Verbs

Four suffixes consistently added to a verb's base create all forms of a verb used in all tenses:

1. -s          creates 3rd person singular / present tense  (He talks.)

2. -ing       creates the present participle / used with be  (He is talking.)

3. -ed        creates the simple past  (He talked.)

4. -en        creates the past participle / used with have  (He has talked.)

Note:

The -en verb ending used with a form of to have as an auxiliary is generally written -ed, as in has talked.

What Is Passive Voice?

In passive voice, the target of the action gets promoted to the subject position. Instead of saying, "Steve loves Amy," I would say, "Amy is loved by Steve." The subject of the sentence becomes Amy, but she isn't doing anything. Rather, she is just the recipient of Steve's love. The focus of the sentence has changed from Steve to Amy.

If you wanted to make the title of the Marvin Gaye song passive, you would say "It was heard by me through the grapevine," not such a catchy title anymore.

Present	Past (-ed form)	Past Participle (-en form)
arise	arose	arisen
ask	asked	asked
attack	attacked	attacked
awaken	awakened OR awoke	awakened
bear	bore	borne/born
begin	began	begun
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
bring	brought	brought
burst	burst	burst
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
dive	dived OR dove	dived
do	did	done
drag	dragged	dragged
draw	drew	drawn
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
drown	drowned	drowned
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
fly	flew	flown
forgive	forgave	forgiven
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	got OR gotten
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grow	grew	grown
hang (things)	hung	hung
hang (people)	hanged	hanged
happen	happened	happened
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
lie	lay	lain
loosen	loosened	loosened
lose	lost	lost
pay	paid	paid
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
see	saw	seen
set	set	set
shake	shook	shaken
shrink	shrank OR shrunk	shrunk OR shrunken
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank OR sunk	sunk
sit	sat	sat
speak	spoke	spoken
spin	spun	spun
spit	spat	spat
spring	sprang OR sprung	sprung
steal	stole	stolen
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank OR stunk	stunk
strive	strove	striven
study	studied	studied
swear	swore	sworn
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
tear	tore	torn
throw	threw	thrown
wake	woke OR waked	woken OR waked
wear	wore	worn
weave	wove	woven
wring	wrung	wrung
write	wrote	written Read the following sentences. The batter hit the ball. The bird sang. What is the difference between the two verbs in the above sentences? At first thought, you may say the definition but forget about the meaning. Instead, concentrate on the grammar. How do the verbs differ grammatically? Notice that the first sentence has two words following the verb hit. The second sentence doesn't have words after the verb sang. These two facts lead us to a discussion on transitive and intransitive verbs. What are transitive verbs? Transitive verbs are action verbs that have an object to receive that action. In the first sentence above, thedirect object ball received the action of the verb hit. Here are some more examples of transitive verbs: I baked some cookies. I rode the bicycle. I moved the chair. I stitched a quilt. All of the verbs in the above sentences are transitive because an object is receiving the action of the verb. But what about the sentence "The bird sang." Is the verb in that sentence a transitive verb? No, in this case the verb sang is an intransitive verb. What are intransitive verbs? Intransitive verbs are action verbs but unlike transitive verbs, they do not have an object receiving the action. Notice there are no words after the verb sang. More examples of intransitive verbs: I laughed. I cried. The book fell. The horse galloped. The sun set. In all of the above cases the subject is performing the action of the verb and nothing is receiving the action. What about this sentence? I walked to the park today. Is walked transitive or intransitive? Think about the rules. Since walked has words coming after it, the verb must be transitive, right? WRONG! The phrase to the park is a prepositional phrase and today is an adverb. There is no object receiving the action of the verb walked so the verb is intransitive. To recap, a transitive verb must be an action verb plus there must be an object to receive that action.

      Because many verbs in English are irregular; as result, their –ed and/or –en  endings may not follow any obvious pattern.

 

Examples:
(to write)	Smith writes short stories at home. (-s ending)
	Smith is writing short stories at home. (-ing ending)
	Smith wrote short stories at home. (-ed ending)
	Smith has written short stories at home. (-en ending)
	*
(to buy)	Jones buys a newspaper each day.  (-s ending)
	Jones is buying a newspaper today.  (-ing ending)
	Jones bought a newspaper yesterday. (-ed ending)
	Jones has bought newspapers every day.  (-en ending)
	*
(to go)	Students go to the library often. (-s ending)
	Students are going to the library often. (-ing ending)
	Students went to the library often. (-ed ending)
	Students have gone to the library often. (-en ending)