English Grammar for the Utterly Confused - Laurie Rozakis 2003
Regular and Irregular Verbs
Chapter 3. Using Verbs Correctly
Part 1 Welcome to grammarland
English verbs are divided into two classes: regular and irregular. These classifications come from the way the verb forms its past tense and past participles.
• Regular verbs: The past tense and past participle forms are created by adding -d, -ed, or -t to the present form, but the vowel doesn’t change; for example, walk, walked, walked.
• Irregular verbs: No pattern is followed when the past and past participle are formed. Instead, there are many different forms. For example, with some irregular verbs the vowel changes and an -n or -e is added, as in begin, began, begun. With other verbs, the vowel changes and a -d or -t is added, as in lose, lost, lost.
Of all the verbs in English, lie and lay are likely the most often confused. Lay is a regular verb; lie is an irregular verb.
• Lie means “to repose.” Lie conjugates as lie, lay, lain.
• Lay means “to put.” Lay conjugates as lay, laid, laid.
Because lay is both the present tense of to lay and the past tense of to lie, many speakers and writers use lay when they mean lie.
• Lie is an intransitive verb. That means that it never takes a direct object.
When people are exhausted, they should lie down for a rest.
• Lay is a transitive verb. That means that lay always takes a direct object.
Lay the papers down.
The following chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that have the same present participle, past, and past participle forms.
The next chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that have the same past and past participle forms.
Quick Tip
The most irregular verb in English is to be. Its principal parts are be, being, was, were, been, am, are, is.
The following chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that change in unpredictable ways:
