Past Tense Verbs: Staying on Top of the System!

English has only two kinds of verbs, each with the same three main parts. (1) REGULAR Infinitive: to WALK Past tense: WALKED (no helping verb used) Past participle: WALKED (always with helping verb) (2) IRREGULAR Infinitive: to FLY Past tense: FLEW (no helping verb used) Past participle: FLOWN (always with helping verb)

I love you. I will love you always. I loved you in the past, but at the time you didn’t love me. I had loved you long before you spoke to me in our writing class. I wanted you to love me for myself, not for my ability to correct comma splices. Every verb tense in English is formed from these three principal parts.

A regular verb never changes the main verb itself; it just adds a d or an ed when describing past actions: dance—dancedtalk—talked Irregular verbs are unpredictable. When describing past actions, they might (1) stay the same, (2) change just a part of the word, or (3) change the whole word: cut— cut grow—grew think— thought What’s the difference between a regular and an irregular verb?

Regular past tense verbs: Tip #1 Remember to add the d or ed endings to mark the past, especially those endings that we don’t hear clearly! Every day, I walk to work. Yesterday, I walked to work. For weeks now, I have walked to work. Every night, we dance till dawn. Last night, we danced till dawn. On many nights, we have danced till dawn.

REGULAR past tense verbs: Tip #2 Be extra careful when the word “to” follows a past tense verb; it’s easy to forget the verb ending because we don’t hear it. Grammar use to be easy. This is suppose to be fun. d d

Regular past tense verbs:Tip #3 Remember to use the “change y to i when you add –ed ” rule! PresentPast We testify.We testified. They apply.They have applied.

Irregular past tense verbs:Tip #1 Some verbs stay the same in the present and the past. Don’t be tempted to add an ending. PresentPast I quit!Yesterday I quit! They cost a lot nowadays. Earlier, they had cost a lot.

Irregular past tense verbs: Tip #2 The past tense of “TO BE” has both a singular and a plural form. Watch the subject/verb agreement. PresentPast SingularToday she is happy. Yesterday she was happy. PluralToday they are happy. Yesterday they were happy

What About Other Tenses? All other past-tense verbs are formed from the past participle and some kind of a helping verb like has/ have/ had/ is/ was/ were: He has asked the $64,000 question. The case was decided in their favor. She had written a prize-winning essay. You have been selected to enter the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes!

Past participles of regular verbs end in d or ed, just as the past tense verb does. PresentPastPast Participle talktalked(has) talked dependdepended(has) depended testifytestified(has) testified scarescared(has) scared

Unfortunately, the past participles of irregular verbs are as unpredictable as the past tense is. PresentPastPast participle beginbegan becomebecame choosechose cut leadled PresentPastPast participle gowent seesaw forgetforgot givegave dodid begun become chosen cut led gone seen forgotten given done

And just to make things really confusing, there’s always… PresentPastPast Participle lie (=recline)layhas lain lay (=put)laidhas laid sitsathas sat set (=place)sethas set

Past participles are often used as adjectives, to describe other words. Remember the –ed ending! What is the prescribe solution? ( = the solution which someone has prescribed) You seem shock. ( = something has shocked you) Warning: Potential Trouble Spot! d ed

Try some out! Are there any missing endings below? She appears to be a very prejudice person. My critical thinking teacher was astonish that I finished the quiz so early. I think everything is finally settle to everyone’s satisfaction. d d ed

Warning: Potential Trouble Spot #2! Don’t confuse the past tense of the irregular verbs (no helping verb) with the past participle (with helping verb). I begun my homework early this week. He had gave me his address. X gave: past tense given: past participle began: past tense begun: past participle X

Warning: Potential Trouble Spot #3! Watch the passive verbs (= a combination of is, are, was, were, be, been, or being plus the past participle). Be sure to use the participle form. My heart is broken. (not is broke) The course was well designed. (not was well design) The report will soon be written. (not will soon be wrote).

Verbs are easy, when you understand the system! And that’s all there is to it!