Agreement & verb and pronoun forms · Topic 7 of 17

Verb Tenses & Irregular Verbs

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Grammar · verb tenses

Verb Tenses & Irregular Verbs

Keep one tense unless the time changes, put a past participle after have, has or had, and know lie/lay, sit/set and rise/raise.

01 · ConsistencyDo not shift tense without a time change

02 · Helping verbshave + participle: has gone, not has went

03 · Lie vs laylie = rest; lay = put something down

What it is

Six tenses: present, past, future + present, past and future perfect must know

The rules

Perfect = has/have, had or will have + past participle: has charted · had charted must know

Keep one tense unless the time changes — ✗ She sat down and opens the file must know

have/has/had + past participle, never the past form: has gone (✗ has went) must know

Simple tenses: she walks · she walked · she will walk

Regular verbs add -ed for past and participle: jump → jumped → have jumped

Irregular verbs: memorize 3 forms: cut–cut–cut · bring–brought–brought · begin–began–begun

Progressive = be + -ing for an action in progress: She was charting when I arrived

The pairs

lie = recline, no object (lay, lain) · lay = put something down (laid)

sit = be seated, no object (sat) · set = put something down (set)

rise = go up on its own (rose, risen) · raise = lift something (raised)

Tense consistency

Right vs wrong

✗ The patient woke up and asks for water → ✓ … woke up and asked for water

lie / lay

Right vs wrong

✗ Lay down and rest for a while → ✓ Lie down and rest for a while

Irregular forms

Right vs wrong

✗ By noon she had ate lunch → ✓ By noon she had eaten lunch

Don't confuse

Stated past time → simple past; up to now → present perfect: I saw it Monday

lie or lay?

Commonly confused

	lie (to rest)	lay (to put)
Meaning	recline, rest flat	put something down
Takes an object?	never	always (lay what?)
Now / -ing	lie · lying	lay · laying
Past	lay	laid
With have	have lain	have laid

Common mistakes

The past of lie is lay: Yesterday the dog lay in the sun (✗ laid)

Also know

go–went–gone · see–saw–seen · do–did–done · take–took–taken · eat–ate–eaten

Vowel-change verbs: drink–drank–drunk · ring–rang–rung · swim–swam–swum

In a sentence

Show 3 example sentences

lie / lay: After the aide laid a fresh blanket on the cot, the patient lay down to rest.

sit / set: Please set the tray on the table, and then sit beside me.

rise / raise: The aide raised the blinds just as the sun rose over the hill.

More detail

Show 3 more facts

The participle works as an adjective: a broken cup, a frozen lake (✗ a broke cup)

Participle of lie = lain (formal, rare): The papers have lain there all week

Some verbs have two past forms: burned/burnt · dreamed/dreamt

Pearl

Lay, set and raise always need an object; lie, sit and rise never take one.

Sources · OpenStax Writing Guide with Handbook — Handbook (H7 Verbs: tense consistency, irregular verbs; H5 lay/lie, raise/rise, set/sit) · Excelsior OWL — Tenses · Excelsior OWL — Common Errors: Verb Tense Shift · GrammarBook.com — Irregular Verbs · Cambridge English Grammar Today — Table of irregular verbs · Cambridge English Grammar Today — Lay or lie? · Cambridge English Grammar Today — Raise or rise? · Cambridge English Grammar Today — Future perfect simple (I will have worked) · Vocabulary.com — Commonly confused words: lay / lie · Purdue OWL — Verb Tenses (the six basic tenses) · Union Test Prep — HESI A2 Grammar study guide p. 2 (verbs and verb tenses) · Union Test Prep — HESI A2 Grammar study guide p. 6 (lie/lay) · Built from the verified NurseSavvy HESI A2 fact map (facts reviewed 2026-10-16). HESI is a trademark of Elsevier; NurseSavvy is not affiliated with Elsevier.

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