In this program, top verb experts including the yodeling Midori sisters and a circus sideshow barker demonstrate the past, present, and future forms of the simple, perfect, progressive, and perfect progressive tenses. Conditional statements, conjugation, helping verbs, and the verbals-gerunds, infinitives, and past and present participles-are considered as well. Dangling participles and other faux pas are also explained. (35 minutes)

This film covers verb conjugation; irregular verbs; simple, perfect, progressive, and perfect progressive tenses; and gerunds, infinitives, and participles.

Verbs are words that show action or describe a state of being. Verbs change form or conjugate to show who is performing the action. Verbs agree in number with their subject.

Verbs change form to show what point in time, or tense, the action is happening. Simple tenses include present, past, and future. Irregular verbs change in unpredictable ways.

Perfect tenses indicate that the action occurred before another specific time or action. It includes the "perfect form" of the verb and the helping verb "to have."

Present perfect tense is used when an action began in the past but is continuing in the present or action that began in the past, continued for awhile, and then stopped at a later time in the past.

Past perfect tense shows that something happened in the past before something else happened in the past. Future perfect tense shows action in the future that continues for awhile and then ends.

Simple progressive tenses can be broken into present, past, and future to indicate continuing or on-going action. Main verbs end in "ing." A form of the "to be" verb becomes the helping verb.

Perfect progressive tenses can be broken into present, past, and future. They work like perfect tenses but show continuing action.

Conditional statements indicate an element of uncertainty, what might or could happen. Statements usually begin with the word "if" and "were" is used in place of "was."

A verbal is a verb form that functions as another part of speech. Adding "ing" to a verb and using it as a noun is a gerund. Infinitives ("to" plus a verb) are used as nouns in a sentence.

Verbs ending in "ing" or "ed" are present and past participles respectively when used as adjectives. Dangling participles and leaving the "d" off past participles are common errors.

Definitions and examples of the conjugation of verbs, simple tenses, perfect tenses, progressive tenses, conditional statements, and verbals complete the review of verbs.