Learn how to use an English verb correctly, and communication will be crisp and clear. A verb is the part of speech that expresses being and action. It is the heart of a sentence; in fact, add only a noun and you have a complete thought that can stand alone.

In English verb tenses past, present, and future are shown by adding certain endings. A regular verb is one which follows a predictable pattern, seen in the example below:

play

She plays the accordion in a bluegrass band. (plays is present tense — it is happening now)
She played the accordion last night in a concert. (played is simple past tense — it happened previously)
She has played the accordion before large audiences. (the helping verb ‘has’ added to played makes it a more specific form of the past tense — this is called a past participle)
She will play the accordion later this year in a Christmas program. (will play is future tense — it has not yet happened; note the helping verb ‘will’)

An irregular English verb falls outside of the standard English verb conjugations. Like regular verbs, there are three main tenses (past, present, and future); however, the endings are not predictable and must be learned on an individual basis. Here are two examples:

buy

The man buys a gift for his wife’s birthday. (present)
The man bought a gift for his wife’s birthday last year. (simple past)
The man has bought a gift for his wife already. (past participle)
The man will buy a gift for his wife’s birthday next week. (future)

fly

The bird flies high in the sky. (present)
The bird flew across miles of land on its migratory path this past autumn. (simple past)
The bird has flown many miles to its destination. (past participle)
The bird will fly back to Canada in the summer. (future)

As challenging as grammar English verb tenses can be, a person who studies them intently will certainly improve his communication skills.

Of the many confusable words we encounter in English, two of the most common pairs are lay vs lie and raise vs rise.

Lay Vs Lie

Both lay and lie mean to settle or recline horizontally, but one is transitive and the other is intransitive. Transitive verbs are used with direct objects, while intransitive verbs are not.

A direct object is one that an action is done to. The word ‘lay’ is transitive; it is done to something. ‘Lie’ is intransitive, and therefore done by something or someone but not to an object. For example:

“I lie down.”
“I lay the bag down.”

This distinction becomes more complicated once past tense is introduced: the past tense for ‘lie’ is ‘lay.’ For example, “Yesterday she lay down.”

The past tense for ‘lay’ (transitive) is ‘laid:’
“She laid her bag on the table yesterday.”

As past participles, or past tense verbs that come after the verb “to have,” ‘lie’ becomes ‘lain’ and ‘lay’ becomes ‘laid.’ For example:

“I have lain on the bed before.”
“I have laid it on the bed before.”

Raise vs Rise

The difference between these two words is similar to that between ‘lay’ and ‘lie.’ ‘Raise’ is transitive, while ‘rise’ is intransitive.

“I raise my hand.”
“I rise at dawn”

In the past tense and past participle form, ‘raise’ becomes ‘raised’. ‘Rise’ is ‘rose’ in the past tense and ‘risen’ in the past participle usage.

“I (rose/have risen) early.”
“I (raised/have raised) my hand.”