Principal Parts of Verbs
Grammar Rules Guide - Chapter 27
The three principal parts of verbs are the present tense form, the past tense form, and the past participle. (The present participle or -ing form is sometimes considered a fourth principal part.)
Present Tense indicates an action in the present:
Now the class begins.
She walks to class.
Past Tense indicates an action that occurred in the past:
We wanted to see the show.
The little girl blew a bubble.
The Past Participle can be used as an adjective or modifier. It is typically formed by adding d or ed to the base form. Many times, this form is identical to the past tense of the verb:
Since the dishes were washed, we left the kitchen.
The broken vase sat unceremoniously on the kitchen table.
Common Mistakes
There are many irregular verbs (about 250) that confuse writers when forming past tense and past participles. Here is a sample of irregular verbs.
Present Tense - drink; Past Tense - drank Past; Participle - drunk
Present Tense - be; Past Tense - was, were; Past Participle - been
Present Tense - eat; Past Tense - ate; Past Participle - eaten
Present Tense - see; Past Tense - saw; Past Participle - seen
Present Tense - swim; Past Tense - swam; Past Participle - swum
Grammar Rules Guide Index
Active and Passive Voice - Chapter 1
Adjective, Adverb, and Noun Clauses - Chapter 2
Adjectives - Chapter 3
Adverbs - Chapter 4
Appositives - Chapter 5
Auxiliary Verbs - Chapter 6
Common and Proper Nouns - Chapter 7
Comparatives and Superlatives - Chapter 8
Complements - Chapter 9
Conjunctions - Chapter 10
Conjunctive Adverbs - Chapter 11
Dangling Modifiers - Chapter 12
Direct and Indirect Objects - Chapter 13
Fused Sentences, Run-Ons, and Comma Splices - Chapter 14
Homophones - Chapter 15
Independent and Dependent Clauses - Chapter 16
Interjections - Chapter 17
Mass and Count Nouns - Chapter 18
Misplaced Modifiers - Chapter 19
Noun and Pronoun Case - Chapter 20
Noun and Verb Phrases - Chapter 21
Nouns - Chapter 22
Parallelism - Chapter 23
Perfect and Progressive Verb Forms - Chapter 24
Prepositional Phrases - Chapter 25
Prepositions - Chapter 26
Principal Parts of Verbs - Chapter 27
Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement - Chapter 28
Pronouns - Chapter 29
Regular and Irregular Verbs - Chapter 30
Relative Clauses - Chapter 31
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Clauses - Chapter 32
Sentence Fragments - Chapter 33
Sentence Types - Chapter 34
Subjects and Predicates - Chapter 35
Verb Mood - Chapter 36
Verbals and Verbal Phrases - Chapter 37
easyfuncandlebiz.com homeandcareers.com ocnsignal.com walking101.com wicksworks.com