The Four Principal Parts of Verbs The building blocks of all verb tenses.
The Four Principal Parts Every verb has four principal parts: walk is walking walked has walked Notice that the and the both have helping verbs (is and has).
Seems easy, right? walk is walking walked has walked Add -ing to the base form of the verb to create the present participle. Add -ed to the base form of the verb to create the past and past participle.
Seems easy, right? walk is walking walked has walked Verbs like "walk" are easy because they're regular verbs and follow this easy-toremember pattern.
Check out these other regular verbs: attack carry borrow flow decide imagine spoil wash yawn is attacking is carrying is borrowing is flowing is deciding is imagining is spoiling is washing is yawning attacked carried borrowed flowed decided imagined spoiled washed yawned has attacked has carried has borrowed borrowed has flowed has decided has imagined has spoiled has washed has yawned Notice how they all follow the same pattern: Add -ing for the present form and add -ed for the past and past participle forms.
What about a verb like "fall"? fall is falling fell has fallen The present participle is still formed by adding -ing. The past and past participle, however, are NOT formed by adding -ed. The verb "fall" is one of many irregular verbs. Irregular verbs are verbs whose past and past participle forms are not made by adding -ed to the present.
Why does it matter? Using the incorrect form of the verb is probably one of the most common errors that people make when they write or speak. Choose the correct sentences below: I have ran this race before. I have wrote my essay. OR OR I have run this race before. I have written my essay.
Why does it matter? I have ran this race before. I have wrote my essay. OR OR I have run this race before. I have written my essay. Knowing when to use a helping verb (have, has, or had) with the correct form of the verb helps you speak and write correctly. For example, "ran" is the past tense of "run." It is NEVER correct to use a helping verb with "ran." Likewise, "wrote" is the past tense of "write." It is NEVER correct to use a helping verb with "wrote."
So how are you supposed to know all the different forms of the irregular verbs? For this one, there is no button. You just have to memorize the four principal parts of the irregular verbs. The good news is that they generally form patterns that can help you learn them quickly. More good news - the present participle of any verb is always formed by adding -ing. So, it's really the past and past participle that you must be concerned with. In the charts that follow, you won't find the present participle (the part of the verb that ends in -ing) since it's always the same for any verb.
Pattern #1 (The helping verb with any past participle can be has, have, or had. Has is used in these examples.) The present form and the past participle form are the same. become became has become come came has come run ran has run
Pattern #2 The past and past participle forms are the same. bring build buy catch creep feel get keep lay leave brought built bought caught crept felt got kept laid left has brought has built has bought has caught has crept has felt has got has kept has laid has left
Pattern #2 (continued) The past and past participle forms are the same. lead lend lose make pay say seek sell shine sit led lent lost made paid said sought sold shone sat has led has lent has lost has made has paid has said has sought has sold has shone has sat
Pattern #2 (continued) The past and past participle forms are the same. sleep slept has slept sting stung has stung swing swung has swung teach taught has taught think thought has thought win won has won wind wound has wound
Pattern #3 The forms of the present, the past, and the past participle are all the same. burst cost burst cost has burst has cost cut cut has cut hurt hurt has hurt let let has let put put has put set set has set shut shut has shut
Pattern #4 The last vowel changes from i in the present to a in the past to u in the past participle. begin began has begun drink drank has drunk ring rang has rung shrink shrank has shrunk sing sang has sung sink sank has sunk spring sprang has sprung swim swam has swum
Pattern #5 The past form ends in -ew and the past participle ends in -wn. blow blew has blown draw drew has drawn fly flew has flown grow grew has grown know knew has known throw threw has thrown
Pattern #6 The past participle is formed from the present, often by adding -en or -n. do drive eat fall give go rise see shake take write did drove ate fell gave went rose saw shook took wrote has done has driven has eaten has fallen has given has gone has risen has seen has shaken has taken has written
Pattern #7 The past participle is formed by adding -n or -en to the past. bite bit has bitten break broke has broken choose chose has chosen freeze froze has frozen lie lay has lain speak spoke has spoken steal stole has stolen tear tore has torn wear wore has worn
Pattern #8 - The most irregular verb in the English language "Be" follows no am, is, are pattern. is being was, were has been
Practice Choose the correct form of the verb to complete the sentence. Check your answers on the next slide. 1. My sister (sang, sung) on television. 2. After I had (fell, fallen) off the ladder for the fifth time, I knew carpentry was not for me. 3. The lettuce stored in the new refrigerator has (froze, frozen). 4. How many inches has that plant (grew, grown) in the past week? 5. The phone had already (rang, rung) five times when I answered it. 6. Has Alicia (spoke, spoken) to you about going to the movie?
Answers 1. My sister (sang, sung) on television. ("sang" is used without a helping verb) 2. After I had (fell, fallen) off the ladder for the fifth time, I knew carpentry was not for me. ("fa!en" is used with the helping verb "had") 3. The lettuce stored in the new refrigerator has (froze, frozen). (""ozen" is used with the helping verb "has") 4. How many inches has that plant (grew, grown) in the past week? ("grown" is used with the helping verb "has") 5. The phone had already (rang, rung) five times when I answered it. ("rung" is used with the helping verb "had") 6. Has Alicia (spoke, spoken) to you about going to the movie? ("spoken" is used with the helping verb "has")