Modal Verb

English has the modal verbs can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, and also (depending on classification adopted) ought (to), dare, need, had (better), used (to). These do not add -s for the third-person singular, and they do not form infinitives or participles; the only inflection they undergo is that to a certain extent could, might, should and would function as preterites (past tenses) of can, may, shall and will respectively.

A modal verb can serve as the finite verb introducing a verb catena, as in "he might have been injured then". These generally express some form of modality (possibility, obligation, etc.), although will and would (and sometimes shall and should) can serve – among their other uses – to express future time reference and conditional mood.

Verb

A verb is a word that expresses an action, a state, or an occurrence — and it's the engine of every English sentence. Understanding how verbs work is foundational to everything else in English grammar, from forming questions to building complex sentences.

Verb Forms

Most English verbs have five inflected forms:

• Base form (go, write, climb) — used as an infinitive, imperative, present subjunctive, and present indicative in all persons except third-person singular.
• -s form (goes, writes, climbs) — used for the present tense, third-person singular (she writes).
• Past tense (went, wrote, climbed) — also called the preterite.
• Past participle (gone, written, climbed) — identical to the past tense for regular verbs, but often different for irregular verbs.
• -ing form (going, writing, climbing) — serves as the present participle and gerund.

The verb be is a special case with more forms than any other English verb (am, is, are, was, were, been, being). Modal verbs like can, must, and should have fewer forms than typical verbs.

Main Verbs and Auxiliaries

Verbs in English often appear in combinations: one or more auxiliary verbs paired with a main verb.

• The dog was barking very loudly.
• My hat has been cleaned.
• Jane does not really like us.

The first verb in the combination is the finite verb (it carries tense and agrees with the subject). The rest are nonfinite (infinitives or participles). Notice that these verbs don't always sit next to each other — as in does not really like.

Tense, Aspect, and Mood

English expresses tense (time reference), aspect (how an action unfolds over time), and mood (the speaker's attitude toward the action) mostly through verb combinations rather than word endings. That's why you'll encounter labels like "present progressive" or "conditional perfect" — these are specific tense–aspect–mood combinations built with auxiliaries.

Self-check: If you can change the time of a sentence by swapping one word (She runs → She ran), that word is the verb.

Keep Practising

To build your verb skills from the ground up, try these challenges: Basics. "To be" in Present Tense, Basics. Common Uses of Auxiliary Verbs, and Transitive and Intransitive Verbs.

Simple Present

The simple present or present simple is a form that combines present tense with "simple" (neither perfect nor progressive) aspect.

In the indicative mood it consists of the base form of the verb, or the -s form when the subject is third-person singular (the verb be uses the forms am, is, are). However, with non-auxiliary verbs it also has a periphrastic form consisting of do (or third-person singular does) with the bare infinitive of the main verb — this form is used in questions (and other clauses requiring inversion and negations, and sometimes for emphasis.

The principal uses of the simple present are given below.

To refer to an action or event that takes place habitually. Such uses are often accompanied by frequency adverbs and adverbial phrases such as always, often, from time to time and never.
Examples:

• I always take a shower.
• He writes for a living.

This contrasts with the present progressive, which is used for actions taking place at the present moment.

With stative verbs in senses that do not use progressive aspect, to refer to a present or general state, whether temporary, permanent or habitual. (In senses that do use progressive aspect, the present simple is used when the state is permanent or habitual.)

• You are happy.
• I know what to do.
• Denmark lies to the north of Germany.

When quoting someone or something, even if the words were spoken in the (usually very recent) past:

• The label says "External use only".
• Mary says she's ready.

To refer to a single completed action, as in recounting the events of a story in the present tense (see historical present), and in such contexts as newspaper headlines, where it replaces the present perfect:

• In Hamlet, Ophelia drowns in a stream.
• 40-year-old wins gold medal.

Sometimes to refer to an arranged future event, usually with a reference to time:

• We leave for Berlin tomorrow at 1 pm.

In providing a commentary on events as they occur, or in describing some theoretical sequence of events:

• I chop the chives and add them to the mixture.
• According to the manager's new idea, I welcome the guests and you give the presentation.

In many dependent clauses referring to the future, particularly condition clauses, clauses expressing place and time, and many relative clauses (see below):

• If he finds your sweets, he will eat them.
• We will report as soon as we receive any information.

In certain situations in a temporal adverbial clause, rather than the present progressive:

• We can see the light improving as we speak.

In colloquial English it is common to use can see, can hear for the present tense of see, hear, etc., and have got for the present tense of have (denoting possession.

See have got and can see below.

For the present subjunctive, see subjunctive.

For uses of modal verbs (which may be regarded as instances of the simple present) see modal verbs.

Present progressive

The present progressive or present continuous form combines present tense with progressive aspect. It thus refers to an action or event conceived of as having limited duration, taking place at the present time. It consists of a form of the simple present of be together with the present participle of the main verb and the ending -ing.

• We are cooking dinner now.

This often contrasts with the simple present, which expresses repeated or habitual action (We cook dinner every day). However, sometimes the present continuous is used with always, generally to express annoyance about a habitual action:

• You are always making a mess in the study.

Certain stative verbs do not use the progressive aspect, so the present simple is used instead in those cases. The present progressive can be used to refer to a planned future event:

• We are tidying the attic tomorrow.

It also appears with future reference in many condition and time clauses and other dependent clauses:

• If he*'s sleeping* when you arrive, wake him up.
• I will finish the job while the children are playing.

It can also refer to something taking place not necessarily at the time of speaking, but at the time currently under consideration, in the case of a story or narrative being told in the present tense (as mentioned above under present simple):

• The king and queen are conversing when Hamlet enters. For the possibility of a present subjunctive progressive, see English subjunctive.

Present Perfect

The present perfect (traditionally called simply the perfect) combines present tense with perfect aspect, denoting the present state of an action's being completed, that is, that the action took place before the present time. (It is thus often close in meaning to the simple past tense, although the two are not usually interchangeable.) It is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary have (namely have or has) and the past participle of the main verb.

The choice of present perfect or past tense depends on the frame of reference (period or point in time) in which the event is conceived as occurring. If the frame of reference extends to the present time, the present perfect is used. For example:

• I have written a letter this morning. (if it is still the morning)
• He has produced ten plays. (if he is still alive and professionally active)
• They have never traveled abroad. (if they are still alive and considered capable of traveling)

If the frame of reference is a time in the past, or a period that ended in the past, the past tense is used instead. For example:

• I wrote a letter this morning (it is now afternoon);
• He produced ten plays (he is now dead or his career is considered over, or a particular past time period is being referred to);
• They never traveled abroad (similarly).

See Simple past for more examples.

The simple past is generally used when the occurrence has a specific past time frame – either explicitly stated (*I wrote a book in 1995; *the water boiled a minute ago), or implied by the context (for example, in the narration of a sequence of events). It is therefore normally incorrect to write a sentence like I have written a novel yesterday; the present perfect cannot be used with an expression of past time such as yesterday.

With already or yet, traditional usage calls for the present perfect: ''Have you eaten yet? Yes, I've already eaten.* However, current informal American speech tends to use the simple past: *Did you eat yet? Yes, I ate already.''

Use of the present perfect often draws attention to the present consequences of the past action or event, as opposed to its actual occurrence. The sentence she has come probably means she is here now, while the simple past she came does not. The sentence, "Have you been to the fair?" suggests that the fair is still going on, while the sentence, "Did you go to the fair?" could mean that the fair is over. (See also been and gone below.) Some more examples:

• I have eaten. (implies that I'm no longer hungry)
• We have made the dinner. (implies that the dinner is now ready to eat)
• The weather has gotten cloudier. (implies that it is now more cloudy than previously)

It may also refer to an ongoing state or habitual action, particularly in saying for how long, or since when, something is the case. For example:

• I have lived in Paris for five years.
• He has held the record since he won his Olympic gold.
• We have eaten breakfast together every morning since our honeymoon.

This implies that I still live in Paris, that he still holds the record and that we still eat together every morning (although the first sentence may also refer to some unspecified past period of five years).

When the circumstance is temporary, the present perfect progressive is often appropriate in such sentences (see below); however, if the verb is one that does not use the progressive aspect, the basic present perfect is used in that case too:

• Amy has been on the swing for ten minutes.

The present perfect may refer to a habitual circumstance, or a circumstance being part of a theoretical or story narrative being given in the present tense (provided the circumstance is of an event's having taken place previously):

• Whenever I get home, John has usually already arrived.
• According to the plan, the speeches have already been given when the cake is brought out.

The present perfect may also be used with future reference, instead of the future perfect, in those dependent clauses where future occurrence is denoted by present tense. For example:

• When you have written it, show it to me.

Present Perfect Progressive

The present perfect progressive (or present perfect continuous) construction combines some of this perfect progressive aspect with present tense.

It is formed with the present tense of have (have or has), the past participle of be (been), and the present participle of the main verb and the ending "-ing"

This construction is used for ongoing action in the past that continues right up to the present or has recently finished:

• I have been writing this paper all morning.
• Why are his eyes red? He has been crying.

It is frequently used when stating for how long, or since when, something is the case:

• She has been working here since 1997.
• How long have you been sitting there?
• They have been arguing about it for two weeks.

In these sentences the actions are still continuing, but it is the past portion of them that is being considered, and so the perfect aspect is used. (A sentence without perfect aspect, such as I am sitting here for three hours, implies an intention to perform the action for that length of time.)

With stative verbs that are not used in the progressive, and for situations that are considered permanent, the present perfect (nonprogressive) is used instead.

Auxiliary Verb

In English grammar, certain verb forms are classified as auxiliary verbs. Exact definitions of this term vary; an auxiliary verb is generally conceived as one with little semantic meaning of its own, which modifies the meaning of another verb with which it co-occurs. In English, verbs are often classed as auxiliaries on the basis of certain grammatical properties, particularly as regards their syntax – primarily whether they participate in subject–auxiliary inversion, and can be negated by the simple addition of not after them.

Certain auxiliaries have contracted forms, such as -'d and -'ll for had/would and will/shall. There are also many contractions formed from the negations of auxiliary verbs, ending in n't (a reduced form of not). These letter contractions can participate in inversion as a unit (as in Why haven't you done it?, where the uncontracted form would be Why have you not done it?), and thus in a certain sense can be regarded as auxiliary verbs in their own right.

An auxiliary verb is most generally understood as a verb that "helps" another verb by adding grammatical information to it. On this basis, the auxiliary verbs of English may be taken to include:

• forms of the verb do (do, does, did), when used with other verbs to enable the formation of questions, negation, emphasis, etc.;
• forms of the verb have, when used to express perfect aspect;
• forms of the verb be, when used to express progressive aspect or passive voice;
• the modal verbs, used in a variety of meanings, principally relating to modality.

The following are examples of sentences containing the above types of auxiliary verbs:

• Do you want tea? – do is an auxiliary accompanying the verb want, used here to form a question.
• He had given his all. – had is an auxiliary accompanying the past participle given, expressing perfect aspect.
• We are singing. – are is an auxiliary accompanying the present participle singing, expressing progressive aspect.
• It was destroyed. – was is an auxiliary accompanying the past participle destroyed, expressive passive voice.
• He can do it now. – can is a modal auxiliary accompanying the verb do.

However the above understanding of auxiliary verbs is not always strictly adhered to in the literature, particularly in the case of forms of the verb be, which may be called auxiliaries even when they do not accompany another verb. Other approaches to defining auxiliary verbs are described in the following sections.

There is a group of English verbs which have certain special grammatical (syntactic) properties that distinguish them from other verbs. This group consists mainly of verbs that are auxiliaries in the above sense – verbs that add grammatical meaning to other verbs – and thus some authors use the term auxiliary verb, in relation to English, to denote precisely the verbs in this group. However, not all enumerations of English auxiliary verbs correspond exactly to the group of verbs having these grammatical properties. This group of verbs may also be referred to by other names, such as special verbs.

The principal distinguishing properties of verbs in this special group are as follows:

• They can participate in what is called subject–auxiliary inversion, i.e. they can swap places with the subject of the clause, to form questions and for certain other purposes. For example, inversion of subject and verb is possible in the sentence They can sing (becoming Can they sing?); but it is not possible in They like to sing – it is not correct to say Like they to sing? (instead do-support is required: Do they like to sing?).
• They undergo negation by the addition of not after them. For example, one can say They cannot sing, but not They like not to sing (again do-support is required: They don't like...).
• Other distinct features of verbs in this group include their ability to introduce verb phrase ellipsis (I can sing can be shortened to I can in appropriate contexts, whereas I like to sing cannot be shortened to I like), and the positioning of certain adverbs directly after them (compare I can often sing with I often like to sing).

The group of verbs with the above properties consists of:

• the finite indicative forms of the verb be: am, is, are, was, were;
• the finite indicative forms of the verb have: have, has, had, principally when used to make perfect verb forms;
• the finite indicative forms of the verb do: do, does, did, when used to provide do-support;
• the principal modal verbs can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would;
• certain other verbs, sometimes but not always classed as modals: ought; dare and need in certain uses; had in had better; and sometimes used in used to (see the relevant sections of modal verbs for details).

If membership of this syntactic class is considered to be the defining property for auxiliary verbs, it is therefore the above-listed verbs that will be considered as auxiliaries.

Additionally, non-indicative and non-finite forms of the same verbs (when performing the same functions) are usually described as auxiliaries too, even though all or most of the distinctive syntactical properties do not apply to them specifically.

This concerns be (as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive), being and been; and when used in the expression of perfect aspect, have, having and had.

The chief difference between this syntactic definition of auxiliary verb and the functional definition given in the section above is that the syntactic definition includes the verb be even when used simply as a copular verb, in sentences like I am hungry and It was a cat, where it does not accompany any other verb.

Sometimes, non-auxiliary uses of have follow auxiliary syntax, as in Have you any ideas? and I haven't a clue.

Other lexical verbs do not do this in modern English, although they did so formerly, and such uses as I know not... can be found in archaic English.

Lists or sets of auxiliary verbs in English, as given by various authors, generally consist of most or all of the verbs mentioned in the above sections, though with minor discrepancies.

The main differences between the various proposed sets of auxiliary verbs are noted below.

• For the reasons mentioned above, forms of the verb be may or may not be regarded as auxiliaries when used as a copula not accompanying any other verb.
• The verb ought is sometimes excluded from the class of auxiliaries (specifically the modal auxiliaries) on the grounds that, unlike the principal modals, it requires the to-infinitive rather than the bare infinitive.
• The verbs dare and need are not always considered auxiliaries (or modals); their auxiliary-like syntactic behavior (and their modal-like invariance) applies only to some instances of these verbs, e.g., dare and need.
• The verbs had and used in the expressions had better and used to are not always included among the auxiliaries or modals; in the case of used to questions and negations are in any case more frequently formed using do-support than with auxiliary syntax.
• Other verbs with modal-like or auxiliary-like function may sometimes be classed as auxiliaries even though they do not have auxiliary-like syntactic behavior; this may apply to have in the expression have to, meaning must.

As mentioned below, the contractions of negated forms of auxiliary verbs (isn't, shouldn't, etc.) behave in a certain sense as if they were auxiliaries in their own right, in that they can participate as a whole in subject–auxiliary inversion.

Meaning Contribution

Forms of the verbs have and be, used as auxiliaries with a main verb's past participle and present participle respectively, express perfect aspect and progressive aspect. When forms of be are used with the past participle, they express passive voice. It is possible to combine any two or all three of these uses: The room has been being cleaned for the past three hours. Here the auxiliaries has, been and being (each followed by the appropriate participle type) combine to express perfect and progressive aspect and passive voice.

The auxiliary do (does, did) does not necessarily make any meaning contribution, although it can be used to add emphasis to a clause. This is called the emphatic mood in English. An example of this use is found in "I do go to work on time every day." Also, Do does help in the formation of questions, negations, etc.

Other auxiliaries – the modal verbs – contribute meaning chiefly in the form of modality, although some of them (particularly will and sometimes shall) express future time reference. Their uses are detailed at modal verbs article, and tables summarizing their principal meaning contributions can be found in the articles on modal verb and auxiliary verb.

Simple

"Simple" forms of verbs are those appearing in constructions not marked for either progressive or perfect aspect (I go, I don't go, I went, I will go, etc., but not I'm going or I have gone).

Simple constructions normally denote a single action (perfective aspect), as in Brutus killed Caesar, a repeated action (habitual aspect), as in I go to school, or a relatively permanent state, as in We live in Dallas. They may also denote a temporary state (imperfective aspect), in the case of stative verbs that do not use progressive forms.

B1 | Intermediate

B1 is the intermediate level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It marks the point where you move beyond survival English and start expressing yourself with real independence — describing experiences, explaining opinions, and handling everyday situations without a script.

What a B1 user can do

At this level, you're expected to:

• Understand the main points of clear, standard speech and writing on familiar topics — work, school, travel, hobbies.
• Handle most travel situations in English-speaking environments.
• Produce simple connected text on topics you know or care about.
• Describe experiences, events, hopes, and plans, and give brief reasons and explanations for your opinions.
• Communicate in routine tasks that require a straightforward exchange of information.

What B1 grammar looks like

B1 is where grammar starts to get more layered. You're not just forming basic sentences anymore — you're combining ideas, using different tenses with more precision, and starting to handle structures like the passive voice, modal verbs for necessity and possibility, and gerunds vs. infinitives. You're also expected to build complex sentences with linking words and dependent clauses.

Typical B1 grammar areas include:

• Future tenses — distinguishing will, going to, and the present continuous for future plans
• Passive voice — The report was written yesterday.
• Modal verbs — You should apply early. / She might be late.
• Used to — I used to live in Berlin.
• Verb patterns — knowing whether a verb takes a gerund, an infinitive, or both (I enjoy reading vs. I decided to leave)

What B1 doesn't mean

B1 speakers still hesitate, make grammatical errors, and sometimes struggle with less familiar topics. That's normal. The key difference from A2 is that you can keep a conversation going and get your point across even when things aren't perfect. The step up to B2 involves handling more abstract topics, understanding nuance, and producing more complex, accurate language.

Self-check: Can you tell a friend about a recent trip — what happened, what you liked, and what you'd do differently — without switching to your native language? If yes, you're likely operating at B1 or above.

Ready to find out where you stand? Try Are you B1/Intermediate? Test your English CEFR Level to figure out!, then build your skills with challenges like Basics. Passive Voice, Basics. Modal verbs, and Used to.

Difficulty: Medium

Medium difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.