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109. To express past time we change the form of the verb. Notice the following:

Notice that these various forms of the verb which express past time are all made by changes from the simple form, which expresses present time. You will also notice that these five verbs used in the above table all form their past time form in different ways. For example, call adds ed; send changes the final letter from d to t; fall changes the vowel in the middle of the word from a to e; bring changes both the vowel and the final letter from bring to brought; hide drops the final letter e.

110. Verbs whose past time forms are made by adding d or ed to the simple form are called regular verbs.

Verbs whose past time forms are made in some other way than by adding d or ed are called irregular verbs.

111. There are about two hundred of these irregular verbs which form their past time in the following ways:

1. By change in the vowel letter, as fall, fell; write, wrote; see, saw; sing, sang; come, came.

2. By dropping the final vowel; as hide, hid; slide, slid; bite, bit.

3. By dropping a vowel from the middle of the word; as bleed, bled; feed, fed; lead, led.

4. By changing the final letter or letters; as send, sent; lose, lost; spend, spent.

5. By changing the vowel and final letters; as bring, brought; seek, sought; catch, caught.

6. By changing the vowel sound and adding t or d; as sleep, slept; feel, felt; flee, fled.

There are some irregular forms which we must learn and be exceedingly careful in their use. Study the list in this lesson.

Exercise 1

Write the present and past time forms of the following verbs as the verb think is written in the table given below.

think

ride

have

give

write

ask

make

try

speak

run

see

do

112. Be very careful not to use the s-form except for the third person singular. Be especially careful in the use of different forms of the verb be. It is in the use of this verb that we so frequently make mistakes. Watch your own language and the conversation of your friends and note these mistakes and correct them in your own mind. These common blunders in the use of English mark us as careless or uneducated by everyone who hears us speak. We have fallen into bad habits oftentimes and make these mistakes when we know better, and only constant watchfulness for a time can overcome the habit. After a time we learn to speak correctly without effort, and then these mistakes made by others offend the ear like a false note in music.

Exercise 2

Cross out the wrong form in the following:

They was—were not here.

The clouds has—have gathered.

People is—are indifferent.

The train was—were on time.

The men was—were armed.

Our school building is—are inadequate.

The workers earn—earns their wages.

The voters elect—elects the President.

They do—does as they please.

We was—were there on time.