When verbs aren’t regular

Add comment September 9th, 2008

Most verbs in English are considered “regular” because their tenses follow the normal pattern — what’s known grammatically as “inflection.”

If you look up a verb in the dictionary and no additional forms are listed, that means it’s regular and is inflected in the usual way. For example, the verb “talk”:

I talk a lot. (present tense)

Yesterday I talked too much. (past tense)

It’s not the first time I have talked too much. (past participle — notice the “helping” or “auxiliary” verb “have”)

However, “speak” is an “irregular” verb. Look it up and you’ll see “speak, spoke, spoken.”

I speak for no one else. (present)

I spoke at the Kiwanis Club last week. (past)

We haven’t spoken in three years. (past participle)

There are 174 “common” irregular verbs listed in “Garner’s Modern American Usage.” Among those that give us the most trouble are “drink,” “forecast,” “leap,” “shrink,” “sink,” “spring,” “stink” and “swim.”

And, of course, the champion troublemakers: “lay” and “lie.”

As always, when in doubt, look it up — and be sure you know which tense you need.