Active forms of the regular verb ‘to talk’ in all tenses

The verb ‘to talk’ serves as an example of regular verb forms in all tenses. The tables also highlight the particular forms that differ from the repeating ones. For clarification, the grammatical persons are presented as follows:

Number	Person
Singular	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it
Plural	1 we 2 you 3 they

Forms in the present

Tense	Person and subject	Simple	Progressive/continuous
Present	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it 1 we 2 you 3 they	talk talk talks talk talk talk	am talking are talking is talking are talking are talking are talking
Present perfect	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it 1 we 2 you 3 they	have talked have talked has talked have talked have talked have talked	have been talking have been talking has been talking have been talking have been talking have been talking

• Information: Negations are formed with ‘don’t/doesn’t’ and the verb in the infinitive (here ‘talk’).

Forms in the past

Tense	Person and subject	Simple	Progressive/continuous
Past	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it 1 we 2 you 3 they	talked	was talking were talking was talking were talking were talking were talking
Past perfect	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it 1 we 2 you 3 they	had talked	had been talking

• Information: Negations are formed with ‘didn’t’ and the verb in its infinitive form (here ‘talk’).

Forms in the future

Tense	Person and subject	Simple	Progressive/continuous
Future (will)	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it 1 we 2 you 3 they	will talk	will be talking
Future (going to)	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it 1 we 2 you 3 they	am going to talk are going to talk is going to talk are going to talk are going to talk are going to talk	am going to be talking are going to be talking is going to be talking are going to be talking are going to be talking are going to be talking
Future perfect	1 I 2 you 3 he, she, it 1 we 2 you 3 they	will have talked	will have been talking

Infinitives and imperatives of ‘to talk’

The imperative expresses commands and exists only in the 2nd person singular and plural, with its forms agreeing:

Person and subject	Imperative (affirmative)	Imperative (negated)
2 you 2 you	talk talk	don’t talk don’t talk

The infinitive is the base form and, like the participles, can appear in different aspects:

Verb form (aspect)	Infinitive	Present participle	Past participle
Simple	to talk	talking	talked
Progressive	to be talking	–	–
Perfect	to have talked	having talked (perfect participle)	–
Perfect progressive	to have been talking	having been talking	–