Verbs are vital to every sentence we think, speak, or write. Confusion can occur when verbs change root forms, or their principal parts,
in order to depict action in past, present, or future tenses.
- Regular verbs are easy because the root word remains unchanged. To change a regular verb from present tense to one of the other
tenses, simply add –ed, -ing, or -t to the ending.
Example: leap, leaped, leaping, or leapt.
a) The horse leaps the fence, and then bounds away. (present tense)
b) The child leaped over the wall to watch the event. (past tense)
c) The cat leapt to the ground. (past participle)
d) The cat preferred to watch the school of fish leaping upstream. (present participle)
- Irregular verbs, however, cause most confusion because their principal parts may change completely, partially, or change not at all.
Examples:
- Complete change: rise, rose, risen.
- Partial change: catch, caught, caught.
- No change: burst, burst, burst.
To write effectively, we need to be familiar with the irregular verb’s principal parts or verb forms.
Principal Parts
A verb’s principal parts or verb forms depict the verb in past, present, or future tense. Let’s consider the past and present tenses of
the verb write: write, wrote, written.
- I write to pay the bills. (root word and present tense)
- I wrote three of the articles published in the last edition. (past tense)
- I have written several articles for the magazine in the past. (past participle, requires auxiliary verb have)
Most Confused Verbs
These most confused verbs have been categorized according to present, past, and past-participle tenses. Visual aids like the box below
help commit principle parts to memory.
A. Root word/present tense, past tense*, and past-participle* tenses.
- Lay, laid, laid
- Lie, lay, lain
- Set, set, set
- Sit, sat, sat
- Raise, raised, raised
- Rise, rose, risen
Past tense: Action occurred before the present time. May require auxiliary or helping verbs (is, was, have, had, has, etc).
Past-participle: Requires auxiliary verbs to form tenses (is, was, have, had, has, etc).
B. Verb definitions and sentence examples.
- Lay, laid, laid: means to put something.
- Correct: Please lay this book on the table. (root/present tense)
Incorrect: Please lie this book on the table. (lie means to recline)
- Correct: He laid his keys on the table. (past tense)
Incorrect: He lay the book on the table before he left the room. (past tense if lie which means to recline)
- Correct: The book has laid there all day. (past participle with auxiliary verb has)
Incorrect: The book has lain there all day. (past participle of lie which means to recline)
- Lie, lay, lain: means to recline.
- Correct: May I lie on this towel? (root/present tense)
Incorrect: May I lay on the towel? (to put)
- Correct: She lay on that beach towel, yesterday. (past tense)
Incorrect: She laid on that beach towel, yesterday. (to put)
- Correct: I have lain on the beach since morning. (past participle with auxiliary verb have)
Incorrect: I have laid on the beach since morning. (to put)
- Set, set, set: to put or place something. (Hens set, cement sets, and the sun sets.)
- Correct: Please set the dishes on the table. (root/present tense)
Incorrect: Please sit the dishes on the table. (to seat oneself)
- Correct: I set my books on the table moments ago. (past tense)
Incorrect: I sat my books on the table moments ago. (to seat oneself)
- Correct: She has set the table with the new dishes. (past participle with helping verb has)
Incorrect: She has sat the table with the new dishes. (to seat oneself)
- Sit, sat, sat: to seat oneself.
- Correct: I will sit on the couch tonight. (root/present tense)
Incorrect: I will set on the couch tonight. (to put or place something)
- Correct: I sat in the comfy chair all day. (past tense)
Incorrect: I set in the comfy chair all day. (to put or place)
- Correct: You have sat in the comfy chair for three hours. (past participle with auxiliary verb have)
Incorrect: You have set in the comfy chair for three hours. (to put or place)
- Raise, raised, raised: A regular verb that means “to move or lift upwards. To “raise” an object requires effort from something apart
from the object being raised.
- Correct: The Color Guard raises the flag every morning during a special ceremony. (To lift up, present tense)
Incorrect: The flag rises to show respect. (Inanimate object can’t assume a vertical position)
- Correct: The landlord raised the rent last month. (To increase, move up: past tense)
Incorrect: He rose the rent twice in the same month. (Rose, the past-tense of rise, means to assume a higher position)
- Correct: He has raised the rent twice this month. (To increase, move up: past participle with auxiliary verb had,)
Incorrect: He said it was risen twice this month to keep up with inflation. (Risen is the past-participle of rise, which means
something means assumes a higher position within itself.)
- Rise, rose, risen: An irregular verb sometime confused with the regular verb raise, which also means to “to move or lift upwards.”
The verb “to rise” does not require effort outside of itself to move or lift upwards. It also means to assume a standing position after
sitting, kneeling, or lying, achieve prominence, grow louder, more intense.
- Correct: Please rise while the “National Anthem” plays. (present tense)
Incorrect: We raise ourselves to show respect while the “National Anthem” plays. (People stand or rise, inanimate objects are raised
vertically)
- Correct: The woman rose to her feet before singing the National Anthem. (past tense, she stood)
Incorrect: The woman raised to her feet before singing the National Anthem. (People stand or rise; inanimate objects are raised or
lifted up)
- Correct: The choir has risen to sing. (past participle with auxiliary verb has)
Incorrect: The choir had raised itself to sing. (inanimate objects are raised or lifted up)
For more on the use of verb tenses and their principle parts, pick up a copy of Working with Words, Brooks, Handbook for Writers ,
by Simon & Schuster, The Grammar Bible , by Michael Strumpf, or any good grammar book.
About The Author:
Vicki Talley McCollum is a columnist, freelance writer, and visual artist. She also co-moderates FCW’s online critique
groups when she's not busy spending time with her husband and three children.
* Information provided in this column is for entertainment purposes only.
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