to operate — English conjugation

Frequency#432Regular

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
Ioperate
youoperate
he/she/itoperates
weoperate
you (pl.)operate
theyoperate

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
Ioperated
youoperated
he/she/itoperated
weoperated
you (pl.)operated
theyoperated

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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