Conjugation of Verbs

Conjugation of Verbs:

(1) A Verb has three principal forms, namely, (a) The Present Tense, (b) The Past Tense and (c) The Past Participle, as, work, worked, worked; go, went, gone.

(2) To Conjugate a Verb means to give its three forms. For purposes of Conjugation, Verbs are divided into two main kinds- Strong Verbs and Weak Verbs.

Strong Verbs are those which form their Past Tense or Past Participle by changing an internal vowel without adding d, ed, or t or by changing the vowels and adding n or ne in the Past Participle; as, become, became, become; drink, drank, drunk.

Weak Verbs are those which form their Past Tense or Past Participle by adding d, ed, or t, whether or not they also change the vowels; as, burn, burnt, burnt.

(3) Conjugation of Some of the Strong Verbs is as follows:

(4) Conjugation of Some of the Weak Verbs is as follows:

(5) Some Verbs have the three Forms alike; as,

(5) Some Important Distinctions:

(a) Lie, Lay- Their conjugation is- Lie, Lay, Lain; Lay, Laid, Laid; as,

• As you are tired, you should lie on the bed.
• Please lay the baby on the bed.

(b) Arise, Rise- Their conjugation is- Arise, Arose, Arisen; Rise, Rose, Risen; as,

• The sun rises in the east.
• The question arises whether you are correct or not.

(c) Fell, Felled- Their conjugation is- Fall, Fell, Fallen; Fell, Felled, Felled; as,

• He fell down from the horse.
• He felled a tree with an axe.

(d) Fly, Flee- Their conjugation is Fly, Flow, Flown; Flee, Fleed, Fled; as,

• Birds fly in the air.
• The thief tried to flee as soon as he saw some policemen.

(e) Found, Founded- The conjugation is- Find, Found, Found; Found, Founded, Founded; as,

• He found a pen on the roadside.
• Lord Clive founded the Britsh Empire in India.