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")