Principal Parts of Verbs

Principal Parts of Verbs

The four basic forms

of a verb are called the principal

parts of the verb.

The four principal parts of a verb are

the base form, the present

participle, the past, and the

past participle.

ExamplesBase

Form

Present

Part-iciple

Past Past Participle

start

(is)starti

ng

start-ed

(have)starte

d

wear

(is) wear-

ing

wore

(have) worn

Note• The words is and have are included in

the chart on the previous slide

because present participle and past

participle verb forms require helping verbs

(forms of be and have) to form tenses.

As you can see from their

names, the principal parts of a verb are

used to express time.

Present Time•She wears a blue uniform.

•Ray has been wearing his baseball cap.

Past Time•Yesterday, we wore sweaters.

•I had worn braces for three months.

Future Time• Jessica will wear

her new dress at the party.

•By next spring, Joey will have worn holes in those shoes.

A verb that forms its past and past

participle by adding –d or –ed is called a

regular verb. A verb that forms its past and past participle differently is called an irregular verb.

Regular VerbsBase Form

Present

Participle

Past Past Partici

ple

Wash (is) washi

ng

washed

(have) washe

d

Hop (is) hoppi

ng

Hopped

(have) hoppe

d

Use (is) using

used (have) used

Note• Most regular verbs

that end in –e drop the –e before

adding –ing. Some regular verbs

double the final consonant before

adding –ing or –ed.

ExamplesCause Causing Caused

Drop Dropping

Dropped

One common error in

forming the past or past

participle of a regular verb is to leave off the

–d or –ed ending.

Example•NONSTANDARD: Josh was suppose to meet us here.

•STANDARD: Josh was supposed to

meet us here.

PracticePresent Past Past

Participle

begin 1. __________ have begun

freeze 2. __________ have frozen

write wrote 3. _________

blow 4. __________ have blown

drive drove 5. _________

wear wore 6. _________

sing 7. __________ have sung

ride 8. __________ have ridden

PracticePresent Past Past

Participle

choose chose 9. _________go 10. _________ have gonerun 11. _________ have runthrow threw 12. ________come came 13. ________see saw 14. ________speak 15. _________ have spokenburst 16. _________ have burst

PracticePresent Past Past

Participlechoose chose 9. go 10. have

gonerun 11. have runthrow threw 12. come came 13. see saw 14. speak 15. have spokenburst 16. have

burst

PracticePresent Past Past

Participleswim swam 17. ________

sink sank 18. ________break 19. _________ have brokenbring 20. _________ have brought

PracticePresent Past Past

Participle

swim swam 17. sink sank 18. break 19. have brokenbring 20. have brought