Irregular Verbs

Mistakes in the use of the following irregular verbs are very common:

 Some examples of irregular verbs used in sentences are the following:

            When he was tired, everything (become, became) difficult.
            We (seen, saw) her again last week.
            I (run, ran) over to his home yesterday.
            The trap (sprung, sprang) too soon.
            We (rung, rang) the bell after every victory.           
            Saint George (slayed, slew) the dragon.
            I (give, gave) William the money yesterday.
            The river (flew, flowed) to the sea.
            He (catched, caught) the ball with his left hand.
            Bill (swum, swam) to the island.
            When I (begun, began) to talk, he looked the other way.
            I (knowed, knew) that he could do it.    
            After we  had (ate, eaten) we went to the movies.
            We (drunk, drank) the water and left.
            The water pipe (busted, burst).
            The sun (shone, shined) all day. [Either is correct.]
            Have you (choosed, chosen) the speaker?
            I (throwed, threw) him the big ball.

 Learn to use the following verbs correctly: lie, lay; sit, set; rise, raise.

           Learn the principal parts of each of these verbs. The problems of usage result because lie, sit, rise are intransitive and take no object, whereas lay, set, raise are transitive and take an object.  Once you have learned the principal parts of these verbs, the sentence construction involving an object or no object will determine the correct verb.

          (1)    INTRANSITIVE 

Keep in mind that intransitive verbs like lie, sit, and rise do not take objects.

                         I found the pen lying on the floor.
                         Lie down here and rest.
                         He lay there yesterday a long time.
                         That dog has been sitting there for an hour.
                         We sat on the lawn and talked.
                         The boat sits there all winter.
                         The river rises three feet each spring.
                         He rose and walked to the platform.
                         Prices have risen this summer.           

           (2)    TRANSITIVE 

The italicized words below are objects.

                         He was laying plans for the carnival.
                        John laid the books on the table.
                        Otto has laid money on that shelf before.

                        Will you set the table for me?
                        Please set the parcels on that desk?
                        Are you setting the presents under the tree?                       

                        Can you raise your arm a few inches?
                        They are raising the flag now.
                        We raised the steps six inches.

 Be careful to use certain confusing verbs correctly. 

(1)    ACCEPT, EXCEPT.  Accept means “to take” (what is offered or given) or “to receive with favor.” “Except is a frequently used preposition.  When it is used as a verb, it means “to omit” or “to take or leave out anything from the whole.”

 He may accept the appointment.
We agree to those terms if we may except the last one. [verb]
Everyone except William attended my party. [preposition]