Forming and Using Verb Tenses

In order to form verb tenses you need a good grasp of the auxiliaries and the principal parts of the verb. There are four principal parts: the basic form, the present participle, the past form, and the past participle.

The basic form (or root of the verb is the form listed in the dictionary and is usually identical to the first person singular form of the simple present tense (except in the case of the verb "to be"):

walk

paint

think

grow

sing

The infinitive form of the verb is a compound verb made up of the preposition "to" and the basic form of the verb:

to walk

to paint

to think

to grow

to sing

To form the present participle, add "-ing" to the basic form of the verb:

walking

painting

thinking

growing

singing

Note that you cannot use the present participle as a predicate unless you use an auxiliary verb with it -- the word group "I walking to the store" is an incomplete and ungrammatical sentence, while word group "I am walking to the store" is a complete sentence. You will often use the present participle as a modifier.

The past formof verbs is a little trickier. If the verb is regular (or weak, you can create the past form by adding "-ed", "-d", or "-t" to the present form. When a basic form ends in "-y", you changed the "-y" to "-i-"; in many cases you should also double terminal consonants before adding "-ed" (see the section on Spelling words with Double Consonants).

walked

painted

thought

grew

sang

The past participle of regular verbs is usually identical to the past form, while the past participle of irregular verbs is often different:

walked

painted

thought

grown

sung

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs form the past participle and the past form without "-(e)d" or "-t", and frequently their past form and past participle are different. For example, the past form of the verb "break" is "broke" and the past participle is "broken".

This list contains the most common verbs that form their past tenses irregularly:

arise

arose, arise

awake

awoke or awaked, awaked or awoken

awaken

awakened, awakened

bear (to carry)

bore, borne

bear (to give birth)

bore

beat

beat, beaten or beat

be

was, been

become

became, become

begin

began, begun

bet

bet, bet

bid

bid, bid (to, offer)

bid (to order, invite)

bade, bidden

bind

bound, bound

bite

bit, bitten

bleed

bled, bled

blow

blew, blown

break

broke, broken

breed

bred, bred

bring

brought, brought

burst

burst, burst

buy

bought, bought

cast

cast, cast

catch

caught, caught

choose

chose, chosen

cling

clung, clung

come

came, come

creep

crept, crept

cut

cut, cut

deal

dealt, dealt

dig

dug, dug

dive

dived or dove, dived

do

did, done

draw

drew, drawn

dream

dreamed or dreamt

drink

drank, drunk

drive

drove, driven

eat

ate, eaten

fall

fell, fallen

feed

fed, fed

feel

felt, felt

fight

fought, fought

find

found, found

flee

fled, fled

fly

flew, flown

forbid

forbade, forbidden

forget

forgot, forgotten

forgive

forgave, forgiven

forsake

forsook, forsaken

freeze

froze, frozen

get

got, got or gotten

give

gave, given

go

went, gone

grind

ground, ground

grow

grew, grown

hang (to suspend)

hung, hung

hang (to execute)

hanged, hanged

have

had, had

hear

heard, heard

hide

hid, hidden

hit

hit, hit

hold

held, held

hurt

hurt, hurt

keep

kept, kept

kneel

knelt or kneeled

knit

knitted or knit

know

knew, known

lay

laid, laid

lead

led, led

leap

leaped or leapt

leave

left, left

lend

lent, lent

let

let, let

lie

lay, lain

light

lighted or lit

lose

lost, lost

make

made, made

mean

meant, meant

meet

met, met

mistake

mistook, mistaken

overcome

overcame, overcome

pay

paid, paid

prove

proved, or proven

put

put, put

quit

quit, quit

read

read, read

ride

rode, ridden

ring

rang, rung

rise

rose, risen

run

ran, run

say

said, said

see

saw, seen

seek

sought, sought

sell

sold, sold

send

sent, sent

set

set, set

shake

shook, shaken

shed

shed, shed

shoot

shot, shot

shrink

shrank or shrunk

shut

shut, shut

sing

sang, sung

sink

sank, sunk

sit

sat, sat

slay

slew, slain

sleep

slept, slept

slide

slid, slide

sling

slung, slung

slink

slunk, slunk

speak

spoke, spoken

speed

sped or speeded

spend

spent, spent

spin

spun, spun

spit

spit or spat

split

split, split

spread

spread, spread

spring

sprang or sprung

stand

stood, stood

steal

stole, stolen

stick

stuck, stuck

stink

stank or stunk, stunk

strew

strewed, strewn

stride

strode, stridden

strike

struck, struck

string

strung, strung

strive

stove or strived, striven or strived

swear

swore, sworn

sweep

swept, swept

swell

swelled, swelled or swollen

swim

swam, swum

swing

swung, swung

take

took, taken

teach

taught, taught

tear

tore, torn

tell

told, told

think

thought, though

thrive

throve or thrived, throve or thriven

throw

threw, thrown

thrust

thrust, thrust

wake

woke or waked, waked or woken

weep

wept, wept

win

won, won

wind

wound, wound

wring

wring, wrung

write

wrote, written