Verbs in which the irregular form is preferred.
awake awoke, awaked awaked, awoke belay belaid, belayed belaid, belayed bet bet, betted bet, betted crow crew, crowed crowed dare durst, dared dared dig dug, digged dug, digged dwell dwelt, dwelled dwelt, dwelled gird girt, girded girt, girded grave graved graven, graved hang hung, hanged[3] hung, hanged kneel knelt, kneeled knelt, kneeled knit knit, knitted knit, knitted quit quit, quitted quit, quitted rap rapt, rapped rapt, rapped rid rid, ridded rid, ridded shine shone (shined) shone (shined) show showed shown, showed shred shred, shredded shred, shredded shrive shrived, shrove shriven, shrived slit slit, slitted slit, slitted speed sped, speeded sped, speeded strew strewed strewn, strewed strow strowed strown, strowed sweat sweat, sweated sweat, sweated thrive throve, thrived thrived, thriven wet wet (wetted) wet (wetted) wind wound (winded) wound (winded)
The verbs of the following list also are irregular; but as they lack one or more of the principal parts, they are called defective verbs.
can could ought ..... may might ..... quoth must ..... beware ..... shall should methinks methought will would
All the participles are wanting in defective verbs.
The verb _ought_, when used to express past duty or obligation, is followed by what is called the perfect infinitive--a use peculiar to itself because _ought_ has no past form.
_Example:_ I ought _to have gone_ yesterday.
Other verbs expressing past time are used in the past tense followed by the root infinitive.
Composition and Rhetoric. By Lockwood and Emerson. Ginn & Co., Boston.
The Art of Writing and Speaking the English Language. By Sherwin Cody. The Old Greek Press, Chicago.
The Writer's Desk Book. By William Dana Orcutt. Frederick Stokes Company, New York.
A Manual for Writers. By John Matthews Manly and John Arthur Powell. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Putnam's Word Book. By Louis A. Flemming. G. P. Putnam's Sons, Chicago. (For reference.)
In addition to the questions here given there should be constant and thorough drill in the use of grammatical forms and the choice of words. Frequent short themes should be required. In these themes attention should be given to grammatical construction, choice of words, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, sentence construction, and paragraphing.