Present Perfect Verbs and Present Perfect Progressive Verbs with Speak Method

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English Verb Tense Practice: Two-Word Verbs

Understand Complex Verbs

We often put two verbs together to state a more complex idea. In this case, the first verb shows the tense (time) and the second verb is in the infinitive form: "to ______." Most verb tenses can be used with an infinitive following.

Present	decide to go	She decides to go into the store.
Present Perfect	has decided to take	He has decided to take the exam.
Past Perfect	had wanted to visit	They had wanted to visit last summer, but they didn't have time.
Past	chose to spend	The child chose to spend all of his money on candy.
Present Progressive	is studying to obtain	She is studying to obtain a degree in physical science.
Past Progressive	was hoping to get	He was hoping to get a scholarship.
Present	need to know	She needs to know the street address.

* "need" is not usually used in progressive (-ing) form.

Have to and Used to

With these two common words, using complex verb form changes the meaning. "Have to" means "must." "Used to" means "in the past."

have	I have to go to work today.
has	She has to take the interstate
had	We had to go our cousin's wedding because their family attended our wedding.
used	He used to play tennis, but he doesn't anymore
used	We used to go skiing during our college days.

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