28 Verbs and auxiliaries i [b] In both BrE and AmE the general rule is broken by the doubling of -g in humbug — humbugging — humbugged and of words ending in c (spelled -ck-), eg\\ panic — panicking — panicked. [cj In certain verbs whose base ends in a vowel followed by -s, there is variation between -s- and -ss- when the inflection is added: 'bias biasing!'biassing 'bíasedľ biassed bus ' busingj'bussing bused!bussed 'focus 'focusing!'focussing focused!'focussed Deletion of and addition of -e 3.7 If the base ends in an unpronounced -e, this -e is regularly dropped before the -ing and -ed inflections: create — creating ~ created shave — shaving — shaved bake ~ baking — baked type ~ typing — typed Verbs with monosyllabic bases in -ye, -oe, and -nge, pronounced /1KI3/, are exceptions to this rule: they do not lose the -e before -ing, but they do lose it" before -ed: dye — try« ing ~ ííyerf í i'nge ~ singeing — singed hoe — hoeing — ňoerf tinge— tingeing — tinged The final -e is also lost before -erf by verbs ending in -ie or -ee: tie—tied, die — died, agree — agreed. Before the -s ending, on the other hand, an -e is added after the following letters, representing sibilant consonants: -j pass —passes -ch watch— watches -x coax —coaxes -z buzz — buzzes -sh wash — washes NOTE [a] An -e is added after -o in GO (-goes), DO (—does /dAzß, ECHO (-echoes), VETO (~ verges), [b] The -e is regularly dropped in impinging and infringing. Treatment of -y 3 .8 In bases ending in a consonant followed by -y, the following changes take place: (a) -y changes to -ie- before -s: carry— carries, try —tries (b) -y changes to -i- before -ed: carry — carried, try —tried The -y remains, however, where it follows a vowel letter: stay—stayed, alloy —alloys, etc; or where it precedes -ing: carry —carrying, slay —staying. A different spelling change occurs in verbs whose bases end in -ie: die, lie, tie, vie. In these cases, the -ie changes to -y- before -ing is added: die —dying, He —lying, tie—tying, vie —vying. NOTE Exceptions to these rules are certain verbs where the y changes to r after -a-: pay (—paid) and lay (—laid) and their derivatives, eg: repay ( — repaid), mislay ( — mislaid). The irregular verb say follows the same pattern (—said). The morphology of irregular lull verbs ř33 Irregular full verbs differ from regular verbs in that either the past inflection, or the -ed participle inflection, or both of these, are irregular. More precisely the major differences are: (a) Irregular verbs either do not have the regular -ed inflection, or else have a variant of that inflection in which the /d/ is devoiced to /t/ (eg: bum-burnt, which occurs alongside the regular burned). (b) Irregular verbs typically, but not invariably, have variation in their base vowel: choose — chose—chosen, write— wrote — written. (c) Irregular verbs have a varying number of distinct forms. Since the -s form and the -ing form are predictable for regular and irregular verbs alike, the only forms that need be listed for irregular verbs are the base form (V), the past (V-erf,), and the -ed participle (V-ed2). These are traditionally known as the principal parts of the verb. Most irregular verbs have, like regular verbs, only one common form for the past and the -ed participle; but there is considerable variation in this respect, as the table shows: V V-ed, V-erf2 all three forms alike: cut cut cut \-edi =Y-edz: meet met met y=y-edl: beat beat beaten V=V-erf2: come came come all three forms different: order' speak spoke spoken rregular verbs in alphabetical 3.10 Irregular verbs can be classified on the basis of criteria derived from the variation discussed in 3.9. However, we shall merely list alphabetically the principal parts (including common variants) of the most common irregular verbs. The list omits most verbs with a prefix such as out-, over-, re-, and un- that have otherwise the same parts as the corresponding unprefixed verbs. BASE (V) past tense (V-erf,) -ed participle (V-erf2) arise arose arisen awake awoke, awaked awoken, awaked be was, were been bear bore borne beat beat beaten become became become begin began begun bend bent bent bereave bereft, bereaved bereft, bereaved beseech besought. beseeched besought, beseeched beset beset beset 30 Verbs and auxiliaries BASE (V) bet bid bind bite bleed blow break breed bring broadcast build burn burst buy cast catch choose cling come cost creep cut deal deepfreeze dig dive do draw dream drink drive eat ľall feed fee! fight find flee fling fly PAST TENSE (V-erfj) bet, betted bad(e), bid bound bit bled blew broke bred brought broadcast built burnt, burned burst bought cast caught chose clung came cost crept cut dealt deepfroze, -freezed dug dived, {AmE} dove did drew dreamt, dreamed drank drove ate fell fed felt fought found fled flung flew -ed PARTICIPLE (V-ÉííJ bet, betted bade, bid, bidden bound bitten bled blown broken bred brought broadcast built burnt, burned burst bought cast caught chosen clung come cost crept cut dealt deepfrozen. -freezed dug dived done drawn dreamt, dreamed drunk driven eaten fallen fed felt fought found fled flung flown BASE (V) PAST TENSE (V-rrf,) -erfPARTICtPLE (V-ď<4) forbid forbade, forbad forbidden forecast forecast forecast forget forgot forgotten forgive forgave forgiven forgo forwent forgone forsake forsook forsaken freeze froze frozen get got ("got | (.gotten (AmE)J give gave given go went gone grind ground ground grow grew grown hamstring hamstrung hamstrung hang hung (see Note) hung have had had hear heard heard heave heaved, hove heaved, hove hide hid hidden hit hit hit hold held held hurt hurt hurt keep kept kept knee! knelt, kneeled knelt, kneeled knit knitted, knit knitted, knit know knew known lead led led lean leant, leaned leant, leaned leap leapt, leaped leapt, leaped learn learnt, learned learnt, learned leave left left lend lent lent let let let lie lay lain light lit; lighted lit, lighted lose lost lost make made made mean meant meant meet met met miscast miscast miscast BASE(V) PAST TENSE (V-Čŕ/j) -ed participle (V-ed2) mislead misspell mistake misunderstand mow misled misspelt, misspelled mistook misunderstood mowed misled misspelt, misspelled mistaken misunderstood mown, mowed offset offset offset put put put quit quit, quitted quit, quitted read read read rend rent rent rid rid, ridded rid, ridded ride rode ridden ring rang rung rise rose risen run ran run saw- sawed sawn, sawed say said said sec saw seen seek sought sought sell sold sold send sent sent set set set sew sewed sewn, sewed shake shook shaken shear sheared shorn,sheared shed shed shed shine shone, shined shone, shined shoot shot shot show showed shown shrink shrank shrunk shut shut shut sing sang sung sink sank sunk sit sat sat sleep slept slept slide slid slid sling slung slung slit slit slit smell smelt, smelled smelt, smelled base (V) past tense {V-ed^ -ed participle (V-ety sow sowed sown, sowed speak spoke spoken speed sped, speeded sped, speeded spell spelt, spelled spelt, spelled spend spent spent spill spilt, spilled spilt, spilled spin spun,span spun spit spat, spit spat, spit split split split spoil spoilt, spoiled spoilt, spoiled spread spread spread spring sprang sprung stand stood stood steal stole stolen stick stuck stuck sting stung stung stink stank stunk stride strode stridden, strid, strode strike struck struck string strung strung strive strove, strived striven, strived swear swore sworn sweat sweat, sweated sweat, sweated sweep swept swept swell swelled swollen, swelled swim swam swum swing swung swung take took taken teach taught taught tear tore torn telecast telecast telecast tell told told think thought thought thrive thrived thrived throw threw thrown thrust thrust thrust tread trod trodden underbid underbid underbid undergo underwent undergone understand understood understood undertake undertook undertaken underwrite underwrote underwritten BASE (V) PAST TENSE (V-ed,) -fd PARTICIPLE (V-erf2) uphold upheld upheld upset upset upset wake woke, waked woken, waked wear wore worn weave wove woven wed wedded, wed wedded, wed weep wept wept wet wetted, wet wetted, wet win won won wind wound wound withdraw withdrew withdrawn withhold withheld withheld withstand withstood withstood wring wrung wrung write wrote written NOTE In BrE the verb/if is regular, but in AmE.nl is an alternative to filled in the past and the -eel participle, Hang has also the regular form hanged for the past and the -ťc/participle in the sense 'put to death by hanging'. Primary verbs and modal auxiliaries Verbs as operators 3.11 Auxiliaries have one important syntactic function in common: they become the operator when they occur as the first verb of a finite verb phrase (c/3.19). Themain verb BE and (sometimes, especially in BrE) the main verb have are also operators when they are the only verb in the verb phrase. On the other hand, only the auxiliary do is an operator (as in 'She does not know me'), not the main verb do (as in 'She does a lot of work'), Operators share the following main characteristics: (a) To negate a finite clause, we put not immediately after the operator. Contrast: She may do it. — She may no! doit. She saw the play. - *She .rait' not the play. (b) To form an interrogative clause, we put the operator in front of the subject (subject operator inversion). Contrast: He will speak first. - Will he speak first? He plans to speak first. — *Plans he to speak first? Subject-operator inversion occurs also in sentences with introductory negatives or semi-negatives (<■/ 10.35/): At no time was the entrance left unguarded. (c) The operator can carry nuclear stress to mark a finite clause as positive rather than negative: Won't you try again?-Yes, I will try again. You must speak to the teacher. - I have spoken to him. The function of this emphatic positive is to deny a negative which has been stated or implied. (d) The operator functions in a range of elliptical clauses where the rest of the predication is omitted (cf 12.20). The clause is understood to repeal the omitted part. Won't you try again?-Yes, 1 will. — No, I can't. If there is no operator in a corresponding positive declarative sentence, the dummy (or 'empty') operator do is introduced under the above conditions: (a) She saw the play. —She did not (or: didn't) see the play. (b) He plans to speak first. -Does he plan to speak first? (c) You never listen to your mother. - But I DO listen to her. (d) Do you drive a car?-Yes, I do. No, I don't. The use of the operator do is termed do-support. The main verbs be and have are operators in these sentences: I haven't a car. Is she your sister? (a] The enclitic particle n't can be attached to most operators as a contraction of the negative word not, eg: isn't, didn't, won't (cfi.Uff). [n addition, many operators have contracted forms: BE: am—'in; is — 's; are—'re Have: have — 've; lias— 's; had—'d modals: will-'11; would-'d The final /t/ in the negative contraction is commonly not sounded. Notice that the contraction 's may represent either is or has, and that the contraction V may represent either had or would. [b] The contractions mentioned in [a] are simplified forms that are institutionalized in both speech and writing. They are to be distinguished from cases of phonological reduction only, eg /km/ in the pronunciation of can. Characteristics ol modal auxiliaries Certain characteristics additional to those listed in 3.11 apply specifically to modal auxiliaries: (a) They are followed by the bare infinitive (ie the base form of the verb alone without a preceding to): You »ill ask the questions. They might have stolen it.