20 English Grammar Demystifi ed
with the tenses of irregular verbs. The spellings of these verbs change to a greater
degree to indicate tense—and English has quite a few of them.
Perhaps you’ve heard the following incorrect past-tense verbs:
Ibrung my lunch with me every day last week to save money.Ihanged my hat on the hook.Now look at this partial list of irregular verbs, and fi nd the correct past forms of
bring and hang:
Irregular Verbs
Present Past Future Present Perfect
begin began will begin have begun
bend bent will bend have bent
bet bet will bet have bet
bite bit will bite have bitten
bring brought will bring have brought
burst burst will burst have burst
buy bought will buy have bought
choose chose will choose have chosen
cost cost will cost have cost
dig dug will dig have dug
dive dived or dove will dive have dived
drink drank will drink have drunk
drive drove will drive have driven
fl ing fl ung will fl ing have fl ung
fl y fl ew will fl y have fl own
forbid forbade will forbid have forbidden
forget forgot will forget have forgotten
freeze froze will freeze have frozen
get got will get have gotten
grind ground will grind have ground
hang hung will hang have hung
have had will have have had
know knew will know have known
lay (place) laid will lay have laid
lend lent will lend have lent
lie (recline) lay will lie have lain
mistake mistook will mistake have mistaken