| Present Time | Past Time |
|---|---|
| Singular | Singular |
| 1. I am. | 1. I was. |
| 2. You are. | 2. You were. |
| 3. He is. | 3. He was. |
| Plural | Plural |
| 1. We are. | 1. We were. |
| 2. You are. | 2. You were. |
| 3. They are. | 3. They were. |
108. The present time form is the form which expresses present time. It is expressed by the simple form of the verb with the exception of the third person singular, which is expressed by the s-form.
PAST TIME
109. To express past time we change the form of the verb. Notice the following:
| I She He It The man | } | called sent fell brought hid | We You They The men | } | called sent fell brought hid |
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.