The building blocks of all verb tenses.
The Four Principal Parts of Verbs
The Four Principal PartsEvery verb has four principal parts:
Notice that the Present Participle and the Past Participle both have helping verbs (is and has).
Present Present Participle Past Past
Participle
walk is walking walked has walked
Seems easy, right?
Present Present Participle Past Past
Participle
walk is walking walked has walked
Add -ing to the base form of the verb to create the present participle.
Add -ed to the base form of the verb to create the past and past participle.
Seems easy, right?
Present Present Participle Past Past
Participle
walk is walking walked has walked
Verbs like "walk" are easy because they're regular verbs and follow this easy-to-
remember pattern.
Check out these other regular verbs:
Present Present Participle
Past Past Participleattack is attacking attacked has attackedcarry is carrying carried has carried
borrow is borrowing borrowed has borrowed borrowedflow is flowing flowed has flowed
decide is deciding decided has decidedimagine is imagining imagined has imagined
spoil is spoiling spoiled has spoiledwash is washing washed has washedyawn is yawning yawned has yawned
Notice how they all follow the same pattern: Add -ing for the present form and add -ed for the past and past participle forms.
What about a verb like "fall"?
The present participle is still formed by adding -ing.
The past and past participle, however, are NOT formed by adding -ed.
The verb "fall" is one of many irregular verbs. Irregular verbs are verbs whose past and past participle forms are not made by adding -ed to the present.
Present Present Participle Past Past
Participle
fall is falling fell has fallen
Why does it matter?
Using the incorrect form of the verb is probably one of the most common errors that people make when they write or speak.
Choose the correct sentences below:
I have ran this race before.
OR
I have run this race before.
I have wrote my essay.
OR
I have written my essay.
Why does it matter?
Knowing when to use a helping verb (have, has, or had) with the correct form of the verb helps you speak and write correctly.
For example, "ran" is the past tense of "run." It is NEVER correct to use a helping verb with "ran."
Likewise, "wrote" is the past tense of "write." It is NEVER correct to use a helping verb with "wrote."
I have ran this race before.
OR
I have run this race before.
I have wrote my essay.
OR
I have written my essay.
So how are you supposed to know all the different forms of the irregular verbs?
For this one, there is no button.
You just have to memorize the four principal parts of the irregular verbs.
The good news is that they generally form patterns that can help you learn them quickly.
More good news - the present participle of any verb is always formed by adding -ing. So, it's really the past and past participle that you must be concerned with. In the charts that follow, you won't find the present participle (the part of the verb that ends in -ing) since it's always the same for any verb.
Pattern #1
(The helping verb with any past participle can be has, have, or had. Has is used in these examples.)
Present Past Past Participle
The present form and the
past participle form are the
same.
become became has become
come came has come
run ran has run
Pattern #2
Present Past Past Participle
The past and past participle forms are the
same.
bring brought has broughtbuild built has builtbuy bought has bought
catch caught has caughtcreep crept has creptfeel felt has feltget got has got
keep kept has keptlay laid has laid
leave left has left
Pattern #2 (continued)
Present Past Past Participle
The past and past participle forms are the
same.
lead led has ledlend lent has lentlose lost has lost
make made has madepay paid has paidsay said has said
seek sought has soughtsell sold has sold
shine shone has shonesit sat has sat
Pattern #2 (continued)
Present Past Past Participle
The past and past participle forms are the
same.
sleep slept has slept
sting stung has stung
swing swung has swung
teach taught has taught
think thought has thought
win won has won
wind wound has wound
Pattern #3
Present Past Past Participle
The forms of the present, the past, and
the past participle are all the same.
burst burst has burstcost cost has costcut cut has cuthurt hurt has hurtlet let has letput put has putset set has set
shut shut has shut
Pattern #4
Present Past Past Participle
The last vowel changes from i in the present to a
in the past to u in the past
participle.
begin began has begun
drink drank has drunk
ring rang has rung
shrink shrank has shrunk
sing sang has sung
sink sank has sunk
spring sprang has sprung
swim swam has swum
Pattern #5
Present Past Past Participle
The past form ends in -ew and the
past participle ends in -wn.
blow blew has blown
draw drew has drawn
fly flew has flown
grow grew has grown
know knew has known
throw threw has thrown
Pattern #6Present Past Past
Participle
The past participle is formed from the present,
often by adding -en or
-n.
do did has donedrive drove has driveneat ate has eatenfall fell has fallengive gave has givengo went has gonerise rose has risensee saw has seen
shake shook has shakentake took has takenwrite wrote has written
Pattern #7
Present Past Past Participle
The past participle is formed by
adding -n or -en to the
past.
bite bit has bittenbreak broke has broken
choose chose has chosenfreeze froze has frozen
lie lay has lainspeak spoke has spokensteal stole has stolentear tore has tornwear wore has worn
Pattern #8 - The most irregular verb in the English language
Present Present Participle Past Past
Participle
"Be" follows no pattern.
am, is, are is being was, were has been
Practice Choose the correct form of the verb to complete the sentence.
Check your answers on the next slide.
1. My sister (sang, sung) on television.
2. After I had (fell, fallen) off the ladder for the fifth time, I knew carpentry was not for me.
3. The lettuce stored in the new refrigerator has (froze, frozen).
4. How many inches has that plant (grew, grown) in the past week?
5. The phone had already (rang, rung) five times when I answered it.
6. Has Alicia (spoke, spoken) to you about going to the movie?
Answers1. My sister (sang, sung) on television. ("sang" is used without a helping
verb)
2. After I had (fell, fallen) off the ladder for the fifth time, I knew carpentry was not for me. ("fa!en" is used with the helping verb "had")
3. The lettuce stored in the new refrigerator has (froze, frozen). (""ozen" is used with the helping verb "has")
4. How many inches has that plant (grew, grown) in the past week?("grown" is used with the helping verb "has")
5. The phone had already (rang, rung) five times when I answered it. ("rung" is used with the helping verb "had")
6. Has Alicia (spoke, spoken) to you about going to the movie? ("spoken" is used with the helping verb "has")