Verbs in English come in three main categories: the affirmative, the negative, and the interrogative.
The affirmative = asserting that something is true or valid.
The negative = a reply denying something.
The interrogative = asking a question.
Here’s an overview of how each category is structured for most verb tenses in the English language.
| Verb Tense | Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
| Present Simple | I see you. | I don’t see you. | Do I see you? |
| Present continuous | She is reading. | She is not reading. | Is she reading? |
| Past simple | I cooked dinner. | I didn’t cook dinner. | Did I cook dinner? |
| Past simple continuous | They were skiing. | They weren’t skiing. | Were they skiing? |
| Present perfect | We have seen it. | We haven’t seen it. | Have we seen it? |
| Present perfect continuous | We’ve been singing. | We haven’t been singing. | Have we been singing? |
| Past perfect | She had studied. | She hadn’t studied. | Had she studied? |
| Past perfect continuous | She had been studying. | She hadn’t been studying. | Had she been studying? |
| Future simple | I will travel. | I won’t travel. | Will I travel? |
| Future simple continuous | He will be travelling. | He won’t be travelling. | Will he be travelling? |
| Future perfect | He will have finished. | He won’t have finished. | Will he have finished? |
| Future perfect continuous | He will have been finishing. | He won’t have been finishing. | Will he have been finishing? |
| Conditional | It would work | I wouldn’t work. | Would it work? |
| Conditional continuous | They would be running. | They wouldn’t be running. | Would they be running? |
| Conditional perfect | She would have been happy. | She wouldn’t have been happy. | Would she have been happy? |