All tenses in the active voice (regular verb)

(Overview of the active forms of ‘to talk’ in all tenses)

Table of contents – regular conjugation

On this page you will find the following:

  1. Verb forms in the tenses
    1. Present tense forms
    2. Past tense forms
    3. Future tense forms
  2. Infinitives and imperatives

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