04: English Grammar: Verbs

Hamayun Aziz

Lesson 1 – Verb Tenses Exercise 1 Directions: In each of the following sentences, a verb is underlined. Using clues from the meaning of the sentence, decide whether the tense of the verb is correct or incorrect. If it is incorrect, decide what verb tense would be correct, and rewrite the sentence. 1. I am a student at the Henderson Academy; I study  there for the past two years. 2. By the time of our arrival in Houston next Sunday, we have traveled 3. Before he sprained his ankle, Charles exercises over five hundred miles. in the weight room three times a week. 4. When she applied for her job at the airline, Diane stated that she had served 5. Last month, Luis has captured in the U.S. Air Force. his third consecutive championship in a college swim meet. Lesson 2 – Irregular Verbs Conjugations of the Verb “To Be” present tense I am -> we are you are -> you are he / she / it is -> they are  past tense I was -> we were you were -> you were he / she / it was -> they were  future tense I will be -> we will be you will be -> you will be he / she / it will be -> they will be  present perfect tense I have been -> we have been you have been -> you have been he / she / it has been -> they have been  past perfect tense I had been -> we had been you had been -> you had been he / she / it had been -> they had been  future perfect tense I will have been -> we will have been you will have been -> you will have been he / she / it will have been -> they will have been

Transcript

00:00:12Hi. I'm Carl Weber. Welcome to Video Aided Instruction's English grammar series.

00:00:19The topic of this program is using verbs correctly.

00:00:23Now, as you may remember, the verb is the most important word in any sentence.

00:00:28It's the heart of the action, kind of like the engine in a car.

00:00:33A lot of the work done by the sentence is driven by the verb.

00:00:37So, understanding verbs and using them correctly is very important.

00:00:42In this program, we'll talk about three common trouble areas in using English verbs.

00:00:48Verb tenses, irregular verbs, and the subjunctive mood.

00:00:53If you're ready, let's get started.

00:01:01Verb tenses define the time when an action occurs.

00:01:06They're constructed mainly from two components.

00:01:09First, the principal parts of the verb and, in some cases, helping verbs.

00:01:15Now, there are four principal parts of any verb in English.

00:01:20These four principal parts are the infinitive, the present participle, the past, and the past participle.

00:01:29Let's take a moment to look at each of these a bit more closely.

00:01:33First, the infinitive.

00:01:34The infinitive is the basic form of the verb.

00:01:38Take a verb like to cook.

00:01:41The infinitive is cook, and the basic form of the verb is the same, cook.

00:01:47The present participle ends in the letters ing.

00:01:52As you'll see, the present participle of any verb is always used with a helping verb, which is a form

00:01:59of the verb to be.

00:02:00Take the verb to cook again.

00:02:03The present participle would be cooking, and it would always be used with a helping verb that's a form of

00:02:09the verb to be.

00:02:10For example, you might say, I was cooking breakfast when the telephone rang.

00:02:16Notice that the present participle cooking is used with the helping verb was, which is a form of the verb

00:02:23to be.

00:02:25Notice, by the way, that the present participle, which ends in ing, looks the same as the gerund.

00:02:32The gerund form of the word cook is cooking.

00:02:35The difference between the gerund and the present participle is the way they're used.

00:02:39As we've seen, the present participle is used as a verb with a helping verb, which is a form of

00:02:46the verb to be.

00:02:48By contrast, a gerund, which looks the same, is used in place of a noun.

00:02:54Therefore, when you see an ing word being used as a noun in a sentence, that's really a gerund, not

00:03:01a present participle.

00:03:03So, for example, I might say, cooking is my favorite hobby.

00:03:08Here we have the word cooking, which looks the same as the present participle.

00:03:12Both end in ing.

00:03:14But in this sentence, cooking is a gerund, because it's being used in the same way that a noun would

00:03:20be used.

00:03:21Cooking is my favorite hobby.

00:03:23In that sentence, cooking is the subject of the sentence.

00:03:26It's the subject of the verb is.

00:03:28And remember, the subject of a verb would always be a noun or a pronoun.

00:03:32Since cooking is being used as a noun in that sentence, it's a gerund, not a present participle.

00:03:39The third principal part of any verb is the past.

00:03:43With most verbs, the past ends in ed.

00:03:47And that's the case with the verb to cook.

00:03:49The past form of the verb to cook is cooked.

00:03:53You might say, I cooked breakfast for my sister yesterday morning.

00:03:58And there we're using the past form of the verb, ending in ed.

00:04:02And the fourth and final principal part is the past participle.

00:04:07Now, with most verbs, the past participle looks just the same as the past.

00:04:12It also ends in ed.

00:04:14What's the difference?

00:04:15Well, the difference, again, is the way it's used.

00:04:18The past participle is always used with a helping verb, which is a form of the verb to have.

00:04:25So, for example, the past participle of to cook is cooked.

00:04:30But it would be used with a helping verb, such as have cooked.

00:04:34I have cooked breakfast for my family many times.

00:04:38That's an example of how the past participle would be used, with a helping verb, which is a form of

00:04:44the verb to have.

00:04:45These, then, are the four principal parts of any verb.

00:04:49The infinitive, the present participle, the past, and the past participle.

00:04:54And these four principal parts are combined in various ways to create verb tenses.

00:05:00Now, there are many verb tenses in English, but the six most important are the ones we're going to present

00:05:07to you now.

00:05:07Let's begin with the present tense.

00:05:11The present tense is used to describe action that's happening now.

00:05:15It's formed using the basic form of the verb.

00:05:18Now, take the verb to cook.

00:05:20Remember we saw that the basic or infinitive form of the verb is cook.

00:05:25You would use this in creating the present tense of the verb.

00:05:29For example, I cook.

00:05:31I cook breakfast every morning.

00:05:33Describe something that's happening now.

00:05:35Notice that with certain subjects, you add an S to the end of the basic form.

00:05:40So you would say, he cooks.

00:05:42He cooks breakfast for his wife every morning.

00:05:45Both of these would be forms of the present tense.

00:05:48The second tense to know is the past tense.

00:05:52The past tense describes action happening in the past.

00:05:56Any time you're talking about something that happened before now, you would use the past tense.

00:06:01And the past tense is formed from the past form of the verb.

00:06:06Remember that with most verbs, the past form is created by adding ED to the basic form of the verb.

00:06:13And that's the way it is with the verb to cook.

00:06:16He cooked dinner last night.

00:06:18We're describing now something that happened in the past.

00:06:22Not now, but at a time sometime before now.

00:06:26Namely, last night.

00:06:27So we would use the past form of the verb ending in ED.

00:06:32The third tense is the future tense.

00:06:35The future tense describes action happening in the future.

00:06:38Now, the future tense is created by using the basic form of the verb and preceding it with the helping

00:06:46verb, will.

00:06:48Therefore, if we were describing something that's going to happen tomorrow, let's say,

00:06:52we would create the proper verb by using the helping verb, will,

00:06:57and adding that to the basic form of the verb, the infinitive.

00:07:02So, the future tense of cook would be, will cook.

00:07:07And we might say, he will cook dinner for us tomorrow.

00:07:11We're using the future tense because we're describing something that will happen in the future, namely, tomorrow.

00:07:17And we use the basic form of the verb, cook, and precede it with the helping verb, will.

00:07:23Now, the fourth tense is called the present perfect tense.

00:07:27And here's where the tenses begin to get a little more complicated.

00:07:31The present perfect tense is used to describe action happening in the past up to the present.

00:07:39If this sounds a little confusing, with a little experience and some practice in reading and using this verb,

00:07:46you'll begin to understand how it's used.

00:07:48Now, the present perfect tense is formed by taking the past participle

00:07:54and putting in front of it the present tense of the verb, to have.

00:07:59How does this work?

00:08:00Well, let's take the verb, to cook, again.

00:08:03What's the past participle of the verb, to cook?

00:08:06Well, remember, the past participle is usually formed by adding ed.

00:08:10So, the past participle is cooked.

00:08:13Now, the present tense of the verb, to have, would be, for example, he has.

00:08:19He has is the present tense of the verb, to have.

00:08:23When we put that in front of the past participle, we have the present perfect tense.

00:08:28So, the present perfect tense of the verb, to cook, would be, he has cooked.

00:08:33Now, remember, we said that the present perfect is used for actions in the past up to the present.

00:08:39So, how might you use he has cooked in a sentence?

00:08:43Well, how about this?

00:08:45He has cooked breakfast for his family every day for the last year.

00:08:49Think about what this sentence is saying.

00:08:52It's talking about someone who has cooked breakfast for his family every day for the past year up to and

00:08:58including today.

00:08:59It's describing action happening in the past right up to the present.

00:09:03Not action that was completed and finished sometime in the past, but rather action that's continuing right up to now.

00:09:11When we say he has cooked breakfast every day, we're saying that he continues to do so right up until

00:09:16today.

00:09:17And that's a perfect example of how the present perfect tense would be used.

00:09:22The fifth important tense is the past perfect tense.

00:09:26This is used to describe action happening in the past before some other past action, which would usually be described

00:09:35in the past tense.

00:09:37Remember that the past tense is used for action happening in the past.

00:09:41When you're describing action happening even earlier than a past tense action, you would use the past perfect tense.

00:09:48And we'll see an example in a moment.

00:09:51Now, the past perfect tense is formed by taking the past participle and putting in front of it a verb

00:09:57which is the past tense of the verb to have.

00:10:01Let's use the verb cook again.

00:10:04Remember that the past participle is cooked.

00:10:07Now, if we want to take the past tense of the verb to have, we might say something like he

00:10:13had.

00:10:14That's the past tense of the verb to have.

00:10:16And when we tack on the past participle afterwards, we have he had cooked.

00:10:23Now, remember the past perfect tense is used for past actions occurring prior to other past actions.

00:10:31So, for example, we could use the words he had cooked in a sentence like this one.

00:10:36He had cooked dinner when suddenly the doorbell rang.

00:10:40Now, notice what's happening in this sentence.

00:10:43We're told about two events that happened in the past.

00:10:46The ringing of the doorbell and the cooking of the dinner.

00:10:49Now, which came first?

00:10:51Well, we're told in this sentence that the cooking of the dinner came before the ringing of the doorbell.

00:10:56So, the ringing of the doorbell is described in the past tense, while the past perfect tense is used for

00:11:03the cooking of the dinner.

00:11:04Remember, the past perfect tense describes action happening in the past before some past tense action.

00:11:12So, the sentence correctly says he had cooked dinner when suddenly the doorbell rang.

00:11:18The correct sequence of events is clearly explained by the two different tenses that are used in that sentence.

00:11:25Now, the sixth and final basic tense in English is the future perfect tense.

00:11:31This is used to describe action happening in the future before some other action, which is usually described using the

00:11:40future tense.

00:11:42The future perfect tense is created by using the past participle preceded by the future tense form of the verb

00:11:51to have.

00:11:53Now, the future tense of the verb to have is formed with the words will have.

00:11:57So, when we take the words will have and follow them by the past participle, we end up with the

00:12:06future perfect tense.

00:12:07Now, once again, for the verb to cook, the past participle is cooked.

00:12:13So, the future perfect tense would be formed by using will have followed by cooked.

00:12:19For example, he will have cooked.

00:12:22How would we use this in a sentence?

00:12:24Well, remember, the future perfect tense is used to describe some future event happening before some other future event.

00:12:32Let's look at this example.

00:12:34He will cook dinner tomorrow night.

00:12:37And then, he will have cooked dinner every night for a week.

00:12:42Notice what's happening in this sentence.

00:12:44Tomorrow, we're told, he will cook dinner.

00:12:46And when he does that, he will have cooked dinner every night for a week.

00:12:50The action of cooking tomorrow's dinner is taking place in the future tense.

00:12:56He will have cooked dinner every night for a week describes action taken prior to the cooking of tomorrow's dinner.

00:13:03So, there's an example of how the future perfect tense is used.

00:13:07Of the six basic tenses in English, the future perfect tense is the one that's used least often.

00:13:16Now, how can you be sure that you're using these six different forms of English verbs correctly?

00:13:22Here's a tip on using verb tenses properly.

00:13:25The most important thing is to make sure that the tenses you choose match the time of the action and

00:13:32show how different actions are related to one another in time.

00:13:36This means that when two actions occur at the same time, they should normally be described using the same verb

00:13:42tense.

00:13:43When two actions occur at different times, the verb tenses should show which occurred first and which occurred later.

00:13:50Let's look at a couple of sample sentences that illustrate how this works.

00:13:55Before I cooked dinner, I had walked to the supermarket.

00:13:58In this sentence, two actions are described, cooking dinner and walking to the supermarket.

00:14:04What's the sequence of events?

00:14:06Which happened first, which happened later?

00:14:08Well, the first thing that I did was walking to the supermarket.

00:14:12The second thing was cooking dinner.

00:14:14Both are past events.

00:14:16So the proper way to show the time sequence here is to put one event in the past and the

00:14:23event that happened before that in the past perfect tense.

00:14:26And that's done correctly in this sentence.

00:14:29I cooked dinner is in the past tense.

00:14:31I had walked to the supermarket is in the past perfect tense.

00:14:36And that shows that that event happened before the cooking of the dinner.

00:14:42Here's another example.

00:14:43After Miguel sings a song, Annalisa will dance for us.

00:14:49Once again, there are two events described in this sentence, Miguel singing and Annalisa dancing.

00:14:54Which is going to happen first and which one will happen second?

00:14:58Well, Miguel singing will happen first.

00:15:00Annalisa, her dance will happen second.

00:15:04And once again, the tenses are being used correctly here.

00:15:08Miguel sings a song is in the present tense, which tells us that Miguel is singing right now,

00:15:12or perhaps is just about to begin singing.

00:15:16Annalisa's dancing is in the future tense.

00:15:18Annalisa will dance.

00:15:20And that tells us properly that that event is happening after the singing of the song by Miguel.

00:15:26One more example.

00:15:28You will complete your studies next spring.

00:15:31By then, you will have attended over 90 hours of classes.

00:15:35Once again, there are two events described in this sentence.

00:15:39The first event is, you're completing your studies.

00:15:42That's described in the future tense, because it's something that's going to happen in the future.

00:15:47Specifically, next spring.

00:15:49You will complete your studies.

00:15:51That's the future tense.

00:15:53Now, what about the attending of over 90 hours of classes?

00:15:57Well, that's something that's going to happen prior to your completing of your studies.

00:16:02After all, attending all those classes, all of that is part of the process of the studies.

00:16:07So, that's an event happening in the future prior to a future tense event.

00:16:13Therefore, it should be set up in the future perfect tense.

00:16:17And that's correctly done in this sentence.

00:16:19You will have attended over 90 hours of class.

00:16:23Will have attended is the future perfect tense.

00:16:25And that tells us that that event is going to happen prior to the completion of the studies.

00:16:31In all of these sample sentences, two events occur.

00:16:35And the proper verb tenses have been selected to make it clear which event comes first and which event comes

00:16:42later.

00:16:43Do you think you have a handle on how these six basic English verb tenses are used?

00:16:49Good. Turn to your study guide.

00:16:51You'll see we've created an exercise that will give you a chance to practice your understanding

00:16:55of how to use verb tenses to indicate the time when an action occurs.

00:17:00Try your hand at the exercise.

00:17:02And when you're finished, come back and we'll look at the questions together.

00:17:13Now, in this exercise, you're given several sentences.

00:17:16And in each one, a verb is underlined.

00:17:18Your job is to figure out the time when the action described by the verb is taking place.

00:17:23And to use cues in the sentence to help you figure out whether the proper tense has been used.

00:17:30If the wrong tense has been used, your job is to figure out what tense would express the time of

00:17:35the action accurately.

00:17:37Let's look at the first example.

00:17:39I am a student at the Henderson Academy.

00:17:41I study there for the past two years.

00:17:45Now, in this sentence, the verb study has been underlined.

00:17:49And study is a present tense verb.

00:17:52It would be used to describe actions taking place right now.

00:17:56Now, is that the correct tense given what's happening in this sentence?

00:18:00Well, there are two actions described in this sentence.

00:18:03One is, I am a student at the Henderson Academy.

00:18:07Now, that's a present tense verb, meaning that being a student at the Henderson Academy is something that's happening right

00:18:14now.

00:18:15What about the studying?

00:18:17Is that something that's happening right now?

00:18:19Well, yes and no.

00:18:20Because I'm a student at the Henderson Academy, I am studying there now.

00:18:25But I've also studied there over the past two years.

00:18:28The sentence makes it clear that this is an event which took place in the past and is continuing up

00:18:34to today.

00:18:35Now, remember, what English tense is used to describe that kind of action?

00:18:40The answer is the present perfect tense.

00:18:43The present perfect tense is used to describe activities that are happening in the past up to and including today.

00:18:50And since the studying is taking place in the past and up to today, we want to use the present

00:18:56perfect tense for that verb.

00:18:58And the present perfect tense, you'll recall, is formed by using the past participle and preceding it with the present

00:19:05tense of the verb to have.

00:19:07The correct form for this verb, then, would be have studied.

00:19:11That would be the present perfect tense.

00:19:13And the sentence would then read,

00:19:15I am a student at the Henderson Academy.

00:19:17I have studied there for the past two years.

00:19:20And now the proper sequence of events is perfectly clear.

00:19:25Let's take a look at the next example.

00:19:28By the time of our arrival in Houston next Sunday, we have traveled over 500 miles.

00:19:33Now, in this sentence, again, two actions are being described.

00:19:37One is the arrival in Houston and the other is the traveling over 500 miles.

00:19:42Now, when will these events take place?

00:19:44And what's the proper sequence?

00:19:46Which one will happen first?

00:19:48Which one will happen second?

00:19:50Well, we're told that the arrival in Houston is going to take place next Sunday.

00:19:54So that's a future event.

00:19:56Now, what about the traveling?

00:19:58Is the traveling going to take place before or after the arrival?

00:20:02Well, the traveling will take place before the arrival.

00:20:06Because after all, we have to travel before we can arrive.

00:20:09So the traveling 500 miles is a future event that is taking place prior to some other future event.

00:20:17And therefore, we want to use the future perfect tense.

00:20:20And remember, the future perfect tense is formed by using will have as the helping verbs.

00:20:26So the proper form for this underlined verb would be will have traveled.

00:20:31And the sentence would then read,

00:20:33By the time of our arrival in Houston next Sunday, we will have traveled over 500 miles.

00:20:39And that lays out the sequence of the two events in this sentence quite clearly.

00:20:44Next example.

00:20:45Before he sprained his ankle, Charles exercises in the weight room three times a week.

00:20:52Once again, there are two events in this sentence.

00:20:55Charles sprained his ankle.

00:20:57That's a past tense event.

00:20:59That means it happened in the past.

00:21:01Now, before that, something else happened.

00:21:04Namely, Charles exercising in the weight room three times a week.

00:21:07What's the best tense to use to describe a past event happening prior to some other past event?

00:21:14The past perfect would be the best tense to use in that circumstance.

00:21:19So the right way to phrase the verb exercises would be had exercised.

00:21:25That's the past perfect form of the verb.

00:21:27And the sentence would then read,

00:21:29Before he sprained his ankle, Charles had exercised in the weight room three times a week.

00:21:36Next.

00:21:36When she applied for her job at the airline, Diane stated that she had served in the U.S. Air

00:21:43Force.

00:21:44Now, we actually have three different events or activities in this sentence.

00:21:49She applied for her job at the airline.

00:21:51That's one event.

00:21:53And that's taking place in the past.

00:21:55Diane stated, so Diane stated or said something.

00:21:59That's another past event.

00:22:01And that took place at the same time as the application.

00:22:04And that makes sense.

00:22:06Part of the application for the job is explaining about her background.

00:22:10So, she applied.

00:22:11She stated.

00:22:12Those are two past tense events, both described using the same verb tense,

00:22:17and both describing events in the past happening more or less simultaneously at the same time.

00:22:23And then we have the third event, that she had served in the U.S. Air Force.

00:22:29Now, serving in the U.S. Air Force also happened in the past.

00:22:33Did it happen at the same time as the application and the statement?

00:22:37No, it happened before.

00:22:38She applied for the job at the airline, but before that, she had served in the U.S. Air Force.

00:22:45So, the proper tense to use there would be the past perfect tense.

00:22:50Because, remember, the past perfect tense is used to describe a past event happening before another past event.

00:22:57Now, is the past perfect tense used in this sentence?

00:23:00Yes, it is.

00:23:01Had served is the past perfect tense.

00:23:03So, this particular sentence is perfectly correct.

00:23:06All the verbs used here are properly used, and they lay out quite clearly what the sequence of events is

00:23:13in this sentence.

00:23:15Next example.

00:23:16Last month, Luis has captured his third consecutive championship in a college swim meet.

00:23:23Now, what's the timing of the event that's happening in this sentence?

00:23:27Well, we're told that it happened last month, so we can see that this is a past event being described.

00:23:33Now, what verb tense is being used here?

00:23:37What form of the verb is being used in the underlined verb?

00:23:40It says, has captured.

00:23:42Now, has captured is the present perfect tense.

00:23:47Remember, the present perfect tense is used, uses the past participle, captured, together with the present tense of the verb

00:23:56to have.

00:23:57So, here the present perfect tense is being used.

00:24:00Is that the correct tense to use in this sentence?

00:24:03Remember that the present perfect tense is used to describe past events extending up to today.

00:24:10Now, is the capturing of the championship by Luis, is that a past event continuing up to today?

00:24:17Not really.

00:24:18He captured the championship in the college swim meet last month.

00:24:23It happened then, and it was completed then.

00:24:26Therefore, this is simply a past action, not the kind of action that should be described in the present perfect

00:24:33tense.

00:24:34Instead of the present perfect tense, the simple past tense ought to be used.

00:24:38So, the sentence should read,

00:24:40Last month, Luis captured his third consecutive championship in a college swim meet.

00:24:46Because the event took place in the past, and was completed in the past, the simple past tense ought to

00:24:52be used.

00:24:53And that would be captured.

00:25:00So far in this program, we've talked about the six most important verb tenses in English.

00:25:05And we've seen that all six of those verb tenses are formed using the four principal parts of any verb.

00:25:13And remember, those four principal parts are the infinitive, the present participle, the past, and the past participle.

00:25:21Now, in this lesson, we're going to talk about one tricky element in English,

00:25:26which is the fact that not all verbs form their past and their past participle

00:25:40are called irregular verbs.

00:25:44Irregular verbs have past and past participle forms that are not made by adding ed.

00:25:51Well, how are the past and past participle forms of irregular verbs created?

00:25:57What's the rule?

00:25:59Unfortunately, there is no rule.

00:26:01There are many examples of the past participle forms that are made by adding ed.

00:26:02There are many different irregular verbs, and they form their past and past participle forms in a variety of ways.

00:26:08In some cases, the past and past participle forms are one and the same.

00:26:13In other cases, they're different.

00:26:15And there is no one rule that explains how they're formed.

00:26:19Unfortunately, you simply have to study and learn the irregular verbs by memorization and practice.

00:26:25It's one of the things in English that makes learning the language a little bit tricky for people who didn't

00:26:31grow up speaking English.

00:26:32But I'll let you in on a little secret.

00:26:35Even people who grew up speaking English do sometimes find irregular verbs tricky to form and use.

00:26:42So you're not alone if you find this to be a challenge in using English correctly.

00:26:48Now, the most important irregular verb is the verb to be.

00:26:51It's important because it's used so often.

00:26:55The principal parts of the verb to be are be, being, was, and been.

00:27:03Be is the infinitive.

00:27:05Being is the present participle.

00:27:08Was is the past.

00:27:09And been is the past participle.

00:27:12Now, all the forms of the verb to be are a little bit complicated, confusing, and rather unexpected.

00:27:18So in your study guide, we've provided all the basic forms of the verb to be in the six most

00:27:25common English tenses.

00:27:27When you take a verb and provide all the basic forms of it, that's called conjugating the verb.

00:27:32So turn to your study guide and you'll see we've provided a complete conjugation of the verb to be.

00:27:39In some cases, you might feel that this is very simple and basic and you understand exactly how to use

00:27:45the verb to be.

00:27:46On the other hand, you may find this tricky and you may need to study and practice this.

00:27:51Based on your own background, devote some time to studying the conjugation of the verb to be if you need

00:27:58to in order to use the verb correctly.

00:28:00Now, we've also provided in the study guide a list of many of the most commonly used irregular verbs.

00:28:07And I'd like you to look at that list as well.

00:28:10The chances are good that some of the irregular verbs on this list are familiar to you and you know

00:28:15well how to form the four principal parts.

00:28:18In other cases, however, you may find some of these irregular verbs unfamiliar to you or you may feel that

00:28:26you're not really sure which part to use and what type of sentence.

00:28:31Therefore, studying the list that we've provided in the study guide should be helpful to you.

00:28:36Make sure in particular that you distinguish between the past and the past participle forms of the irregular verbs because

00:28:43that's where many people trip up.

00:28:45The two most common mistakes that people make in using irregular verbs are the following.

00:28:52First, many people make a mistake by constructing the past or the past participle regularly.

00:28:59In other words, they treat the irregular verb as if it were a regular verb.

00:29:04Now, remember the past and the past participle forms of regular verbs are created by adding ed to the end

00:29:13of the infinitive or basic form of the verb.

00:29:16If you take an irregular verb and simply add ed in an attempt to turn that into the past or

00:29:22the past participle,

00:29:23you've treated the irregular verb as if it's regular and what you've created is not proper English.

00:29:29Take a look at this sentence.

00:29:31Henri bringed his girlfriend to the movies.

00:29:34Now, in this sentence, the verb to bring is being used and that's an irregular verb.

00:29:39However, the person who's created this sentence has made the mistake of creating the past form of the verb as

00:29:47if bring were a regular verb.

00:29:49He has simply added ed and turned bring into bringed.

00:29:53Unfortunately, that's not correct.

00:29:55Since bring is an irregular verb, we have to look at our study guide in order to determine how the

00:30:02past form of the verb would be created.

00:30:05And the past form of bring is brought.

00:30:08So the sentence ought to read, Henri brought his girlfriend to the movies.

00:30:14The incorrect form, bringed, is the kind of thing that's commonly used as a mistake in English.

00:30:22Here's one more example.

00:30:24Maria has drived a taxi for the past two months.

00:30:28Now, here the verb is has drived.

00:30:31This is the present perfect tense.

00:30:33And remember, the present perfect tense would be formed using the present tense of the verb to have,

00:30:39together with the past participle, in this case, of the verb to drive.

00:30:44Once again, drive is an irregular verb.

00:30:48And therefore, we can't create the past participle simply by adding ed and turning it into drived.

00:30:55That would be correct if drive were a regular verb.

00:30:58But since drive is an irregular verb, that's not correct.

00:31:02Instead, we have to figure out how the past participle of drive is actually formed.

00:31:07And as you can see in your study guide, the past participle of drive is driven.

00:31:12And that would be the form of the verb that you would use with the helping verb to have.

00:31:17The sentence correctly should read, Maria has driven a taxi for the past two months.

00:31:23So once again, remember that irregular verbs form their past and past participle forms,

00:31:29not simply by adding ed, but in different and somewhat unpredictable ways.

00:31:34You've got to memorize those special forms and use them correctly in sentences.

00:31:39The second type of error that people commonly make with irregular verbs

00:31:44is using the past where the past participle should be used, or vice versa.

00:31:49Remember that the past form of the verb is used by itself,

00:31:53whereas the past participle is always used with a helping verb,

00:31:58namely a form of the verb to have.

00:32:00You want to keep the past and the past participle separate in your mind

00:32:05and not use one where the other is called for.

00:32:08Take a look at this sentence.

00:32:10By tonight, I will have did all the research for my report.

00:32:15Now, in this sentence, the author is trying to use the future perfect tense,

00:32:19and that would be the correct tense to use to describe something that's going to happen in the future

00:32:25prior to some other specified time or event in the future.

00:32:30So the future perfect tense is fine.

00:32:32But remember, the future perfect tense needs to include the past participle of the verb.

00:32:39In this case, the verb to do is being used,

00:32:43and the wrong form of the verb has been inserted here.

00:32:48Instead of the past participle, the author of this sentence has used the past form of the verb to do,

00:32:54which is did.

00:32:56Instead, the past participle needs to be used, which is done.

00:33:00That would be the correct form of the verb to use with the helping verb.

00:33:04Done rather than did.

00:33:06And then the sentence would correctly read,

00:33:08By tonight, I will have done all the research for my report.

00:33:11The author of this sentence confused the past with the past participle,

00:33:16and therefore created a wrong sentence.

00:33:19One more example.

00:33:21Juanita had done her exercises before going to work.

00:33:25Once again, the verb to do is being used.

00:33:29Now, in this case, the past tense ought to be used because we're describing something that Juanita did in the

00:33:39past.

00:33:39Now, the past form of to do is did.

00:33:44The author of this sentence hasn't used the past.

00:33:47Instead, the author has mistakenly used the past participle done.

00:33:51So, again, the sentence is incorrect because of a confusion between the past and the past participle.

00:33:57The sentence ought to read,

00:33:58Juanita did her exercises before going to work.

00:34:03Finally, one other special complication that is worthy of your noting and studying.

00:34:10There are two irregular verbs that are often confused and therefore cause many mistakes in English.

00:34:17These two irregular verbs are lie and lay.

00:34:20Let's take a look at the difference.

00:34:23Lie is an irregular verb that is intransitive.

00:34:26Remember, an intransitive verb is a verb that takes no direct object.

00:34:32In other words, the action of the verb to lie isn't passed along to something that receives the action.

00:34:38Instead, you just lie, period.

00:34:41There's no object which receives the action of the lying.

00:34:47The principal parts of the verb lie are lie, lying, lay, and lain.

00:34:54Lie is the present tense, lying is the present participle,

00:35:00lay is the past, and lain is the past participle.

00:35:04So, lain is a form of the verb that would always be used with a helping verb.

00:35:11Therefore, for example, look at the following sentence.

00:35:14I will lie on the sofa.

00:35:16Here, we're using the verb to lie because it is used intransitively.

00:35:20There is no direct object.

00:35:23I am not lying something.

00:35:24It's, I am just lying.

00:35:26I will lie on the sofa.

00:35:28So, the verb lie is being used correctly here.

00:35:32By contrast, lay is an irregular verb that is transitive.

00:35:37In other words, it always takes a direct object.

00:35:40When you lay, you have to lay something.

00:35:43You lay something, and therefore, there is something in the sentence that will receive the action of the laying.

00:35:50It's a transitive verb.

00:35:51It has a different meaning, although it's clearly related to the verb lie.

00:35:56And therefore, the verb to be used in this type of sentence would be a different verb, which is formed

00:36:02differently.

00:36:03Now, the principal parts of the verb to lay are lay, laying, laid, and laid.

00:36:12Notice that in the case of the verb to lay, the past and past participle happen to be the same.

00:36:18Laid and laid do not appear as principal parts of the verb to lie.

00:36:24Instead, lay and lain are the past and the past participle respectively.

00:36:28So, all these words, which sound somewhat similar, have very distinct meanings and distinct uses

00:36:35and need to be distinguished carefully.

00:36:37Take a look at this sentence.

00:36:39I will lay my books on the table.

00:36:41Is this the verb to lie or to lay?

00:36:44It's the verb to lay, and it's being used correctly here because it is being used transitively.

00:36:50That is, there is a direct object which is receiving the action of the laying.

00:36:55Something is getting laid, namely the books.

00:36:59The books are being laid on the table.

00:37:02Whereas the verb to lie does not take an object, the verb to lay does.

00:37:07And therefore, to lay is being used correctly in this sentence.

00:37:11So, you need to always remember the difference between the verb to lie and the verb to lay,

00:37:16and then be sure that you use the correct principal part of each of these verbs

00:37:21whenever you're using one of them in a sentence.

00:37:31In each of these sentences, an irregular verb is used and underlined.

00:37:36Your job is to decide whether the irregular verb that appears in the sentence is correct,

00:37:40and if not, to figure out what form of irregular verb would make the sentence correct.

00:37:46Let's look at the first example.

00:37:48The mechanic examined the car and discovered that the accident had broken its rear axle.

00:37:54Now, in this sentence, there are three separate events.

00:37:57The examining of the car, the discovery, and the breaking of the rear axle.

00:38:02What is the sequence among these events?

00:38:05Well, the examining of the car and the discovery are both past events.

00:38:10They happened at some time in the past, and they happened at around the same time.

00:38:14In fact, it is while examining the car that the mechanic made the discovery.

00:38:20So, those two events are both past events, which should be described in the same tense.

00:38:26And that, in fact, is what the sentence does.

00:38:28The past tense is used for both of those events.

00:38:31Now, what about the braking of the axle?

00:38:33When did that occur?

00:38:34Well, that also occurred in the past, but it occurred prior to the examining and the discovery.

00:38:40In fact, it's because the axle was broken that the driver brought the car to the mechanic in the first

00:38:45place.

00:38:46So, the braking of the axle is a past event that occurred prior to a couple of past tense events.

00:38:54Therefore, the braking of the axle should be described using the past perfect tense.

00:38:59And that's what the author of this sentence is trying to do.

00:39:02It says the accident had broken its rear axle.

00:39:05Remember that the past perfect tense is formed by using the helping verb had and then the past participle of

00:39:12the verb.

00:39:13Now, here comes the crucial question.

00:39:16For the irregular verb break, is broken the past participle?

00:39:21In other words, is this irregular verb correct?

00:39:24The answer is yes, it is correct.

00:39:27If you look on your chart in the study guide, you can see that for the irregular verb break,

00:39:33the four principal parts are break, breaking, broke, and broken.

00:39:38So, broke would be the past form, which would be used by itself.

00:39:43Broken is the past participle, which is always used with a helping verb, as it is used here.

00:39:49And therefore, this sentence and this verb are both perfectly correct.

00:39:54Next example.

00:39:56Last January, 30 members of the polar bear club swum in the frigid waters of Long Island Sound.

00:40:03Maybe you've heard of the polar bear club.

00:40:05It's a group of men and women who like to swim in very cold temperatures.

00:40:09Now, here, the irregular verb, swum, has been underlined.

00:40:13And the question is, is this correct or not?

00:40:16First of all, what tense are we dealing with?

00:40:18Well, we're talking about something that happened last January, so this is a past event.

00:40:24And therefore, the past tense ought to be used.

00:40:27And the past tense is formed simply from the past principal part of the verb.

00:40:33Now, is swum the past form of the verb to swim?

00:40:38No.

00:40:39Perhaps it sounds wrong to you, but if it doesn't, look it up in your study guide

00:40:43and you'll see that the past form of the verb swim is swam.

00:40:48The four principal parts of swim are swim, swimming, swam, and swum.

00:40:54So, swum is, in fact, the past participle, and it would always be used with a helping verb, never by

00:41:01itself.

00:41:02In this sentence, there is no helping verb.

00:41:05The past form is needed, not the past participle, so the verb ought to be changed to swam.

00:41:12Next, by the time Gary arrived at the restaurant, Maria had went home.

00:41:19Here, again, we have two events happening in the sentence.

00:41:22The first event that's mentioned is Gary arriving at the restaurant, and that's described in the past tense.

00:41:28Before that was the time when Maria went home.

00:41:32Therefore, we want to describe this past event which occurred before a past tense event using the past perfect tense.

00:41:42And the past perfect tense would use the helping verb had followed by the past participle.

00:41:48The verb in this case is go.

00:41:50Is the past participle of go went?

00:41:55No, it isn't.

00:41:56Once again, perhaps you can hear that this is wrong.

00:41:59If not, look it up in your study guide and you'll see that the past participle of go is gone.

00:42:04And that's what ought to be used in this sentence.

00:42:06The past participle is the form that's always used with a helping verb.

00:42:11Instead, the author of this sentence has confused the past with the past participle

00:42:16and has used the past instead of the past participle.

00:42:20Remember, the past would always be used by itself.

00:42:22The past participle with a helping verb.

00:42:26The four principal parts of the verb to go are go, going, went, and gone.

00:42:33And in this case, the past participle gone ought to be used.

00:42:36And the sentence would then read,

00:42:37By the time Gary arrived at the restaurant, Maria had gone home.

00:42:42And that would be correct.

00:42:44Next example.

00:42:46With a triumphant grin, Sam lay in his cards face up on the table and declared,

00:42:52Three kings.

00:42:53So Sam has won this card game, but has the proper irregular verb been used?

00:42:59Well, let's begin by figuring out which of those two tricky irregular verbs would be proper in this sentence.

00:43:06Do we want the verb to lie or the verb to lay?

00:43:10Well, remember the verb to lie is an intransitive verb that doesn't take a direct object.

00:43:16The verb to lay is a transitive verb that does take a direct object.

00:43:20In this sentence, is there a direct object or not?

00:43:23Is something receiving the action of the laying?

00:43:26Yes, there is a direct object.

00:43:28It's the cards.

00:43:29Sam is laying the cards on the table.

00:43:32Therefore, there is a direct object and we want the transitive verb to lay.

00:43:37Now, what tense is being used here?

00:43:40In this case, the past tense is intended because the laying and the declaring are happening at the same time.

00:43:48Sam is doing both of these events in the past.

00:43:51They're happening simultaneously and therefore the past tense ought to be used for both.

00:43:57Now, the regular verb declare has been presented to us in the past tense, which is correct, declared.

00:44:03But we need the past form of the verb to lay, which is not lain, but rather laid.

00:44:12Remember, the four principal parts of the verb to lay are lay, laying, laid, and laid.

00:44:19Instead, the author of this sentence has confused the verb to lie and to lay.

00:44:24We warn you that this is a very common confusion.

00:44:27This sentence would be a typical example of how people use the wrong verb and thereby confuse both the meaning

00:44:35and the grammar.

00:44:36The sentence ought to read,

00:44:38With a triumphant grin, Sam laid his cards face up on the table and declared three kings.

00:44:45Next example.

00:44:47The famous Boys' Choir of Harlem has sung in concert halls throughout the United States.

00:44:53What's being described here is a past action taking place up to and including the present.

00:44:59The singing by the Boys' Choir of Harlem is something that has happened in the past and continues to happen

00:45:05today.

00:45:05So the present perfect tense is being used here, and that's formed by the verb has, a helping verb, together

00:45:15with the past participle.

00:45:16Now, is sung the past participle of the verb to sing?

00:45:20And the answer is yes, this is perfectly correct.

00:45:23The four principal parts of sing are sing, singing, sang, and sung.

00:45:29Sang is the past form and would be used without a helping verb.

00:45:33Sung is the past participle and would always be used, as it is here, with a helping verb.

00:45:39So this sentence is perfectly correct.

00:45:41Did you get all five of these sentences right?

00:45:44If you did, good for you.

00:45:52Here's another topic that many native speakers of English find difficult, namely the subjunctive mood.

00:45:59Now, the subjunctive mood is a particular way of using verbs that's rather rare.

00:46:04There are just two specific purposes for which the subjunctive mood is used, and in each case the form of

00:46:11the verb is slightly different.

00:46:13If you can master these two purposes of the subjunctive mood and understand how to form the verb correctly in

00:46:20each case, you'll be an expert.

00:46:22First, the subjunctive mood is used to express a formal request or recommendation in a clause beginning with the word

00:46:31that.

00:46:33In this circumstance, the subjunctive mood of the verb is formed just the same way as the infinitive or basic

00:46:41form of the verb.

00:46:42Here's an example that illustrates how this works.

00:46:47She asked that the workers complete their reports by the end of the day.

00:46:52Now, this sentence, you'll notice, is expressing a formal request or recommendation.

00:46:57She, whoever she is, perhaps she's the boss in this particular company.

00:47:02She is asking that the workers do something.

00:47:06So she is expressing a request or a recommendation.

00:47:09And notice that what she is asking them to do is described in a clause beginning with the word that.

00:47:15She asked that the workers do something, etc.

00:47:20Now, the verb that appears in the that clause needs to be in the subjunctive mood.

00:47:27And that verb is complete.

00:47:29Now, remember we said that when you are expressing a formal request or recommendation in a clause beginning with the

00:47:36word that,

00:47:37you would form the subjunctive mood by simply using the infinitive or basic form of the verb.

00:47:43Now, the verb in this case is complete.

00:47:46That is the basic or infinitive form.

00:47:48So the proper form of the verb in this case, this example of the subjunctive mood, is simply complete.

00:47:55So the sentence is correct as we just read it.

00:47:58She asked that the workers complete their reports by the end of the day.

00:48:03So this is the first illustration of how the subjunctive mood might be used in English,

00:48:08to express a formal request or recommendation in a clause beginning with that.

00:48:13And the verb in the that clause should simply be in the infinitive or basic form.

00:48:19Now, the second way in which the subjunctive mood is used is to describe an unreal or doubtful condition.

00:48:27In other words, to describe something that isn't true or is unlikely to be true.

00:48:33Very often, although not always, this is in a clause beginning with the word if.

00:48:39Now, there are two possible ways to form the subjunctive mood of the verb under these conditions,

00:48:46when we're describing an unreal or doubtful condition.

00:48:50Here are the two ways.

00:48:52First, if we're talking about something happening now, in other words, in the present,

00:48:56then the subjunctive mood verb looks the same as the past tense of the verb.

00:49:02Okay?

00:49:03So if we're describing something happening now in the present, the subjunctive verb looks the same as the past.

00:49:10On the other hand, if we're describing something happening in the past,

00:49:14then the subjunctive mood verb looks the same as the past perfect.

00:49:19Remember, the past perfect is formed with the helping verb had and the past participle.

00:49:26Are you a little confused?

00:49:28Don't be.

00:49:28Here are a couple of examples that will help make this clear.

00:49:31Remember, we're talking about describing an unreal or doubtful condition very often in a clause that begins with the word

00:49:40if.

00:49:40Here's an example.

00:49:42If I had a million dollars, I would travel around the world.

00:49:46Now, there are two clauses in this sentence.

00:49:49If I had a million dollars, and I would travel around the world.

00:49:54The second one is describing what I would do if the first clause were true.

00:49:58Now, the first clause is describing an unreal or doubtful condition.

00:50:04We can tell from reading this sentence that, unfortunately, it's not true.

00:50:08I don't have a million dollars, and that's why I'm speaking with you rather than traveling around the world.

00:50:15So that first clause is describing an unreal condition.

00:50:18It begins with if.

00:50:19This is a perfect circumstance in which to use the subjunctive mood.

00:50:24Now, remember we said, under these circumstances, the subjunctive mood could take one of two forms.

00:50:30If we're describing something happening now, it should look the same as the past tense.

00:50:35Is this happening now?

00:50:37Yes, it's talking about what I would do today if I had a million dollars today.

00:50:42So this is the present tense.

00:50:44So the clause describing the unreal condition should contain a verb that looks the same as the past tense verb.

00:50:52The verb we're talking about here is have, and the past tense of have is had.

00:50:58So the correct verb here is had.

00:51:01If I had a million dollars.

00:51:03It looks the same as the past tense of the verb to have, but in this case it's expressing the

00:51:08subjunctive mood

00:51:10because it's describing a condition which is unreal or doubtful.

00:51:15So this sentence is perfectly correct.

00:51:17If I had a million dollars, I would travel around the world.

00:51:21Here's another example.

00:51:22If he had left the starting block faster, he would have won the race.

00:51:28Once again, we have two clauses here.

00:51:31The second one describes what would have happened.

00:51:33He would have won the race if he had left the starting block faster.

00:51:38So the second clause describes what would have happened if the first clause had been true.

00:51:43Once again, the first clause is describing an unreal or doubtful condition, something that didn't happen.

00:51:49He didn't leave the starting block faster.

00:51:52This is describing something that's unreal.

00:51:55Once again, it happens to be in a clause beginning with if, which is often the case, although not always.

00:52:01So here we have an unreal condition being described.

00:52:03We want the subjunctive mood.

00:52:06Once again, to determine the correct form of the subjunctive mood,

00:52:09we have to think about whether we're describing something happening now or in the past.

00:52:14Well, in this sentence, we're describing something happening in the past.

00:52:17The race was in the past. He lost the race.

00:52:20He might have won if he had left the starting block faster.

00:52:25So we're talking about something happening in the past.

00:52:27And remember, we said a moment ago that to create the subjunctive mood in the past,

00:52:32we want to use a verb that looks the same as the past perfect.

00:52:36The past perfect is formed with the helping verb had and the past participle of the verb.

00:52:42Here we're talking about the verb to leave and the past perfect form of the verb to leave is had

00:52:50left.

00:52:51So had left is the subjunctive mood verb for this particular sentence,

00:52:56since we're describing an unreal condition and we're describing something from the past.

00:53:00So the sentence correctly reads, if he had left the starting block faster, he would have won the race.

00:53:07One confusion that people sometimes fall into is writing an if clause describing an unreal or doubtful condition.

00:53:16They throw in the helping verb would sometimes, and that's not right.

00:53:21When you're writing this if clause, you use the subjunctive mood verb and you don't use the helping verb would.

00:53:28So, for example, sometimes people might say, if he would have left the starting block faster.

00:53:34That's incorrect. That's not the right way to form the subjunctive mood.

00:53:38Notice that the verb would does appear in the other clause. He would have won the race.

00:53:43And that's the correct use of the helping verb would.

00:53:47But in the if clause, you use the subjunctive mood, which doesn't include the helping verb would.

00:53:53So avoid that little error that people sometimes fall into.

00:53:57So this is the subjunctive mood. Perhaps you can tell that it's not used that often in English

00:54:02because it's not terribly often that people either express a formal request or recommendation

00:54:08in a clause beginning with the word that, or that they describe an unreal or doubtful condition,

00:54:15often in a clause beginning with the word if.

00:54:18Those two things don't come up in the English language all that often.

00:54:22When they do, however, the subjunctive mood ought to be used, and now you know the right way to form

00:54:28it.

00:54:29So review this lesson from time to time and make certain that on the few occasions

00:54:34when you do need to use the subjunctive mood, you form it correctly.

00:54:38In your study guide, there's an exercise that will let you practice your understanding of these rules

00:54:44about using the subjunctive mood. Try the exercise, and when you're finished, let's look at the questions together.

00:54:58In this exercise, you're given several sentences which require a verb in the subjunctive mood.

00:55:04At the end of the sentence, we've suggested what verb ought to be included in the sentence,

00:55:11and your job is to decide how to form the subjunctive mood correctly given the nature of the sentence.

00:55:18Let's take a look at these examples and see the right way to use the subjunctive mood in each case.

00:55:24If the captain blank that the storm was coming, he would have insisted on returning to port.

00:55:30And the verb that we want to insert in the blank is the verb to know.

00:55:35Now here the subjunctive mood is needed because we have an unreal or doubtful condition being described in the first

00:55:43clause of the sentence.

00:55:44And it is a clause beginning with if, which is one of the most common ways of describing an unreal

00:55:50or doubtful condition.

00:55:52The captain did not know that the storm was coming, so we're describing something that was unreal.

00:55:58His knowledge of the storm didn't really happen.

00:56:00We want to describe this then using the subjunctive mood.

00:56:04And remember, in order to determine the proper form of the subjunctive mood in a sentence like this,

00:56:10we need to know whether we're talking about something happening now or in the past.

00:56:14Well, in this case, the sentence is describing something happening in the past.

00:56:18He would have insisted on returning to port.

00:56:21That tells us that this is something that happened yesterday or before that.

00:56:25It's not something happening now.

00:56:27So we want the past tense.

00:56:29And remember, the past tense of the subjunctive mood would look the same as the past perfect.

00:56:35We want to use, therefore, the helping verb had together with the past participle of the verb to know.

00:56:43So the proper subjunctive mood verb to insert in the blank here would be, had known.

00:56:49And the sentence would then read, if the captain had known that the storm was coming, he would have insisted

00:56:55on returning to port.

00:56:59Next example.

00:57:00Although Paul has a successful career as a lawyer, he still wishes he blank a rock musician.

00:57:07And the verb to insert in place of the blank is a form of the verb to be.

00:57:12Now, here an unreal condition is being described, although notice it's not an if clause.

00:57:19Occasionally, an unreal condition may be described in a clause that doesn't begin with if.

00:57:25But you can see that it is an unreal condition because it is obvious that Paul is not a rock

00:57:31musician.

00:57:31He's a lawyer.

00:57:32He wishes that being a rock musician was true, but that is not true.

00:57:37So, therefore, we're describing an unreal condition and we want the subjunctive mood.

00:57:43Once again, to decide the proper form of the subjunctive mood verb,

00:57:47we need to ask whether we're describing something happening now or in the past.

00:57:51In this case, the sentence is describing something that's the case now.

00:57:55Paul today is a lawyer, and Paul today wishes that being a rock musician was his career.

00:58:02So, therefore, we're describing something happening now,

00:58:04and, therefore, the subjunctive mood verb ought to look like a past tense verb.

00:58:10So, we would use the past form of the verb and insert that to make the subjunctive mood.

00:58:16The verb to be inserted here is be, and the past form of the verb be is were.

00:58:24So, the sentence would correctly read,

00:58:26although Paul has a successful career as a lawyer, he still wishes he were a rock musician.

00:58:32It looks the same as the past tense of the verb, but, in fact, it's the present subjunctive.

00:58:39Next example.

00:58:40The doctor recommended that Andrea blank a diet restricted to low-salt, low-fat foods.

00:58:47Here we have the different other use of the subjunctive,

00:58:52namely to express a formal request or recommendation in a clause beginning with the word that.

00:58:58And, in fact, the word recommended is used here, which gives you a very broad hint that a formal request

00:59:06or recommendation is being expressed here.

00:59:08And there is the word that introducing the clause.

00:59:11Now, in this type of subjunctive situation, we simply use the infinitive or basic form of the verb.

00:59:20It doesn't matter whether we're talking about past or present in this case.

00:59:25When the subjunctive mood is being used in this form, we simply insert the basic or infinitive form of the

00:59:32verb.

00:59:32So, in this case, the infinitive eat is exactly what we insert.

00:59:37And the sentence would now read,

00:59:39The doctor recommended that Andrea eat a diet restricted to low-salt, low-fat foods.

00:59:44And that's the correct form of the subjunctive mood for this sentence.

00:59:51Next,

00:59:52Wouldn't you be happy if you blank the next race?

00:59:56And the verb to be inserted is win.

00:59:59Now, once again, we have an unreal or doubtful condition being described.

01:00:05And an if clause is involved.

01:00:08The person who is speaking this sentence doesn't think it's necessarily going to happen

01:00:14that the person she or he is speaking to is going to win the race.

01:00:19The person may win the race or may not.

01:00:22It's a doubtful condition at best.

01:00:24So, we have an unreal or doubtful condition being described.

01:00:28And therefore, we want the subjunctive mood verb to be inserted.

01:00:33The subjunctive form of the verb win.

01:00:36Now, are we talking about a present or past event taking place here?

01:00:41Well, we're talking about now.

01:00:43We're saying you would be happy if you win the next race.

01:00:45We're talking about something happening now, not in the past.

01:00:49So, therefore, we want the present subjunctive, which, remember, looks the same as the past tense form of the verb.

01:00:57What's the past tense form of the verb win?

01:01:00Won.

01:01:01So, we simply insert the verb won and the sentence would correctly read,

01:01:05Wouldn't you be happy if you won the next race?

01:01:09Last example.

01:01:10The new law passed by the city council requires that the mayor blank a budget for approval no later than

01:01:17April 1st.

01:01:18And the verb to be inserted is submit.

01:01:21Now, here again, we need the subjunctive mood because the sentence is expressing a formal request or recommendation

01:01:28in a clause beginning with that.

01:01:30Notice the word that there.

01:01:32And in this case, it's being couched as a requirement, a requirement of the law.

01:01:37It is requiring that the mayor do something.

01:01:39So, the verb expressing what the mayor needs to do should be in the subjunctive mood.

01:01:45And, again, for this use of the subjunctive mood, the verb should look just the same as the infinitive or

01:01:51basic form of the verb.

01:01:52So, we simply insert the infinitive, submit, and the sentence would correctly read,

01:01:58The new law passed by the city council requires that the mayor submit a budget for approval no later than

01:02:05April 1st.

01:02:11Well, the topics we've covered in this program really cover a broad range.

01:02:15Some of them are rather basic, such as how to form the six basic verb tenses that are most commonly

01:02:22used in English.

01:02:23But others were quite advanced, such as how and when to use the subjunctive mood correctly in English sentences.

01:02:30If you master all the verb topics that we cover in this program, you can consider yourself quite an expert

01:02:36in the use of English verbs.

01:02:38And the chances are good that you'll be able to avoid mistakes in using verbs that many native speakers of

01:02:44English continue to make.

01:02:46I hope you enjoyed this program and got a lot of useful information out of it.

01:02:50And I look forward to speaking with you about other English topics on other programs in this series.

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