to decline — English conjugation

Frequency#574Regular

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
Idecline
youdecline
he/she/itdeclines
wedecline
you (pl.)decline
theydecline

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
Ideclined
youdeclined
he/she/itdeclined
wedeclined
you (pl.)declined
theydeclined

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 declining
youare declining
he/she/itis declining
weare declining
you (pl.)are declining
theyare declining

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 declining
youwere declining
he/she/itwas declining
wewere declining
you (pl.)were declining
theywere declining

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 declined
youhave declined
he/she/ithas declined
wehave declined
you (pl.)have declined
theyhave declined

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 declined
youhad declined
he/she/ithad declined
wehad declined
you (pl.)had declined
theyhad declined

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 decline
youwill decline
he/she/itwill decline
wewill decline
you (pl.)will decline
theywill decline

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 declining
youwill be declining
he/she/itwill be declining
wewill be declining
you (pl.)will be declining
theywill be declining

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 declined
youwill have declined
he/she/itwill have declined
wewill have declined
you (pl.)will have declined
theywill have declined

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 decline
youwould decline
he/she/itwould decline
wewould decline
you (pl.)would decline
theywould decline