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Another example is lay, which may be the past tense of lie, but is also an independent verb (regular in pronunciation, but with irregular spelling: lay–laid–laid). In fact the past tense verb lay derives from a causative of the verb from which lie derives.
This is followed by the simple past tense , and then the past participle. If there are irregular present tense forms (see below), these are given in parentheses after the infinitive. (The present participle and gerund forms of verbs, ending in -ing, are always regular. In English, these are used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns.)
The verbs lie (past tense and past participle lied) and lie (past tense lay, past participle lain) used to be lēogan [ˈleoːɣɑn] and liċġan [ˈliddʒɑn] in Old English; while will (past tense would) and will (past tense and past participle willed) used to be willan [ˈwiɫɫɑn] and willian [ˈwiɫɫiɑn].
"Laying" and "lying" are so similar—in both sound and meaning—that it's easy to use them interchangeably. But here's what each one really means. The post Laying vs. Lying: Which One Should You ...
Most verbs can be built by selecting a verb stem and adapting them to endings. Endings may vary according to the speech role, the number and the gender of the subject or an object. Sometimes, verb groups function as a unit and supplement inflection for tense (see Latin periphrases). For details on verb structure, see Latin tenses and Latin ...
Many of these can be classed as Germanic strong verbs, such as sing (past sang), while others are weak verbs with irregularly pronounced or irregularly spelt past forms, such as say (past tense said /sɛd/). The verb be has two past tense forms: was (first and third person singular) and were (plural and second person).
The imperfect (abbreviated IMPERF) is a verb form that combines past tense (reference to a past time) and imperfective aspect (reference to a continuing or repeated event or state). It can have meanings similar to the English "was walking" or "used to walk".
Regular verbs form the simple past end-ed; however there are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms. [2] The spelling rules for forming the past simple of regular verbs are as follows: verbs ending in -e add only –d to the end (e.g. live – lived, not *liveed), verbs ending in -y change to -ied (e.g. study – studied) and verbs ending in a group of a consonant + a vowel + a ...