On Wednesday (9/23/15) in class we reviewed the material on possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns that I mentioned in my previous post. If you were not in class, read the online lesson and do the exercises. Here is the link to the lesson again (the link to the exercise is near the bottom of the page, under the green pronoun chart):
Lesson on Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns
We also began our study of the past tense of irregular verbs. We say that most English verbs are regular. We mean that the regular (usual) way to form the simple past tense is to add -ed (or -d if the base verb already ends in e) to the base form of the verb. The base form of a verb is the verb part of the infinitive ("to + verb")--to walk, to look, to save, etc. So the difference between present and past is only the verb's ending (although sometimes we have to make spelling changes at the end of the word, as we have discussed in class):
walk walked
hug hugged
save saved
study studied
However, irregular verbs do not follow this pattern. You cannot make the past tense by adding -ed. Instead, there may be spelling changes inside the word, not just at the end. The simple past form of some irregular verbs looks like a completely different word. An example is the verb to go. The base form used in the present tense is go, but the past tense form is went.
Below is a link to a chart that lists the most common irregular verbs and their principal parts--base form, past tense form, and past participle. We haven't yet studied the verb tenses that use the past participle.
My suggestion: Start studying these 50 most used irregular verbs and their parts. Then you will recognize them as we learn about the verb tenses that use them.
The 50 most common Irregular Verbs--Principal Parts
Lesson on Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns
We also began our study of the past tense of irregular verbs. We say that most English verbs are regular. We mean that the regular (usual) way to form the simple past tense is to add -ed (or -d if the base verb already ends in e) to the base form of the verb. The base form of a verb is the verb part of the infinitive ("to + verb")--to walk, to look, to save, etc. So the difference between present and past is only the verb's ending (although sometimes we have to make spelling changes at the end of the word, as we have discussed in class):
walk walked
hug hugged
save saved
study studied
However, irregular verbs do not follow this pattern. You cannot make the past tense by adding -ed. Instead, there may be spelling changes inside the word, not just at the end. The simple past form of some irregular verbs looks like a completely different word. An example is the verb to go. The base form used in the present tense is go, but the past tense form is went.
Below is a link to a chart that lists the most common irregular verbs and their principal parts--base form, past tense form, and past participle. We haven't yet studied the verb tenses that use the past participle.
My suggestion: Start studying these 50 most used irregular verbs and their parts. Then you will recognize them as we learn about the verb tenses that use them.
The 50 most common Irregular Verbs--Principal Parts
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