Use of irregular verbs

Present tense formation

In the present simple tense, the basic form of a regular verb only changes in the 3rd person singular, as follows:

Most verbs just add -s to the basic form (e.g. take/takes, seem/seems, look/looks).

 

Verbs that end with a vowel other than e add -es (e.g. go/goes, veto/vetoes, do/does).

 

Verbs that end with -s, -z, -ch, -sh, and -x add -es (e.g. kiss/kisses, fizz/fizzes, punch/punches, wash/washes, mix/mixes).

 

If the verb ends in a consonant plus -y, change the y to an i before adding -es (e.g. hurry/hurries, clarify/clarifies). But if the verb ends in a vowel plus -y, just add -s (e.g. play/plays, enjoy/enjoys).

 

Past tense formation

Forming the past simple tense of regular verbs is mostly straightforward, and you use the same form for the first, second, and third persons, singular and plural:

If the basic form of the verb ends in a consonant or a vowel other than e, add the letters -ed to the end (e.g. seem/seemed, laugh/laughed, look/looked).

 

For verbs that end in -e, add -d (e.g. love/loved, recede/receded, hope/hoped).

 

If the verb ends in a consonant plus -y, change the y to an i before adding -ed (e.g. hurry/hurried, clarify/clarified). But if the verb ends in a vowel plus -y, just add -ed (e.g. play/played, enjoy/enjoyed).

 

For more detail, see Verb tenses: adding-ed-and-ing.

 

Forming participles

To form the past participle of regular verbs, follow the same rules as for the past simple tense above.

 

To make the present participle of regular verbs:

If the basic form of the verb ends in a consonant or a vowel other than e, add the ending -ing (e.g. laugh/laughing, boo/booing).

 

If the verb ends in e, drop the e before adding -ing (e.g. love/loving, hope/hoping).

 

If the basic form ends in y just add -ing (e.g. hurry/hurrying, clarify/clarifying).