Principal Parts of Verbs
The Principal Parts of Verbs
Every verb can take different forms to show when the verb’s action or state of being happened. The main forms of a verb are called its principal parts.
The principal parts of a verb are the base form, the present participle, the past, and the past participle. All other verb forms are formed from these principal parts.
In the following chart, all helping verbs are shown in brackets because present participles and past participles cannot be used as verbs unless accompanied by helping verbs.
| BASE FORM | PRESENT PARTICIPLE | PAST | PAST PARTICIPLE |
| trick | [is] tricking | tricked | [have] tricked |
| marry | [is] marrying | married | [have] married |
| go | [is] going | went | [have] gone |
Regular Verbs
All verbs form the present participle by adding –ing to the base form.
| BASE FORM | PRESENT PARTICIPLE |
| spray | [is] spraying |
| organize |
[is] organizing |
| swing |
[is] swinging |
A regular verb forms its past and past participle by adding –d or –ed to its base form.
| BASE FORM | PAST | PAST PARTICIPLE |
| prepare | prepared | [have] prepared |
| follow | followed | [have] followed |
REMINDER
Do not leave off the –d or –ed from the past or past participle forms of a regular verb.
NONSTANDARD
- Betty use to put her toys away when she was suppose to do so.
STANDARD
- Betty used to put her toys away when she was supposed to do so.
Irregular Verbs
An irregular verb forms its past and past participle in some way other than by adding –d or –ed to its base form.
Irregular verbs form their past and past participle forms in one of the following ways:
- changing vowels
- changing vowels and consonants
- changing consonants
- making no change
| BASE FORM | PAST | PAST PARTICIPLE |
| win | won | [have] won [The i in win changes to o.] |
| build | built | [have] built [The d in build changes to t.] |
| do | did | [have] done [Vowels and consonants in do change.] |
| spread | spread | [have] spread [There is no change to spread.] |
REMINDER
VERB
- begin
- forsake
PRESENT PARTICIPLE
- [is] beginning
- [is] forsaking
Avoid the following common errors:
- Using the past form of an irregular verb with a helping verb
NONSTANDARD
Todd has broke your record.
STANDARD
Todd broke your record. - Using the past participle of a verb without a helping verb
NONSTANDARD
We seen the races between you.
STANDARD
We have seen the races between you. - Adding –d, –ed, or –t to the base form of an irregular verb
NONSTANDARD
Todd breaked your record.
STANDARD
Todd broke your record.
Summary
The principal parts of verbs refer to the four different forms that a verb can take: the base form (also known as the infinitive), the present participle, the past simple, and the past participle. These different forms are used to indicate the tense and voice of the verb in a sentence.
Here is a list of different types of principal parts of verbs, along with five examples for each:
1. Regular Verbs
- Base Form: talk
- Present Participle: talking
- Past Simple: talked
- Past Participle: talked
2. Irregular Verbs
- Base Form: eat
- Present Participle: eating
- Past Simple: ate
- Past Participle: eaten
3. Modal Verbs
- Base Form: can
- Present Participle: canning
- Past Simple: could
- Past Participle: could have
4. Phrasal Verbs
- Base Form: take off
- Present Participle: taking off
- Past Simple: took off
- Past Participle: taken off
5. Helping Verbs
- Base Form: be
- Present Participle: being
- Past Simple: was/were
- Past Participle: been