Basic Tenses: Irregular Verb

This page shows the basic tenses with the irregular verb sing. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).
The basic structure is:

positive:	+		subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
negative:	-		subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb
question:	?		auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

These are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses:

base verb	past	past participle	present participle -ing
sing	sang	sung	singing

 

		past	present	future
SIMPLE do + base verb (except future: will + base verb)	+	I did sing I sang	I do sing I sing	I will sing
	-	I did not sing	I do not sing	I will not sing
	?	Did I sing?	Do I sing?	Will I sing?
SIMPLE PERFECT have + past participle	+	I had sung	I have sung	I will have sung
	-	I had not sung	I have not sung	I will not have sung
	?	Had I sung?	Have I sung?	Will I have sung?
CONTINUOUS be + -ing	+	I was singing	I am singing	I will be singing
	-	I was not singing	I am not singing	I will not be singing
	?	Was I singing?	Am I singing?	Will I be singing?
CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + -ing	+	I had been singing	I have been singing	I will have been singing
	-	I had not been singing	I have not been singing	I will not have been singing
	?	Had I been singing?	Have I been singing?	Will I have been singing?

 

The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs and irregular verbs is exactly the same (except to be). The only difference is that with regular verbs the past and past participle are always the same (worked, worked), while with irregular verbs the past and past participle are not always the same (sang, sung). But the structure is the same! It will help you a great deal to really understand that.