The base form is the form of a verb you look up in a dictionary. Walk, write, and be are base forms. Other forms of write include writes, wrote, written, and writing.
Where the base form appears
- Most subjects in the simple present. In They write every day, the verb uses its base form. In She writes every day, the verb takes -s. The verb be has special present forms such as am, is, and are.
- Commands. In Write your name here, the verb starts the command in its base form.
- Infinitives. The base form follows to in She wants to write. It also follows most modal auxiliaries, as in She can write.
After do, does, and did
In Does she write every day? and Did she write yesterday?, does and did carry the tense. Write stays in its base form. See finite verb and infinitive for more examples.
