to contrive — English conjugation

Frequency#5189Regular

Indicative

Present (Simple Present) Regular

The simple present describes habitual actions, general truths, and states. It is the most basic tense in English. For most verbs, add -s or -es for the third person singular (he, she, it).

She speaks three languages.

PronounEnglish
Icontrive
youcontrive
he/she/itcontrives
wecontrive
you (pl.)contrive
theycontrive

Past (Simple Past) Regular

The simple past describes completed actions at a specific time in the past. Regular verbs add -ed. There are around 200 common irregular verbs with unique past forms that must be learned individually.

She spoke to the manager yesterday.

PronounEnglish
Icontrived
youcontrived
he/she/itcontrived
wecontrived
you (pl.)contrived
theycontrived

Present continuous (Present Continuous) Regular

The present continuous describes actions happening right now or temporary situations. Formed with am/is/are + verb-ing. Also used for definite future arrangements.

She is speaking to a client at the moment.

PronounEnglish
Iam contriving
youare contriving
he/she/itis contriving
weare contriving
you (pl.)are contriving
theyare contriving

Past continuous (Past Continuous) Regular

The past continuous describes actions that were in progress at a specific moment in the past, often interrupted by another event. Formed with was/were + verb-ing.

She was speaking when the fire alarm went off.

PronounEnglish
Iwas contriving
youwere contriving
he/she/itwas contriving
wewere contriving
you (pl.)were contriving
theywere contriving

Present perfect (Present Perfect) Regular

The present perfect connects the past to the present. It describes experiences, recent events, or situations that started in the past and continue now. Formed with have/has + past participle.

She has spoken at over fifty conferences.

PronounEnglish
Ihave contrived
youhave contrived
he/she/ithas contrived
wehave contrived
you (pl.)have contrived
theyhave contrived

Past perfect (Past Perfect) Regular

The past perfect describes an action completed before another past event — the past of the past. Formed with had + past participle. Always implies a reference point in the past.

She had spoken to him before the meeting started.

PronounEnglish
Ihad contrived
youhad contrived
he/she/ithad contrived
wehad contrived
you (pl.)had contrived
theyhad contrived

Future (will) (Future Simple) Regular

The future simple expresses predictions, spontaneous decisions, and promises. Formed with will + base infinitive. The contracted form will not = won't is very common in spoken English.

She will speak at the conference tomorrow.

PronounEnglish
Iwill contrive
youwill contrive
he/she/itwill contrive
wewill contrive
you (pl.)will contrive
theywill contrive

Future continuous (Future Continuous) Regular

The future continuous describes an action that will be in progress at a specific future moment. Formed with will be + verb-ing. Often used to describe planned or expected ongoing actions.

This time tomorrow she will be speaking to the board.

PronounEnglish
Iwill be contriving
youwill be contriving
he/she/itwill be contriving
wewill be contriving
you (pl.)will be contriving
theywill be contriving

Future perfect (Future Perfect) Regular

The future perfect describes an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future. Formed with will have + past participle. Common with time expressions like by then, by the time.

By Friday she will have spoken to all the clients.

PronounEnglish
Iwill have contrived
youwill have contrived
he/she/itwill have contrived
wewill have contrived
you (pl.)will have contrived
theywill have contrived

Subjunctive

Conditional (would) (Conditional) Regular

The conditional describes hypothetical situations and their results. Formed with would + base infinitive. Used in if-clauses, polite requests, and reported speech about future events.

She would speak more if she had the chance.

PronounEnglish
Iwould contrive
youwould contrive
he/she/itwould contrive
wewould contrive
you (pl.)would contrive
theywould contrive