292
Regular v
erbs
If
a verb is regular,
th
e p
as
t
si
mpl
e and past
pa
rtic
iple end in -ed. F
or
exampl
e:
infinitive clean finish use paint
past simple } L d
..
1 c eane
pa
st
parttc
tp
e
I For
sp
e
llin
g r
ul
es,
se
e Appendix 6.
finished
pa
inted
used
For
th
e p
as
t simple
(I
cleaned I t hey finished I she carried etc.),
see
Unit 5.
We use
th
e p
as
t par
ticip
le to make
th
e perf
ec
t t enses and all
the
passive fo
rm
s.
Perfe
ct tenses (have/has/had cleaned):
0 I have cleaned
th
e
wi
ndows.
(p
resent
perfect-
see Un
it
s 7 - 8)
stop
stopped
0 They were s
till
work
in
g.
They had
n'
t finished . (past perfect -
se
e Un
it
15)
Passiv
e
(is
cleaned I was clean
ed
et c.):
0 He was carried o
ut
of
th
e room.
:J This
gate
has
ju
st been painted.
Irreg
ul
ar
ve
rb
s
(past simple passive) l U .
42
44
. see n1ts -
(present perfect passtve)
carry
ca
rry
Wh
en
the
p
as
t
simpl
e and past
pa
rt iciple do not end in -ed
(for
example, I saw I I have seen
),
th
e
verb is i
rr
eg
ul
ar.
W
ith
so
me
irr
egular verb
s,
a
ll
three f orms
(infini
tive, past simple and past participle) are
the
same.
For exa
mpl
e,
hit
:
0 Don't
hit
m
e.
(infi
ni
ti
ve)
0
So
mebody
hit
me
as
I
ca
m e i
nto
the
room
. (past simple)
0 I've never
hit
an
ybody
in my life. (past participle- present perfect)
0 George was hit on the head by a stone. (past participle -passive)
With
ot her irregular verb
s,
th
e past s
impl
e
is
the
same
as
the
past
particip
le
(but
different
from
the
infini
tive). F
or
exampl
e,
tell
~
told
:
0
Ca
n
yo
u
tell
me what t o do? (infinitive)
8
She
told
me
to come back the
next
day. (past simple)
0 Have
yo
u
told
anybody abo
ut
yo
ur
new
job?
(past participle -present perfect)
C I was
told
t o come back t he n
ext
day. (past partic
ip
le
-passive)
With
o
th
er i
rr
eg
ul
ar verb
s,
all
thr
ee
forms are
different.
For example,
wake
~
woke/woken:
0 I'
ll
wake
yo
u up.
(infi
nitive)
C I woke up in t he
midd
le of
th
e night. (past simple)
0 The baby h
as
woken
up.
(past participle -present perfect)
0 I was woken up by a
lo
ud noise. (past participle -passive)
The
fo
ll
owing
verbs
ca
n be reg
ul
ar
or
irreg
ul
ar:
I burn
~
burn
ed
or
burnt smell
~
smell
ed
dream
~
dream
ed
or
dreamt (dremt]* spell
~
spell
ed
Lean
~
leaned
or
leant (l
ent
]* spill
~
sp
ill
ed
Learn
~
learned
or
learnt spoil
~
sp
oiled
So
you
can say:
~
I Leant out
of
t he window.
or
I
Leaned
out
of
the
window.
0 The dinner
ha
s been spoiled .
or
The dinner has been spoilt.
or
sme
lt
or
spe
lt
or
sp
ilt
or
spoi
lt
*pronunciation
In Brit i
sh
English t he irregu lar
form
(burnt/learnt etc.)
is
more
usual.
Fo
r
Amer
i
ca
n
Eng
lish,
see
Appendix
7.
