Quick Answer A small family replaces its whole ending with -ought or -aught: teach → taught, catch → caught, bring → brought. The past and the have form are identical, which makes them easier than they look. See the Pattern First The verb transforms completely — then stays put. I teach English. I taught it…
Quick Answer This is the largest irregular family. The vowel changes for the past, and the third form ends in -en: I take → I took → I have taken. Once you spot the -en, you know it needs have. See the Pattern First Three different words for one verb. The third always ends in…
Quick Answer These verbs take -ew in the past and -own or -awn with have: I draw → I drew → I have drawn. The participle almost always ends in n. See the Pattern First Watch the middle column: every past form has that “oo” sound. I draw a picture. I drew one yesterday. I…
Quick Answer A group of verbs changes its vowel in the same order every time: i in the present, a in the past, u with have. I drink → I drank → I have drunk. See the Pattern First Say these out loud. The vowel walks the same path each time. I drink tea. Yesterday…
Quick Answer Some verbs have two past forms and both are correct: I dreamed or I dreamt. The -ed form is standard in American English; the -t form is common in British English. Nobody will mark either one wrong. See the Pattern First Each line shows the same meaning, twice. I dreamed about the sea….
Quick Answer A group of English verbs look the same in the present, the past and with have: I cut it today, I cut it yesterday, I have cut it before. There is nothing to add and nothing to spell differently. See the Pattern First The verb never moves. Only the time words change. Today…
Quick Answer Criteria and media are plural forms. The singulars are criterion and medium. In careful writing, use “these criteria are“. In everyday speech, treating “media” as singular is now widely accepted. See the Pattern First The formal, correct pairs look like this. One criterion is important. All five criteria are important. Television is one…
Quick Answer Some English nouns have no singular form. You cannot say “a scissor” or “one trouser“. They are always plural, even when you mean one object — and they always take are, never “is”. See the Pattern First One object, but the grammar is plural every time. My trousers are new. (One item of…
Quick Answer Words English borrowed from French ending in -eau can add a silent -x: one bureau, two bureaux. Adding a normal -s is also correct, and more common in everyday English. The -x is silent either way. See the Pattern First Both endings are accepted. Listen — they sound identical. One bureau, two bureaux…
Quick Answer Ordinary English words ending in -x just add -es: one fox, two foxes. Latin words have a second, formal plural in -ices: one index, two indices. Both are correct — they are used in different fields. See the Pattern First The everyday words are easy. The Latin ones have two lives. One fox,…
