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Writing and Grammar Tips (beta)


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Category : Writing Tips

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