A Student's Introduction to English Grammar

§4.3 The preterite and past participle^275

Type B. Base-final d replaced by t

Similar to Type A are those where the preterite is not identical to the base but differs

simply in the replacement of final d by t. They include build, send, spend, etc.

Type c. Preterite fonned by addition of ·t

This is a small class with all members having regular variants too: burnt or burned.

Bases ending in ll lose one I before ·t: smell- smelt. Other examples include dwell,

learn, spoil.

Type D. Addition of ·t with modification of the base

These are similar to Type c, but the addition of ·t is accompanied by modification of

the base. The modification is usually just a change in the vowel, but a more exten­

sive modification is found in leave - left. Other members of the class include feel,

mean, sleep. Leap is Type D in speech, but Type c in writing.

Type E. Addition of ·d with modification of the base

A small number of verbs add ·d rather than ·t, in all cases with modification of the

base. Others include hear, say, sell.

Type F. Preterites in ought or aught

A handful of verbs have highly irregular preterites with ought or aught (which are

pronounced alike) replacing vowel + any following consonants in the base. Others

include buy, catch, seek. They might be subsumed under Type D, but the final t can

hardly be analysed as a suffix.

Type G. Preterite formed by vowel change

In a fair number of verbs the preterite differs from the base just in respect of the
vowel. A variety of different vowel pairs are found: compare hang - hung, find -
fo und, shine - shone, etc.

Type H. Miscellaneous

There are a few verbs that don't fit into any of the above patterns, and have a unique

difference between preterite and base. Stood differs from stand in the vowel and loss

of n; had and made differ from have and make in the second consonant.

Irregular forms with preterite and past participle distinct

We turn finally to verbs where the preterite and past participle are different in form.

In most cases the past participle contains a distinctive suffix spelled in three alter­

nant ways shown in [17]:

[17] i n

ii ne

iii en

after vowel symbol or re:

for bear, do, and go:

elsewhere:

grown

borne

broken

lain

done

chosen

seen

gone

fa llen

sewn

swollen

torn

taken