to pick up — English conjugation

Frequency#18256Regular

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
Ipick up
youpick up
he/she/itpicks up
wepick up
you (pl.)pick up
theypick up

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
Ipicked up
youpicked up
he/she/itpicked up
wepicked up
you (pl.)picked up
theypicked up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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