Verb Forms

• Name and form the simple tenses (present, past, future) and the perfect tenses (present, past, and future perfect)
• Use past perfect ('had run') only for an action finished before another past action
• Tell progressive forms ('was running') from perfect forms ('has run') and avoid swapping them
• Handle would/will conditionals and write 'would have,' never 'would of'
• Choose gerund vs. infinitive after common verbs ('enjoy running,' 'want to run')

The simple tenses are present ('she runs'), past ('she ran'), and future ('she will run'). The perfect tenses add a form of 'have' plus the past participle: present perfect ('she has run') ties a past action to now, past perfect ('she had run') marks an action finished before another past action, and future perfect ('she will have run') marks an action finished before a future moment. Do not force past perfect onto every past-tense sentence; use it only when the order of two past events matters. Progressive forms ('was running') describe an ongoing action; perfect forms describe a completed one. The past tense and the past participle are different words for irregular verbs: went/gone, saw/seen, drank/drunk, began/begun, and the participle always needs a helper ('has gone,' never 'has went'). Conditionals pair 'if + past' with 'would' ('if she studied, she would pass') and 'if + past perfect' with 'would have' ('if she had studied, she would have passed'). Some verbs take a gerund (enjoy, avoid, finish, consider + running) and some take an infinitive (want, hope, decide, plan + to run); the wrong pairing is an idiom error. Real or future conditionals pair 'if' + present with 'will' ('If she studies, she will pass'), never 'if she will study'. Unreal conditionals pair 'if' + past with 'would' ('If she studied, she would pass'), and past unreal ones pair 'if' + had + participle with 'would have' ('If she had studied, she would have passed'). 'Would of' is always wrong: the word is 'have'.

• When a verb is underlined, read the sentence before and after it to find the time frame first.
• If you see 'had' plus a participle, check that there really are two past events in order.
• A past participle used as the main verb needs a helper: 'she has gone,' not 'she gone.'
• 'Would of,' 'could of,' and 'should of' are never correct. The word is 'have.'