The Verb "See" in English

Conjugation of "To See"

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The verb "see" is an irregular verb. (This means that "see" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To See"

Form	see	Alternative Name
Base Form	see	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	sees	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	saw	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	seeing	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	seen	[no alternative name]

Example Sentences with To See

It's your go. Select the correct version of "to see":

"To See" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "see" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	saw saw saw saw saw saw The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was seeing were seeing was seeing were seeing were seeing were seeing The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had seen had seen had seen had seen had seen had seen The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been seeing had been seeing had been seeing had been seeing had been seeing had been seeing The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	see see sees see see see The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am seeing are seeing is seeing are seeing are seeing are seeing The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have seen have seen has seen have seen have seen have seen The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been seeing have been seeing has been seeing have been seeing have been seeing have been seeing The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will see will see will see will see will see will see The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be seeing will be seeing will be seeing will be seeing will be seeing will be seeing The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have seen will have seen will have seen will have seen will have seen will have seen The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been seeing will have been seeing will have been seeing will have been seeing will have been seeing will have been seeing The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

the verb "to be"
the verb "to have"

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see (this page), say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

This page was written by Craig Shrives.

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