Revised June 2009 COMPOSITION MINI-LESSON #98 Verb Forms GRAMMAR MINI-LESSONS SERIES NAME____________________ CLASS/INSTRUCTOR_______________SCORE___ MINI-LESSON: The

principal parts of a verb are its base/infinitive (eat, talk) used for the present
tense and with auxiliaries like can, should, will, and does; its past form (ate, talked) and its past participle form (eaten, talked), used with has, had, or have for perfect tenses and with forms of be (is, am, are, was, were, etc.) in passive constructions. Regular verbs like talk form their past and past participle forms the regular way by simply adding d or ed to their base. Irregular verbs like eat and the ones below form their past and past participle forms in irregular and unpredictable ways. The past participle form of both regular and irregular verbs must always be used with an auxiliary/helping verb. Examples: Present/Infinitive go do see write begin Past tense went did saw wrote began Past Participle (have) gone (have) done (have) seen (have) written (have) begun

DIRECTIONS: Select the correct verb form in the following sentences. 1. Dont worry; the movie just ( begun / began ). 2. Hes not here, but I ( seen / saw ) him going toward the library just five min utes ago. 3. Dont rent The Lion King; I ( seen / saw ) it already. 4. My mother ( done / did ) all that she could. 5. I wish you would have ( gave / given ) me sufficient notice. 6. I guess I could have ( rode / ridden ) with someone else. 7. I have already ( spoke / spoken ) to the doctor about the operation. 8. We were told that lake water had to be boiled before it was ( drank / drunk ). 9. Have you ever ( flew / flown ) coast to coast in an airplane? 10. Because he had other fish to fry, he ( throwed / threw ) the trout back into the bay. 11. The phone had ( rang / rung ) several times before Myrna reached it.

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12. After lecturing for an hour and a half, the speaker realized that he had ( began / begun ) to lose his audience. 13. It was enjoyable attending my class reunion and hearing the old familiar songs being ( sang / sung ). 14. Heathcliff did not look like someone who had ( swam / swum / swimmed ) the English Channel, and he hadnt. 15. Although we planted the seedlings just last year, I can see that they have already ( growed / grown ). 16. He ( seeked / sought ) help in locating the person who had ( wrote / written ) the anonymous letter. 17. My cousin, who has already ( took / taken ) the job has also ( wrote / written ) a resume for another position. 18. The men had ( took / taken ) the ten point questions, and the women had (chose / chosen ) the five point ones. 19. He had ( ate / eaten ) and had ( drank / drunk ) everything in sight. 20. You should have ( saw / seen ) the look on his face when he ( saw / seen ) them come in.