English Verb Conjugation

A verb conjugation in English is a list of all of a verb’s forms in written and spoken expression. Those forms represent a verb’s person, tense, number, voice, and mood.

To illustrate verb conjugation, we will focus on the verb to touch, which is the infinitive of the verb. The principal parts of to touch are touch and touched.

English Verb Conjugation: Person and Number

Person concerns the performer or performers of an action. It has three categories (first, second, and third person) and two numbers (singular or plural). The singular and plural forms of the three persons make six total persons.

first person singular	I	first person plural	we
second person singular	you	second person plural	you
third person singular	he, she, it	third person plural	they

English Verb Conjugation: Tense

Tense identifies the timing of the verb person’s action: in the past, the present, or the future. For this discussion, we will focus on the simple verb tenses.

Simple Present Tense
first person singular	I touch	first person plural	we touch
second person singular	you touch	second person plural	you touch
third person singular	he, she, it touches	third person plural	they touch

Simple Past Tense
first person singular	I touched	first person plural	we touched
second person singular	you touched	second person plural	you touched
third person singular	he, she, it touched	third person plural	they touched

Simple Future Tense
first person singular	I will touch	first person plural	we will touch
second person singular	you will touch	second person plural	you will touch
third person singular	he, she, it will touch	third person plural	they will touch

Regular verbs in English maintain a consistent pattern to communicate tense, as we can see in conjugation of the verb to dance:

Present Tense
first person singular	I dance	first person plural	we dance
second person singular	you dance	second person plural	you dance
third person singular	he, she, it dances	third person plural	they dance

Past Tense
first person singular	I danced	first person plural	we danced
second person singular	you danced	second person plural	you danced
third person singular	he, she, it danced	third person plural	they danced

Future Tense
first person singular	I will dance	first person plural	we will dance
second person singular	you will dance	second person plural	you will dance
third person singular	he, she, it will dance	third person plural	they will dance

(For a closer look at how irregular verbs are treated in English, review our discussion Staying Regular with Irregular Verbs.)

English Verb Conjugation: Voice

Voice in English verb conjugation establishes whether an action is active or passive. In the active voice, the subject performs the verb. In the passive voice, either the subject is unstated or unknown or the object of an action becomes the focus.

The passive voice is formed with the proper form of to be and the past participle of the verb.

Example active voice: I touched the statue. (Subject performs the action.)

Example passive voice: The statue was touched. (Subject is unstated or unknown.)

Example passive voice: The statue was touched by me. (Object is the focus.)

So far, all of our conjugation of to touch has been in the active voice. Here is the passive conjugation of to touch by person, number, and tense.

Present Tense
first person singular	I am touched	first person plural	we are touched
second person singular	you are touched	second person plural	you are touched
third person singular	he, she, it is touched	third person plural	they are touched

Past Tense
first person singular	I was touched	first person plural	we were touched
second person singular	you were touched	second person plural	you were touched
third person singular	he, she, it was touched	third person plural	they were touched

Future Tense
first person singular	I will be touched	first person plural	we will be touched
second person singular	you will be touched	second person plural	you will be touched
third person singular	he, she, it will be touched	third person plural	they will be touched

English Verb Conjugation: Mood

The mood of an English verb reflects the speaker’s manner or attitude in what is being expressed. In verb conjugation, the main moods are the indicative, the subjunctive, and the imperative.

The indicative mood represents statements of fact and information delivery: I touched the statue. We are simply telling someone what we did.

The imperative mood signals a direct request or a command to a particular person: Touch the statue. We are not stating a fact or sharing information but rather issuing a directive to someone. The imperative mood often includes an understood but omitted “you” as the subject: (You) touch the statue.

We use the subjunctive mood to convey a wish, demand, suggestion, or recommendation. We also use it for something that is contrary to fact or otherwise impossible.

The subjunctive mood prompts an alteration of proper verb conjugation. Compare the following sentences.

He touches the statue.

I demand that he touch the statue.

The first sentence states a fact, making it indicative with standard conjugation of the third-person present tense. In the second sentence, the subject is making a strong request, implicating that the subjunctive mood will follow. This is reflected by changing the third-person singular present from he touches to he touch. 

Related Topics

Clarifying the Conditional Tense
Staying Regular with Irregular Verbs
Present Perfect Tense

Pop Quiz

Correctly conjugate the enclosed infinitive verb in each sentence.

1. (To put) down that turkey sandwich!

2. Joann has requested that Thomas (to put) down that turkey sandwich.

3. This year the children’s performance-company schedule will (to include) highlights from The Nutcracker.

4. The Salinases have already (to start) decorating their home for Thanksgiving.

5. The statue was (to touch) by the public at least a thousand times today.

 

Pop Quiz Answers

1. Put down that turkey sandwich!

2. Joann has requested that Thomas put down that turkey sandwich.

3. This year the children’s performance-company schedule will include highlights from The Nutcracker.

4. The Salinases have already started decorating their home for Thanksgiving.

5. The statue was touched by the public at least a thousand times today.

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