English grammar - part 2 - Verb

English grammar -  Verb

English uses verbs in the simple past tense to refer to actions, situations, or events that are finished and that happened before now. There are three ways to form simple past tense in English. One way is what happens with the verb be: it uses the special forms was and were. Another way is what happens with regular verbs. (They are called regular because they all add the same ending--ed--or some variation on it.)

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The Simple Past: Regular Verbs

Regular verbs make their past tense by adding - d, - ed, or (if the verb ends in a consonant + y), changing the y to i and then adding - ed. Examples: Add -d:  baked, cared, eased, filed, greased, hated, liked, piled, raced, seized, smiled, typed, wheezed, whined Change y to i and add -ed: apply / applied; bury / buried; cry / cried; fry / fried; hurry / hurried; marry / married; pry / pried; spy / spied try / tried vary / varied worry / worried Add -ed:  other regular verbs: asked, belonged, clapped, dialed, filled, guessed, hopped, looked, marked, needed, pulled, reached, started, touched, viewed, washed, yelled, zipped __________________________________________ Special Notes: 1. Add only - d if a regular verb ends in one or more vowels, a single consonant (except x), and e. See the examples above. 2. If a regular verb ends in a single vowel and a single consonant (except x), double the consonant before you add -ed: beg / begged; clap / clapped; fan / fanned; hop / hopped; jog / jogged; mar / marred; pin / pinned; rip / ripped; slam / slammed; tan / tanned; whip / whipped; zip / zipped Compare these verbs: hop / hopped and hope / hoped; pin / pinned and pine / pined file / filed and fill / filled; like / liked and lick / licked 3. If a regular verb has two or more syllables, if the verb ends in l or r, and if the last syllable is stressed, double the l or r before you add -ed: compél / compelled; confér / conferred; contról / controlled; defér / deferred; fulfíl / fulfilled; prefér / preferred; propél / propelled If a regular verb has two or more syllables, if the verb ends in l or r, and if the last syllable is not stressed, do not double the l or r, before you add -ed: cáncel / canceled; hónor / honored; súffer / suffered; trável / traveled Note that British spelling does not use this rule. 4. If a regular verb ends in a consonant and y (or if the final syllable of a regular verb ends in this way), change the y to i and then add -ed: apply / applied; bury / buried; cry / cried; copy / copied; defy / defied; fry / fried; falsify / falsified; hurry / hurried; modify / modified;  pity / pitied; qualify / qualified; reply / replied; spy / spied; supply / supplied; try / tried 5. If a regular verb ends in a vowel and y (or if the final syllable of a regular verb ends in this way), do not change the y to i and then add -ed: annoy / annoyed; dismay / dismayed; enjoy / enjoyed;  obey / obeyed; play / played; stay / stayed 6. If a regular verb ends in x, add only - ed. Do not double the x: box / boxed; fax / faxed; mix / mixed; tax / taxed 7. Regular verbs ending in other spelling patterns usually add -ed. Verb Forms and Verb Tenses (#9): Irregular Past Forms   English verbs have five basic forms: the base form, the - S form, the - ing form, the past form, and the past participle form. There are two types of past forms--for regular and irregular verbs. The past forms of irregular verbs are challenging because there are no easy rules for forming them. Some are the same as the base form, some change their vowels and/or endings, and a few are completely different from the base forms. Here is a list of more than 140 common irregular verbs: _________________________________________________   arise / arose awake / awoke be / was, were bear / bore beat / beat become / became begin / began bend / bent bet / bet bid / bade, bid* bind / bound bite / bit bleed / bled blow / blew break / broke breed / bred bring / brought build / built burn / burned, burnt* burst / burst buy / bought cast / cast catch / caught choose / chose come / came cost / cost creep / crept cut / cut deal / dealt dig / dug dive / dived, dove* do / did draw / drew dream / dreamed, dreamt* drink / drank drive / drove dwell / dwelt eat / ate fall / fell feed / fed fight / fought find / found flee / fled fly / flew forbid / forbade, forbad forget / forgot forgive / forgave forsake / forsook freeze / froze get / got give / gave go / went grind / ground grow / grew hang / hanged, hung* have / had hear / heard hide / hid hit / hit hold / held hurt / hurt keep / kept kneel / knelt knit / knitted, knit* know / knew lay / laid lead / led lean / leaned, leant* leap / leapt, leaped* learn / learned, learnt* leave / left lend / lent let / let lie / lay light / lighted, lit* lose / lost   make / made mean / meant meet / met mistake / mistook partake / partook pay / paid put / put read / read* rend / rent rid / rid ride / rode rise / rose run / ran say / said see / saw seek / sought sell / sold send / sent set / set shake / shook shed / shed shine / shone shoot / shot shrink / shrank shut / shut sing / sang sink / sank sit / sat slay / slew sleep / slept slide / slid sling / slung slit / slit speak / spoke speed / sped, speeded* spin / spun spit / spat split / split spring / sprang stand / stood steal / stole stick / stuck sting / stung stink / stank stride / strode strive / strove swear / swore sweep / swept swim / swam swing / swung take / took teach / taught tear / tore tell / told think / thought throw / threw tread / trod understand / understood upset / upset wake / woke wear / wore weave / wove weep / wept win / won wind / wound wring / wrung write / wrote ___________________________________________ Special Notes:  1.   For some verbs, the common past form in British English ends in - t, but the same verbs end in - ed in American English. Here are a few examples: burn / burned, burnt dream / dreamed, dreamt lean / leaned, leant learn / learned, learnt smell / smelled, smelt spill / spilled, spilt       2.   Notice that some verbs have two different past forms. Here are a few examples: bid / bid, bade dive / dived, dove forbid / forbade, forbad knit / knitted, knit light / lighted, lit speed / sped, speeded       3.   The verb hang has two meanings and a different past form for each meaning: hang ("kill by hanging, with a noose") / hanged hang ("suspend") / hung       4.   The past form of read has the same spelling as the base form, but a different pronunciation: read ( [ ríyd ]) / read ( [ red ] )