Forms of verb

Introduction

Any verb word must have the following forms…

{Let’s take the verb words (a) ‘walk’ and (b) ‘go’ for example.}

present/finiteV1	pastV2	past participle V3	presentparticiple ‘ing’ form	To-infinitive	Bare-infinitive	Gerund
a) walk/walks _____________ b)go/goes	walked __________ went	walked _________ gone	walking _____________ going	to walk _________ to go	walk ________ go	walking _______ going

Though we see seven forms in the table, we limit ourselves to the first four forms for the time being; and we will deal with the other three in the next sub-topic.

And in the rows for the forms, we see two kinds “a)” and “b)”. The verb words in these two kinds differ in their spelling and, of course, in their pronunciation.

The verb words in kind ‘a)’ are called Regular Verbs or Weak Verbs and those in kind ‘b)’ are called Irregular Verbs or Strong Verbs.  The regular verbs take ‘d’ or ‘ed’ at the end of them to form past or past participle; but the irregular verbs  take different vowel changes to form past or past participle, or in some cases do not take any changes at all.

The main function of the different forms (strictly speaking, the first four forms in the table) of the verb words is to help us to make “Tenses”. {The other functions are dealt with in the other sub-topics.}

The Regular Verbs are numerous but, luckily, they do not present much difficulty because the root words have the same spelling (form) and the same pronunciation (only the addition of ‘d’ or ‘ed’) in the Past and Past Participle forms; but the Irregular Verbs, which are about two hundred, may cause some difficulty quite often.  And here we are given some of the most frequent of them to learn by heart, if needed.

THE IRREGULAR VERB FORMS

Present/finite Past Past Participle Present

Participle

abide                                      abode/abided          abode/abided                    abiding

arise                                       arose                         arisen                                  arising

awake                                     awoke                       awoken                               ———-

be

is                                           was                            been                                    being

am                                        was                            been                                    being

are                                        were                         been                                    being

bear                                        bore                          born/borne                        bearing

beat                                        beat                           beaten                                beating

become                                 became                     become                              becoming

befall                                      befell                         befallen                              ———–

beget                                      begot                         begotten                             ———–

begin                                      began                        begun                                  beginning

behold                                   beheld                      beheld                                                ———–

bend                                       bent                           bent                                     bending

bet                                          bet/betted               bet/betted                         ———–

bid (order somebody)                     bid                             bidden                                                ———–

bid bid                             bid                                       bidding

(offer a price in an auction)

bind                                        bound                       bound                                 binding

bite                                         bit                              bitten                                  biting

bleed                                      bled                           bled                                     bleeding

blow                                       blew                          blown                                  blowing

break                                      broke                        broken                                breaking

[brake (to stop a car, etc.)      braked                      braked                                braking]

breed                                       bred                          bred                                    breeding

bring                                        brought                   brought                              bringing

broadcast                              broadcast                 broadcast                ——

build                                         built                           built                                  building

burn                                         burnt/burned          burnt/burned                   burning

burst                                      burst                         burst                               ———–

buy                                         bought                      bought                                   buying

cast                                         cast                            cast                                    ———–

catch                                      caught                       caught                                 catching

choose                                   chose                        chosen                                ———–

cling                                        clung                         clung                                   clinging

clothe (to put on clothes)          clad/clothed            clad/clothed              ———–

come                                      came                         come                                   coming

cost                                         cost                            cost                                      ———–

creep                                     crept                         crept                                   creeping

cut                                          cut                             cut                                       cutting

deal                                        dealt                          dealt                                    dealing

dig                                           dug                            dug                                      digging

do                                           did                             done                                    doing

draw                                       drew                          drawn                                  drawing

dream                                    dreamt/dreamed    dreamt/dreamed              dreaming

drink                                       drank                         drunk                                  drinking

drive                                       drove                        driven                                 driving

dwell (to live in a place)         dwelt/dwelled         dwelt/dwelled                   ———–

eat                                          ate                             eaten                                   eating

fall                                           fell                             fallen                                   falling

feed                                        fed                             fed                                       feeding

feel                                         felt                             felt                                       feeling

fight                                        fought                       fought                                 fighting

find                                         found                        found                                  finding

flee                                         fled                            fled                                      fleeing

fling                                        flung                          flung                                    ———-

fly                                            flew                           flown                                   flying

forbid                                     forbade                     forbidden                           ———-

forget                                     forgot                        forgotten                            ———-

forgive                                   forgave                     forgiven                              forgiving

freeze                                    froze                          frozen                                 freezing

get                                          got                             got                                       getting

give                                         gave                           given                                   giving

go                                            went                          gone                                    going

grind                                       ground                      ground                                grinding

grow                                       grew                          grown                                  growing

hang (of things)                  hung                          hung                                    hanging

[hang (of people)                hanged                      hanged                                hanging]

have                                       had                            had                                      having

hear                                        heard                        heard                                  (hearing)

hide                                        hid                             hid                                       hiding

hit                                           hit                              hit                                        hitting

hold                                        held                           held                                     holding

hurt                                      hurt                           hurt                                (hurting)

keep                                       kept                              kept                                     keeping

kneel                                      knelt                             knelt                                    kneeling

knit                                        knit                               knit —-

(unite/draw together)

[knit                                      knitted                         knitted                            knitting

(make woollen clothes)

know                                      knew                         known                                 (knowing)

lay                                           laid                           laid                                       laying

lead                                         led                             led                                       leading

learn                                       learnt/learned         learnt/learned                   learning

leave                                      left                             left                                       leaving

lend                                        lent                            lent                                      lending

let                                let                      let                              letting

lie                                            lay                              lain                                       lying

[lie                                          lied                            lied                                      lying]

light                                        lit/lighted                  lit/lighted                       ———

lose                                         lost                             lost                                       losing

make                                      made                         made                                   making

mean                                      meant                        meant                                  ———-

meet                                       met                            met                                      meeting

mow                                      mowed                      mown/mowed                 mowing

pay                                          paid                           paid                                   paying

put                                          put                             put                                       putting

read                                        read (said as ‘red’) read (said as ‘red’)           reading

ride                                         rode                          ridden                                 riding

ring                                         rang                           rung                                   ringing

rise                                         rose                           risen                                    rising

[raise                                      raised                        raised                                raising]

run                                          ran                             run                                       running

saw                                         sawed                        sawn/sawed                       sawing

say                                          said                            said                                      saying

see                                          saw                            seen                                    (seeing)

seek                                        sought                       sought                                 seeking

sell                                          sold                            sold                                      selling

send                                       sent                           sent                                     sending

set                                          set                              set                                        setting

sew (said as ‘so’)                 sewed                       sewn                                    sewing

shake                                      shook                        shaken                                shaking

shear                                      shore/sheared        shorn/sheared                  shearing

shed                                       shed                           shed                                   shedding

shine                                      shone                        shone                                  shining

shoot                                      shot                           shot                                     shooting

show                                       showed                     shown/showed                  showing

shrink                                     shrank                      shrunk                                 shrinking

shut                                         shut                           shut                                    shutting

sing                                         sang                           sung                                     singing

sink                                         sank                           sunk                                     sinking

sit                                            sat                              sat                                        sitting

slay                                         slew                           slain                                     ———–

sleep                                      slept                          slept                                    sleeping

slide                                        slid                             slid                                       sliding

sling                                        slung                          slung                                   slinging

slit                                           slit                              slit                                        (slitting)

smell                                       smelt/smelled          smelt/smelled                  (smelling)

sow  (said as ‘so’)                 sowed                       sown                                       sowing

speak                                       spoke                        spoken                                  speaking

speed                                      sped                           sped                                       speeding

spell                                        spelt/spelled            spelt/spelled                       spelling

spend                                      spent                         spent                                     spending

spill                                         spilt/spilled              spilt/spilled                        spilling

spin                                         spun                         spun                                    spinning

spit                                          spat                          spat                                      spitting

split                                        split                           split                                     splitting

spread                                   spread                      spread                                  spreading

spring                                   sprang                      sprung                                  springing

stand                                     stood                        stood                                      standing

steal                                       stole                          stolen                                    stealing

stick                                       stuck                          stuck                                    sticking

sting                                       stung                         stung                                    stinging

stink                                        stank/stunk              stunk                                   stinking

stride                                      strode                       stridden                              ———–

strike                                      struck                        struck                                  striking

swear                                     swore                        sworn                                  swearing

sweep                                    swept                        swept                                  sweeping

swell                                      swelled                     swollen/swelled               swelling

swim                                       swam                         swum                                 swimming

swing                                      swung                        swung                                swinging

take                                         took                           taken                                    taking

teach                                      taught                        taught                                  teaching

tear                                          tore                            torn                                       tearing

tell                                            told                            told                                       telling

think                                       thought                     thought                               thinking

thrive                                      throve/thrived        thriven/thrived                  thriving

throw                                      threw                         thrown                                throwing

thrust                                     thrust                         thrust                                  (thrusting)

tread                                      trod                           trodden/trod                     treading

understand                           understood              understood                        —————-

undertake                             undertook                undertaken                        —————-

wake                                       woke/waked            woken/waked                    waking

wear                                       wore                          worn                                    wearing

weave                                    wove                         woven                                 weaving

weep                                      wept                          wept                                    weeping

wet                                         wet/wetted              wet/wetted                        ————-

win                                         won                           won                                     (winning)

wind                                       wound                      wound                                 winding

wring                                      wrung                      wrung                                  wringing

write                                       wrote                        written                                writing

With these different forms of the Irregular and Regular verb words, we make different TENSES depending on the context; and we also use the V3 form and the ‘ing’ form in other situations – not only as verbs but also as adjectives, etc.  Some forms are without ‘ing’ form which means they are not used in the CONTINUOUS TENSES, and some are put in brackets () which means they are used in the continuous tenses to give different meanings other than the regular meanings.

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Before concluding this topic, the learners must note an important point:

It is not the end of the topic but only the beginning!  Because…

No one single book or course material can include all the rules and important points on any one particular topic.  There are many, many things one needs to learn.  And one learner may understand a particular point more easily than the other.

It is a matter of a particular learner’s ability that determines the time needed to learn a topic!

Some rules are deliberately avoided in this topic just to give the learner some food for thought! So, come up with your ‘quarries’ and make learning a lively interactive task.

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