
Negative: he / she / it	He doesn't have a car.	He hasn't got a car.
Question: I / you / we / they	Do you have a car?	Have you got a car?
Question: he / she / it	Does she have a car?	Has she got a car?
Short answer	Yes, I do. / No, I don't.	Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.
Actions: only have	I have breakfast at 8.	—
Style	neutral, also in writing	informal, mostly speech

There Is and There Are

Form	Singular	Plural	Uncountable
Affirmative	There is a park.	There are two parks.	There is some milk.
Short form	There's a park.	—	There's some milk.
Negative	There isn't a park.	There aren't any parks.	There isn't any milk.
Question	Is there a park?	Are there any parks?	Is there any milk?
How many, how much	—	How many parks are there?	How much milk is there?
Short answer	Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.	Yes, there are. / No, there aren't.	Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.

Imperative

Point	Rule	Example
Affirmative	the base verb for every person, with no subject and no -s	Open the door.
Negative	Don't + V, also before be	Don't be late.
Suggestion	Let's + V: includes the speaker, invites others to join	Let's go to the beach.
Negative suggestion	Let's not + V	Let's not wait.
Use	instructions, directions, orders	Turn left and go straight on.
Use	invitations, offers, warnings	Come in. / Look out!
Politeness	please at the start or the end makes a request friendly	Please sit down.
Trap	after Don't and Let's: the base verb, no to	Don't open it. / Let's go.

Irregular Verbs Table

Pattern	Base form	Past simple	Past participle
All three forms are the same	put	put	put
-ought / -aught	buy	bought	bought
Past and participle end in -d	make	made	made
B1Final -d becomes -t	build	built	built
A2Long vowel shortens, -t added	keep	kept	kept
/iː/ shortens to /e/	meet	met	met
Vowel changes, past = participle	sit	sat	sat
Participle = base form	come	came	come
i → a → u	drink	drank	drunk
Participle in -en	take	took	taken
participle in -n / -ne	go	went	gone
Use	—	finished actions: I went to Madrid.	after have: I have gone there.

Phrasal Verbs: Core

Point	Rule	Example
Phrasal verb	verb + a particle; the particle gives the verb a new meaning	I'm looking for my keys.
Separable	a noun goes before or after the particle	Turn off the light. / Turn the light off.
Inseparable	the object always follows the particle	Look after the baby.
Daily routine	wake up, get up, put on, take off, turn on	She puts on her coat.
Going and coming	go out, come in, come back, pick up	I pick up the children at three.
Looking and finding out	look for, look after, look up, find out, fill in	Look up the word.
B1Continuing and stopping	carry on, run out of, get on with, look forward to	We ran out of milk.
Trap	a separable verb takes a pronoun in the middle	Turn it off.
B1Trap	look forward to takes a noun or the -ing form	I look forward to seeing you.

Gerund vs Infinitive

Form	Rule	Example
verb + -ing	after enjoy, finish, mind, avoid, suggest	I enjoy cooking.
verb + to + V	after want, decide, hope, plan, need	They decided to move.
want / need / would like + person + to + V	a person can come before to	I want you to come.
preposition + -ing	after a preposition: interested in, before, without	Wash your hands before eating.
-ing as the subject	the -ing form works as a noun	Swimming is good for you.
look forward to + -ing	to is a preposition here	I look forward to seeing you.
stop + -ing / to + V	-ing means he quit; to means he paused in order to smoke	He stopped smoking. / He stopped to smoke.
remember + -ing / to + V	-ing recalls the action; to means do not forget	I remember locking it. / Remember to lock it.
try + -ing / to + V	-ing tests it; to makes an effort	Try adding salt. / I tried to open it.
Either form	like, love, hate, prefer: almost the same meaning	I like swimming. / I like to swim.