Meaning & use
verb conjugation
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
The set of forms that a verb takes to show tense, person, number, mood, or voice.
Grammar: Countable when talking about one verb's set of forms: 'the conjugation of “to be”'. Uncountable when talking about the system in general: 'Latin has complex verb conjugation'.
Patterns
- the conjugation of a verb
- verb conjugation in a language
- learn verb conjugation
The verb conjugation of 'to be' includes am, is, are, was, and were.
Spanish verb conjugation changes the ending to show who is doing the action.
Students often find verb conjugation difficult when they start learning a new language.
noununcountable
The act or process of giving the different forms of a verb in a fixed order.
Grammar: Used as a mass noun: 'Conjugation is part of the exam.'
Patterns
- practice verb conjugation
- verb conjugation exercises
- do verb conjugation
We spent the whole lesson on verb conjugation.
Verb conjugation is easier if you memorize the patterns.
The teacher asked us to write out the verb conjugation for homework.
nouncountabletechnical
A class of verbs that share the same pattern of endings in a particular language.
Grammar: Often used with ordinal numbers: 'first conjugation', 'second conjugation'.
Patterns
- first conjugation
- second conjugation
- belong to a conjugation
In Latin, 'amare' belongs to the first conjugation.
French verbs are grouped into three main conjugations.
This verb follows the second conjugation pattern.
Word forms
| plural | verb conjugations |
|---|
Common combinations
- verb conjugation table
- The textbook has a verb conjugation table at the back.
- verb conjugation rules
- You need to learn the verb conjugation rules to speak correctly.
- regular verb conjugation
- Regular verb conjugation follows a predictable pattern.
- irregular verb conjugation
- Irregular verb conjugation must be memorized separately.
- verb conjugation in English
- Verb conjugation in English is simpler than in many other languages.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inflection
- A broader term that covers changes to nouns, adjectives, and verbs; 'verb conjugation' is specifically about verbs.
- form
- Refers to one particular shape of a word, not the whole system; 'verb conjugation' means the complete set.
Word family
- conjugate verb
- To give the different forms of a verb in order.
- conjugated adjective
- Having the forms changed to show tense, person, etc.
Commonly confused: verb conjugation or conjunction?
verb conjugation vs conjunction
A conjunction is a word like 'and' or 'but' that joins parts of a sentence; conjugation is about verb forms.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'verb conjugation' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option A correctly uses 'verb conjugation' as a noun phrase meaning the set of forms. Option B uses it as a verb, which is wrong; the verb is 'conjugate'. Option C has a subject-verb agreement error ('conjugation are'). Option D also uses it as a verb and is ungrammatical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “verb conjugation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.