October 17th

Regular and irregular verbs

In the context of verbs, we use the term inflection to talk about the process of changing a verb form to show tense, mood, number ( singular or plural), and person ( first person, second person, or third person). We have already learned how to identify regular and irregular verbs.

Regular verbs

Many English verbs are regular, which means that they form their different tenses according to an established pattern. Such verbs work like this:

Verb	3rd person singular present tense	3rd person singular past tense	past participle	present participle
laugh	he/she laughs	he/she laughed	laughed	laughing
love	he/she loves	he/she loved	loved	loving
boo	he/she boos	he/she booed	booed	booing

 The verb boo means disaproval: Teacher JB booed when Gilson told him he would vote on Bolsonaro.

Present tense formation

In the present simple tense, the basic form of a regular verb only changes in the 3rd person singular, as follows:

Most verbs just add -s to the basic form (e.g. take/takes, seem/seems, look/looks).

 Verbs that end with -s, -z, -ch, -sh, and -x add -es (e.g. kiss/kisses, fizz/fizzes, punch/punches, wash/washes, mix/mixes).

If the verb ends in a consonant plus -y, change the y to an i before adding -es ( hurry/hurries, clarify/clarifies). But if the verb ends in a vowel plus -y, just add -s ( play/plays, enjoy/enjoys).

Past tense formation

Forming the past simple tense of regular verbs is a piece of cake .  You need to use the same form ( ED) for the first, second, and third persons, singular and plural:

If the basic form of the verb ends in both a consonant or a vowel  just  add the letters -ed to the end ( seem/seemed, laugh/laughed, look/looked).

For verbs that end in -e, add -d (  love/loved, like , hope/hoped).

If the verb ends in a consonant plus -y, change the y to an i before adding -ed (  hurry/hurried, clarify/clarified). But if the verb ends in a vowel plus -y, just add -ed (  play/played, enjoy/enjoyed).

REGULAR VERBS

Base Form	Base Form – s	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle	ING Form
TO ADD	ADD ( S)	ADDED	ADDED	ADDING
TO ANSWER	ANSWER(S)	ANSWERED	ANSWERED	ANSWERING
TO ARRIVE	ARRIVE (S)	ARRIVED	ARRIVED	ARRIVING
TO ASK	ASK(s)	ASKED	ASKED	ASKING
TO BORROW	BORROW(S)	BORROWED	BORROWED	BORROWING
TO CALL FROM	CALL (S)	CALLED	CALLED	CALLING
TO CANCEL	CANCEL (S)	CANCELED	CANCELED	CANCELING
TO CHANGE	CHANGE(S)	CHANGED	CHANGED	CHANGING
TO CLOSE	CLOSE (S)	CLOSED	CLOSED	CLOSING
TO COMPARE	COMPARE (S)	COMPARED	COMPARED	COMPARING
TO CONTINUE	CONTINUE (S)	CONTINUED	CONTINUED	CONTINUING
TO COOK	COOK (S)	COOKED	COOKED	COOKING
TO CORRECT	CORRECT (S)	CORRECTED	CORRECTED	CORRECTING
TO COUNT	COUNT (S)	COUNTED	COUNTED	COUNTING
TO DANCE	DANCE (S)	DANCED	DANCED	DANCING
TO DECIDE	DECIDE (S)	DECIDED	DECIDED	DECIDING
TO DESCRIBE	DESCRIBE (S)	DESCRIBED	DESCRIBED	DESCRIBED
TO EARN	EARN (S)	ERANED	EARNED	EARNING
TO EMPHASIZE	EMPHASIZE (S)	EMPHASIZED	EMPHASIZED	EMPHASIZING
TO ENJOY	ENJOY (S)	ENJOYED	ENJOYED	ENJOYING
TO EXPLAIN	EXPLAIN (S)	EXPLAINED	EXPLAINED	EXPLAINING
TO FILL IN	FILL(S) IN	FILLED IN	FILLED IN	FILLING IN
TO FINISH	FINISH (ES)	FINISHED	FINISHED	FINISHING
TO FIX	FIX (ES)	FIXED	FIXED	FIXING
TO FOLLOW	FOLLOW (S)	FOLLOWED	FOLLOWED	FOLLOWING
TO HAPPEN	HAPPEN (S)	HAPPENED	HAPPENED	HAPPENING
TO HELP	HELP (S)	HELPED	HELPED	HELPING
TO INCLUDE	INCLUDE (S)	INCLUDED	INCLUDED	INCLUDING
TO INVITE	INVITE (S)	INVITED	INVITED	INVITING
TO JOG	JOG (S)	JOGGED	JOGGED	JOGGING
TO LEARN	LEARN (S)	LEARNED	LEARNED	LEARNING
TO LIFT	LIFT (S)	LIFTED	LIFTED	LIFTING
TO LIKE	LIKE(S)	LIKED	LIKED	LIKING
TO LISTEN TO	LISTEN (S) TO	LISTENED TO	LISTENED TO	LISTENING TO
TO LIVE	LIVE (S)	LIVED	LIVED	LIVING
TO LOOK	LOOK (S)	LOOKED	LOOKED	LOOKING
TO MARK	MARK (S)	MARKED	MARKED	MARKING
TO MATCH	MATCH (ES)	MATCHED	MATCHED	MATCHING
TO MIND	MIND (S)	MINDED	MINDED	MINDING
TO MISS	MISS (ES)	MISSED	MISSED	MISSING
TO NEED	NEED (S)	NEEDED	NEEDED	NEEDING
TO NUMBER	NUMBER (S)	NUMBERED	NUMBERED	NUMBERING
TO OCCUR	OCCUR (S)	OCCURED	OCCURED	OCCURING
TO OFFER	OFFER (S)	OFFERED	OFFERED	OFFERING
TO OPEN	OPEN (S)	OPENED	OPENED	OPENING
TO PAINT	PAINT (S)	PAINTED	PAINTED	PAINTING
TO PARK	PARK (S)	PARKED	PARKED	PARKING
TO PLAY	PLAY (S)	PLAYED	PLAYED	PLAYING
TO PRACTICE	PRACTICE (S)	PRACTICED	PRACTICED	PRACTICING
TO RECEIVE	RECEIVE (S)	RECEIVED	RECEIVED	RECEIVED
TO RELATE	RELATE (S)	RELATED	RELATED	RELATING
TO REMEMBER	REMEMBER (S)	REMEMBERED	REMEMBERED	REMEMBERING
TO RENT	RENT (S)	RENTED	RENTED	RENTING
TO REPLACE	REPLACE (S)	REPLACED	REPLACED	REPLACING
TO REST	REST (S)	RESTED	RESTED	RESTING
TO SAVE	SAVE (S)	SAVED	SAVED	SAVING
TO SIGN	SIGN (S)	SIGNED	SIGNED	SIGNING
TO SMOKE	SMOKE (S)	SMOKED	SMOKED	SMOKING
TO SNEEZE	SNEEZE (S)	SNEEZED	SNEEZED	SNEEZING
TO SPELL	SPELL (S)	SPELLED	SPELLED	SPELLING
TO STAY	STAY (S)	STAYED	STAYED	STAYING
TO STOP	STOP (S)	STOPPED	STOPPED	STOPPING
TO STUDY	STUDY(IES)	STUDIED	STUDIED	STUDYING
TO SUBSTITUTE	SUBSTITUTE(S)	SUBSTITUTED	SUBSTITUTED	SUBSTITUTING
TO SUGGEST	SUGGEST (S)	SUGGESTED	SUGGESTED	SUGGESTING
TO SUPPOSE	SUPPOSE (S)	SUPPOSED	SUPPOSED	SUPPOSING
TO TALK	TALK (S)	TALKED	TALKED	TALKING
TO TRANSLATE	TRANSLATE (S)	TRANSLATED	TRANSLATED	TRANSLATING
TO TRAVEL	TRAVEL (S)	TRAVELED	TRAVELED	TRAVELING
TO TREAT	TREAT (S)	TREATED	TREATED	TREATING
TO TRY	TRY (IES)	TRIED	TRIED	TRYING
TO TYPE	TYPE (S)	TYPED	TYPED	TYPING
TO UNSCRAMBLE	UNSCRAMBLE (S)	UNSCRAMBLED	UNSCRAMBLED	UNSCRAMBLING
TO USE	USE (S)	USED	USED	USING
TO VISIT	VISIT (S)	VISITED	VISITED	VISITING
TO WAIT	WAIT (S)	WAITED	WAITED	WAITING
TO WALK	WALK (S)	WALKED	WALKED	WALKING
TO WANT	WANT (S)	WA NTED	WANTED	WANTING
TO WASH	WASH (S)	WASHED	WASHED	WASHING
TO WATCH	WATCH (S)	WATCHED	WATCHED	WATCHING
TO WORK	WORK (S)	WORKED	WORKED	WORKING

There are many irregular verbs that don’t follow the normal rules. Here are the forms of some of the most common irregular verbs:

Verb	3rd person singular present tense	3rd person singular past tense	past participle	present participle
be	is	was	been	being
begin	begins	began	begun	beginning
bite	bites	bit	bitten	biting
break	breaks	broke	broken	breaking
buy	buys	bought	bought	buying
choose	chooses	chose	chosen	choosing
come	comes	came	come	coming
dig	digs	dug	dug	digging
do	does	did	done	doing
drink	drinks	drank	drunk	drinking
eat	eats	ate	eaten	eating
fall	falls	fell	fallen	falling
feel	feels	felt	felt	feeling
find	finds	found	found	finding
get	gets	got	got	getting
go	goes	went	gone	going
grow	grows	grew	grown	growing
have	has	had	had	having
hide	hides	hid	hidden	hiding
keep	keeps	kept	kept	keeping
know	knows	knew	known	knowing
lay	lays	laid	laid	laying
lead	leads	led	led	leading
leave	leaves	left	left	leaving
lie	lies	lay	lain	lying
lose	loses	lost	lost	losing
make	makes	made	made	making
meet	meets	met	met	meeting
put	puts	put	put	putting
read /ri:d/	reads	read /red/	read /red/	reading
ride	rides	rode	ridden	riding
ring	rings	rang	rung	ringing
rise	rises	rose	risen	rising
run	runs	ran	run	running
say	says	said	said	saying
see	sees	saw	seen	seeing
sell	sells	sold	sold	selling
set	sets	set	set	setting
sing	sings	sang	sung	singing
sit	sits	sat	sat	sitting
stand	stands	stood	stood	standing
stick	sticks	stuck	stuck	sticking
take	takes	took	taken	taking
teach	teaches	taught	taught	teaching
think	thinks	thought	thought	thinking
wake	wakes	woke	woken	waking