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Category : Mechanics

Irregular Verbs

Verbs are one of the most identifiable parts of a sentence and one can cite an endless number of examples for verbs. There are three basic parts of a verb:

i) Present Tense

ii) Past Tense, and

iii) Future Tense

Examples:

Present Tense	Past Tense	Past Participle
smile	smiled	smiled
found	founded	founded
look	looked	looked
climb	climbed	climbed
sleep	slept	slept

Note that the first four examples for past tense in the above table are derived by adding an “ed” to their respective present tenses. In the last example, however, the past tense of “sleep” does not follow a similar pattern. The correct word is “slept,” and not “sleeped”. Verbs that do not follow a regular “ed” pattern to become past tense are called Irregular Verbs. Such verbs do not have any set pattern for past tense or its past participle.

There are plenty of examples for irregular verbs:

Present Tense	Past Tense	Past Participle
teach	taught	taught
win	won	won
wake	woke	woken
throw	threw	thrown
cut	cut	cut
tear	tore	torn
come	came	come
rise	rose	risen
set	set	set
beat	beat	beaten
stand	stood	stood
tread	trod	trodden
fight	fought	fought
see	saw	seen
become	became	become
do	did	done
tell	told	told
fall	fell	fallen
swear	swore	sworn
slide	slid	slid
write	wrote	written
begin	began	begun
bite	bit	bitten
strike	struck	stricken
bear	bore	borne
choose	chose	chosen
drive	drove	driven
ring	rang	rung
run	ran	run
wed	wed	wed
burst	burst	burst
thrive	throve	thrived
weave	wove	woven
sink	sank	sunk
find	found	found
hit	hit	hit
deal	dealt	dealt
get	got	got/ gotten
give	gave	given

Tags : Irregular Verbs

Posted under : Mechanics,Writing Tips

That vs. Which

by admin | 1 Comment

The difference between the words — `that’ and `which’ — is rather subtle. Both are used to address a subject in a sentence. Since there is no exact distinction between the two, many choose to use them according to practice. Traditionally, however, there are some marked differences between the two.

The word `which’ (unlike `that’) — is a non-restrictive clause, often used in a more general sense — it does not limit or restrict the meaning of the subject it refers to in a sentence. Example: Dogs, which are also called “A man’s best friend”, are very faithful. While `which’ is followed by a comma, there is no comma usage following `that’ in a sentence.

Whereas, the word “that” is a restrictive clause with definite reference to the word preceding it in the sentence. Example: “The brown dog that was barking all night was the most dangerous of all.”

Although many feel using either of the words for any given context in a sentence is permissible, a wrong usage can completely alter the meaning of the sentence.

Consider the following: “Hardy’s house that is on the seaside is beautiful.”

Using `that’ as a restrictive clause in this sentence gives out a meaning that Hardy has many houses and the one that is close to the beach (only) is beautiful. Here, `that’ has definite reference to the subject.

Whereas, “Hardy’s house, which is on the seaside, is beautiful.” The usage of `which’ in this sentence gives out a meaning that Hardy’s house is beautiful. So even if the non-restrictive `which’ is removed from this sentence, the essential meaning of the sentence is not lost: Hardy’s house, which is on the seaside, is beautiful.

Correct usage of the words `that’ and `which’ can add a lot of clarity to your sentence. However, if the subject in the sentence is a person or people, then the words `that’ or `which’ must be replaced by `who’ or `whom’.

Posted under : Mechanics