to hesitate — English conjugation

Frequency#1422Regular

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
Ihesitate
youhesitate
he/she/ithesitates
wehesitate
you (pl.)hesitate
theyhesitate

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
Ihesitated
youhesitated
he/she/ithesitated
wehesitated
you (pl.)hesitated
theyhesitated

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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