Irregular Verbs
Irregular Verbs
• An Irregular Verb is a verb that doesn’t follow
general rules for verb forms.
• Except for the verb be, all main verbs have 5
forms.
Verb Forms
• Base Form:
Usually I walk.
• Past Tense:
Yesterday I walked.
• Past Participle:
I have walked many times.
• Present Participle:
• - S Form:
I am walking right now.
He walks.
Irregular Verbs
• For regular verbs, the past-tense and pastparticiple forms end in –ed or –d.
• For irregular verbs, the past tense and past
participle are formed differently: rode, ridden;
began, begun.
Past-Tense
• Here are some clues for you…
– The past tense always occurs alone, without a
helping verb.
– It always expresses action that occurred entirely in
the past: I rode to work yesterday. I walked to
work last Tuesday.
Past Participle
• The past participle is used with a helping verb.
• It forms the perfect tenses with has, have, or had.
– perfect tense - a tense of verbs used in describing
action that has been completed
• It forms the passive voice with be, am, is, was,
were, being, or been.
Irregular Verbs
Distinguishing Among the Forms of Lie
and Lay
• Writers and speakers frequently confuse the
various forms of lie and lay.
• Lie is an intransitive verb; it does not take a
direct object:
– The tax forms lie on the table.
• Lay is transitive; it does take a direct object:
– Please lay the tax forms on the table.
Standard Forms of Lie and Lay
Base Form Past Tense
Lie
Lay
Lay
Laid
Past
Participle
Lain
Laid
Present
Participle
Lying
Laying
Standard Forms of Lie and Lay
• Sue was so exhausted that she ---- down for a
nap.
• The patient had ---- in an uncomfortable
position all night.
• The prosecutor ---- laid the pistol on a table
close to the jurors.
• Letters dating from the Civil War were ---- in
the corner of the chest.
Use –s (or –es) endings on presenttense verbs that have third-person
singular subjects.
• When the subject of a sentence is thirdperson singular, its verb takes an –s or –es
ending in the present tense.
• All singular nouns (such as boy) and the
pronouns he, she, and it are third-person
singular. Indefinite pronouns (such as
everyone) are also third-person singular.
Irregular Verbs
Singular
First Person I know
2nd Person You know
3rd Person He/she/it knows
Boy knows
everyone knows
Plural
We know
You know
They know
Parents know
Examples…
• Sulfur dioxide turn/turns leaves yellow,
dissolve/dissolves marble, and eat/eats away
iron and steel.
• I prepare/prepares program specifications and
logic diagrams.
• The dirt floors require/requires continual
sweeping.
Irregular Verbs (Third-Person Singular)
In nonstandard speech, the –s verb form has, does,
or doesn’t is sometimes replaced with have, do,
or don’t.
In standard speech, use has, does, or doesn’t with a
third-person singular subject.
* This respected musician always has/have a
message in his work.
* Do/Does she know the correct procedure for
the experiment?
* My uncle don’t/doesn’t want to change jobs
right now.
Do Not Omit –ed Endings on Verbs
• Speakers who do not fully pronounce –ed
ending sometimes omit them unintentionally
in writing.
• Failure to pronounce –ed endings is common
in many dialects and informal speech.
• When a verb is regular, both the past tense
and the past participle are formed by adding –
ed to the base form of the verb.
-ed Endings
• Use an –ed or –d ending to express the past tense
of regular verbs. The past tense is used when the
action occurred entirely in the past.
– Over the weekend, Ed fix/fixed his car
– Last summer my counselor advise/advised me to ask
my family for help.
• Past Participles are used in three ways:
– Following have, has, or had to form one of the perfect
tenses
– Following be, am, is, are, was, were, being, or been
– As adjectives modifying nouns or pronouns
Past Participles
• Robin has ask/asked me to go to California
with her.
• Though it is not a new phenomenon, domestic
violence is publicize/publicized more
frequently than before.
• All aerobics classes end in a cool-down period
to stretch tighten/tightened muscles.
The Subjunctive Mood
The Subjunctive Mood
• There are three moods in English:
– The Indicative – used for facts, opinions, and
questions.
– The Imperative – used for orders and advice
– The Subjunctive – used in certain contexts to
express wishes, requests, or conditions contrary to
fact.
Of these moods, the subjunctive is most likely
to cause problems for writers.
Forms of the Subjunctive
• In the subjunctive mood, present-tense verbs
do not change form to indicate the number
and person of the subject.
• Instead, the subjunctive uses the base form of
the verb with all subjects.
– It is important that you are/be prepared for the
interview
– We asked that she drive/drives more slowly.
The Subjunctive Mood
• Also, in the subjunctive mood, there is only
one past-tense form of be: were (never was)
– If I was/were you, I’d proceed more cautiously.
Uses of the Subjunctive
• The subjunctive mood appears in only a few
contexts: in contrary-to-fact clauses beginning
with if or expressing a wish; in that clauses
following verbs such as ask, insist,
recommend, request, and suggest; and in
certain set expressions.
In Contrary-To-Fact Clauses With If…
• When a subordinate clause beginning with if
expresses a condition contrary to fact, use the
subjunctive mood.
– If I was/were a member of Congress, I would vote
for that bill.
– We could be less cautious if Jake was/were more
trustworthy.
• The verbs in these sentences express conditions that do
not exist: The writer is not a member of Congress, and
Jake is not trustworthy
In Contrary-To-Fact Clauses With If…
• Do not use the subjunctive mood in if clauses
expressing conditions that may or may not
exist.
– If Dana wins the contest, she will leave for Spain in
June.
In Contrary-to-Fact Clauses Expressing
a Wish…
• In formal English, the subjunctive is used in
clauses expressing a wish or a desire; in
informal speech, however, the indicative is
more commonly used.
– Formal – I wish that Dr. Vaughn were my
professor.
– Informal – I wish that Dr. Vaughn was my
professor.
In That Clauses Following Verbs Such
as Ask, Insist, Recommend, Request,
and Suggest
• Because requests have not yet become reality,
they are expressed in the subjunctive mood.
– Professor Moore insists that her students are/be
on time.
– We recommend that Lambert file/files form 1050
soon.