to employ — English conjugation

Frequency#628Regular

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
Iemploy
youemploy
he/she/itemploys
weemploy
you (pl.)employ
theyemploy

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
Iemployed
youemployed
he/she/itemployed
weemployed
you (pl.)employed
theyemployed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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