Verb Root (or "Root Form of a Verb")

What Is a Verb Root?

A verb root (which is also known as the "root form of a verb" or the base form of a verb) is the version of the verb that is listed in the dictionary.

The verb root is the same as the infinitive form but without the "to." For example:

Infinitive Form	Verb Root
to dive	dive
to jump	jump
to wonder	wonder

In other words, the verb root is the form of the verb without any endings (e.g., "-s," "-ing," and "ed").

The Other Verb Forms

The verb root is used to create the other forms of the verb. There are five forms of a verb: The verb root is always used to create the other forms of regular verbs (i.e., verbs that comply with the normal rules for creating the various forms) but not necessarily for irregular verbs (i.e., verbs that do not comply with the normal rules).

Examples of Verb Roots

Here are some examples of verb roots:

• watch
(The verb root "watch" is used to make these three forms: watches, watched, watching. Note that watched is both the past form and the past-participle form. This is common.)
• play
(This is used to make these forms: plays, played, playing.)
• live
(This is used to make these forms: lives, lived, living.)
• think
(This is used to make these forms: thinks, thought, thinking.)
• drink
(This is used to make these forms: drinks, drank, drinking, drunk. Note that the past form of the verb "to drink" is not the same as the past-participle form.)

Verb Roots in the Present Tense

The verb root appears in all versions of the present tense except the third person singular (shaded red). For example:

Conjugation	Example 1	Example 2
1st person singular	I play	I concur
2nd person singular	You play	You concur
3rd person singular	He plays She plays It plays	He concurs She concurs It concurs
1st person plural	We play	We concur
2nd person plural	You play	You concur
3rd person plural	They play	They concur

Verb Roots in the Imperative Mood (i.e., Commands)

The verb root is used for commands (i.e., the imperative mood. For example:

• Eat a live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.
• Next time I see you, remind me not to talk to you. (Comedian Groucho Marx)

Verb Roots in the Subjunctive Mood

The verb root of a verb appears in the subjunctive mood. For example:

• I propose he stay with us.
• Saddam Hussein systematically violated every UN resolution that demanded he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons. (US politician Henry Waxman)

The Five Verb Forms

The table below shows the five verb forms in English.

	1	2	3	4	5
Verb Type	The Verb Root	The -S Form	Past Form	The -ING Form	The Past Participle Form
Regular	play	plays	played	playing	played
Regular	use	uses	used	using	used
Regular	marry	marries	married	marrying	married
Irregular	bring	brings	brought	bringing	brought
Irregular	run	runs	ran	running	run
Irregular	fall	falls	fell	falling	fallen
Irregular	drink	drinks	drank	drinking	drunk

Bear in mind that you might encounter other names for these verb forms. For example:

• The "verb root" is also known as the "base form" or the "uninflected form."
• The "-S form" is also known as the "third-person singular present-tense form."
• The "past form" is also known as the "past-tense form."
• The "-ING form" is also known as the "present participle form."

Why Verb Roots Are Important

Understanding the verb forms (including the root form) is essential when learning English because it allows teachers and pupils to talk about the components that form the various tenses.

For example, with some verbs, the root form, past form, and past participle form are the same (e.g., let, I let, I had let). However, with others, they are all different (e.g., take, I took, I had taken).

Knowing the various verb forms is a great starting point for learning these complex rules and exceptions.

Key Point

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