Handout 56

Handout 56

Rules For Irregular Verbs

Understand the problem.

All verbs, whether regular or irregular, have five forms (often called principal parts). These forms are the infinitive, simple present, simple past, past participle, and present participle.

The difference between a regular and an irregular verb is the formation of the simple past and past participle. Regular verbs all work the same way - the simple past ends in -ed as does the past participle. Check out this chart.

Infinitive	Simple Present	Simple Past	Past Participle	Present Participle
to laugh	laugh(s)	laughed	laughed	laughing
to start	start(s)	started	started	starting
to wash	wash(es)	washed	washed	washing
to wink	wink(s)	winked	winked	winking

Irregular verbs, on the other hand, can end in a variety of ways, with absolutely no consistent pattern. Here are some examples:

Infinitive	Simple Present	Simple Past	Past Participle	Present Participle
to drive	drive(s)	drove	driven	driving
to feel	feel(s)	felt	felt	feeling
to put	put(s)	put	put	putting
to swim	swim(s)	swam	swum	swimming

Writers make two frequent errors with irregular verbs. The writers either add an incorrect -ed to the end of an irregular verb, or they accidentally interchange the simple past and past participle. Read this problem sentence:

Olivia feeled like exercising yesterday, so she putted on her bathing suit and drived to the beach, where she swum so far that only an extra large serving of lechon would satisfy her hunger.

What are the problems with this sentence? First, feeled should be felt. Next, putted needs to be put. The correct past tense form of drive is drove. And we must change swum to swam.

Know the solution.

First, you must also understand the difference between the simple past and past participle.

A simple past tense verb always has just one part. You need no auxiliary verb to form this tense. Look at these examples:

	Because lunch time was near, my student on bit his pen and ate his geometry notes.
	Because Denise had ignored bills for so long, she wrote out checks for an hour straight.
	Despite the noise, jolts, and jerks, Alex slept so soundly on the jeepney that he missed his stop.

Many multipart verbs, however, require the past participle after one or more auxiliary verbs. Read these sentences:

Raymond had bitten into the cake before Charise mentioned that it was flavored with shrimp paste and sardines. had = auxiliary verb; bitten = past participle.

Once Dodoy has written his essay for Mr. Schwab, he plans to reward himself with a mango shake. has = auxiliary verb; written = past participle.

Cynthia might have slept better if she hadn't stayed up all night with her friends singing karaoke songs. might, have = auxiliary verbs; slept = past participle.

For regular verbs, knowing the distinction between the simple past and past participle is unnecessary because both are identical. Check out these two sentences:

Diane giggled as her dog pushed his cold wet nose into her stomach, searching for cookie crumbs. giggled = simple past

Until her attention was distracted by a loud noise, Diane, had giggled without stop at the sight of the puppy chasing its tail. had = auxiliary verb; giggled = past participle

When you choose an irregular verb for a sentence, however, the simple past and past participle are often different, so you must know the distinction. Here are two examples:

Joy wrote so quickly that she finished a four page essay on only twenty-five minutes. wrote = simple past

Joy might have written faster if she hadn't forgotten her fastest-writing pen at home. might, have = auxiliary verbs; written = past participle

In addition, past participles can function as adjectives in sentences, describing other words. When you use a past participle in this manner, you must choose the correct form. Read these sentences:

The English exams given by Professor Schwab are so difficult that his students believe their brains will burst.

Delores discovered the stolen bologna under the sofa, guarded fiercely by Max, her Chihuahua.

The written reprimand so shamed the poor English 1-A students that they promised their captain that they would skip class again.

Remember that you can always consult a dictionary when you have a question about the correct form of an irregular verb.

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