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So many irregular verbs, so little time to learn how to conjugate them! This week’s blog post is dedicated to six of those verbs that are horribly misused and abused. The cardinal sin that is most often committed with these verbs is that the speaker uses their past perfect tense when they should be using the past tense instead. This mistake really makes me tense, so I’d like to take a few minutes to list the words, point out the mistake, and offer you a useful tip to help you navigate this tense tightrope.
First, a brief explanation of what I mean by “irregular” verbs. These are verbs that change dramatically when used in either the past or the past perfect tense. You can’t just slap an “ed” on the end of these particular verbs and instantly create a past tense version of them.
Next, I should explain what “past perfect” tense is and how it differs from your plain old, garden variety past tense. Past perfect tense is used when something occurred before another action in the past, or before a specific time in the past. The following example contains two usages of the past perfect tense: If I had read the assignment, I would have made a better grade on the exam. No doubt, you easily spotted the past perfect (“had read” and “have made”). In this particular example, the verbs were regular; however, it is when an irregular verb is being used that the problems occur!
And now, without further ado, the six most abused and misused irregular verbs. Below, I have listed three tenses for each of them: present, past and past perfect:
1. See, Saw, Seen – If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say, “I seen it on TV,” or something similar, I’d be a rich woman! The past tense of “see” is saw! “Seen” is the past perfect tense. The sentence above could be corrected by saying either, “I saw it on TV,” or “I have seen it on TV.”
2. Go, Went, Gone – Please, please, please never tell anyone you “have went” anywhere! It is correct to say, “I went to Disney World,” but it is definitely incorrect to say, “I have went to Disney World.” Instead, if you want to make your sentence in the past perfect tense, you would say, “I have gone to Disney World.”
3. Do, Did, Done – If it was something performed in the past, you either did it or had done it. You never “have did” it!
4. Drive, Drove, Driven – The past perfect of “drive” is driven, as in, “He has driven to Baltimore many times this year.” He either drove there, or he has driven there.
5. Give, Gave, Given – Once again, the past perfect of “give” is given. It is incorrect to say, “He has gave his all to the cause.” He either gave his all, or he has given it.
6. Prove, Proved, Proven – Have I proven my point with the examples I have given so far? The past tense of “prove” is proved. The past perfect tense of “prove” is proven. Reread the first sentence of this paragraph, and you can see the correct usage of “proven” in a sentence (and, as a bonus, the correct usage of “given,” also).
Do you see a commonality in the above examples? I hope so, because therein lies my tip for helping you know which verb form is correct. The past perfect tense always needs a “helper” word. Typically, the “helper” word is “have” or “had.” An easy way to remember this is to think of the “helper” word and the verb as the perfect couple. In order to create the perfect tense, you need the perfect couple!
Unfortunately, I don’t know a simple trick for remembering the conjugated irregular verb forms. I think it’s just necessary to memorize them! But if you can remember the “perfect couple” tip, and remember that the perfect tense is most often the third one in the order of conjugation, this should help you avoid sounding like one of the Beverly Hillbillies when you speak.