英语动词有五种基本形式，分别是原形、第三人称单数形式、过去式、过去分词、现在分词。
第三人称单数的构成方法与名词的单数变复数规则大致一样。一般情况下，动词后加-s构成，如work / works，read / reads等。以s， x， z， sh， ch 以及字母o结构的动词，后加-es：guess / guesses， mix / mixes， go / goes， buzz / buzzes， finish / finishes， catch / catches等。以辅音字母加y结尾的动词，应将y改为i 再加-es：fly / flies， study / studies等 1.
过去式和过去分词的构成方法分规则变化和不规则变化两种。不规则变化需逐个记忆，规则变化遵循以下原则：一般情况下，在动词后加ed构成：work / worked， stay / stayed， shout / shouted等。在以-e结尾动词后只加d：close / closed， like / liked， live / lived， smile / smiled等。以辅音字母加y结尾的动词，应将y改为i 再加-ed：study / studied， carry / carried等。以重读闭音节或r音节结尾且末尾只有一个辅音字母动词，要双写末尾的辅音字母再加-ed：stop / stopped， admit / admitted， refer / referred， prefer / preferred等 1.
现在分词的构成方法一般情况下，在动词后加-ing构成：work / working， sleep / sleeping， wait / waiting等。在不发音的-e结尾动词去掉e后再加-ing：smile / smiling， move / moving 等。以重读闭音节或r音节结尾且末尾只有一个辅音字母动词，要双写末尾的辅音字母再加-ing：sit / sitting， plan / planning， refer / referring， occur / occurring等。以字母ie结尾的动词通常将ie改为y再加ing：die / dying， lie / lying， tie / tying等
| 基本形式 | 第三人称单数形式 | 过去式 | 过去分词 | 现在分词 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| work | works | worked | worked | working |
| read | reads | read | read | reading |
| guess | guesses | guessed | guessed | guessing |
| mix | mixes | mixed | mixed | mixing |
| go | goes | went | gone | going |
| buzz | buzzes | buzzed | buzzed | buzzing |
| finish | finishes | finished | finished | finishing |
| catch | catches | caught | caught | catching |
| fly | flies | flew | flown | flying |
| study | studies | studied | studied | studying |