Today’s English
September 8th, 2017
September 8th, 2017
A student in my English class asked a critical question – if the past of call is “called”, why don’t we say that the past of go is “goed” and the past of teach is teached. He’s logically correct and I also wished in vain that all such verbs in English should follow a simple formula – “add -ed to all verbs to make past and past participle”, at least to reduce the burden of English learners and avoid the mistakes in sentence formation in past and perfect tenses.
The Reasons for/ origin of Irregular Verbs:
[Note: Most verbs in English such as open and close take -ed in past and past participle and they are called regular verbs.(open-opened-opened) The verbs like sing and go don’t follow this regular pattern and change in a different way with internal vowel change. They are called irregular verbs.(go-went-gone). Verbs which remain the same are also irregular verbs.(cut-cut-cut)]
[Note: Most verbs in English such as open and close take -ed in past and past participle and they are called regular verbs.(open-opened-opened) The verbs like sing and go don’t follow this regular pattern and change in a different way with internal vowel change. They are called irregular verbs.(go-went-gone). Verbs which remain the same are also irregular verbs.(cut-cut-cut)]
Reason 1: historical change
Most of the irregular verbs are but gradual changes in regular verbs in course of time in the history of English language. Borrowed words from German and Latin languages became the past and past participle forms of many irregular verbs. Some forms in old English were also retained in modern English and the result was irregularity in verbs.
Reason 2 : suppletion
Use of unrelated word is called suppletion, that is, using one word in the place of another word by mistake. For example, the verb “wend” in English means “ to move or travel slowly” (wend-wended-wended). But gradually it was by mistake associated with the verb “go" that also means “ to move or travel to a place". Then the past form “went" for go came into usage widely. Thus suppletion led to many irregularities of verbs.
Use of unrelated word is called suppletion, that is, using one word in the place of another word by mistake. For example, the verb “wend” in English means “ to move or travel slowly” (wend-wended-wended). But gradually it was by mistake associated with the verb “go" that also means “ to move or travel to a place". Then the past form “went" for go came into usage widely. Thus suppletion led to many irregularities of verbs.
Reason 3: analogy
If taught is for teach, then caught is for catch. If sang and sung are for sing, then rang and rung are for ring. Thus by means of assumptions of analogy, many irregular verbs came into existence by wrong usage in course of time.
Reason 4: wrong pronunciation
The past and past participles of pay and lay were originally payed and layed. But their very pronunciation resulted in the forms paid and laid. Thank God! The verbs swayed and stayed are not still corrupted as swaid and staid.
The past and past participles of pay and lay were originally payed and layed. But their very pronunciation resulted in the forms paid and laid. Thank God! The verbs swayed and stayed are not still corrupted as swaid and staid.
Reason 5: conjugation
Inflection (change) of verb according to person, number and gender is called conjugation. In Hindi, verbs change according to gender as well but not in English. The most irregular verb in English is "be" that changes not only in past and participle but also in the very present tense itself.
Be Happy. (Be used as be in imperative sentence)
I am a doctor. We are doctors. (Be changing into am and are in present tense, according to singular, plural)
You are my friend.(Be changing into are according to second person)
He is not here. (Be changing into is according to third person singular)
He has been a mystery. (Be changing into been in past participle)
Thus we find fault with students who write past and past participle forms wrongly but forget that only wrong usage in history has given birth to went and gone of go. It’s a Maya world where right is wrong and wrong is right!
I am a doctor. We are doctors. (Be changing into am and are in present tense, according to singular, plural)
You are my friend.(Be changing into are according to second person)
He is not here. (Be changing into is according to third person singular)
He has been a mystery. (Be changing into been in past participle)
Thus we find fault with students who write past and past participle forms wrongly but forget that only wrong usage in history has given birth to went and gone of go. It’s a Maya world where right is wrong and wrong is right!
“There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.”
T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.”
T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
Really helps to learn new verbs
ReplyDeleteRegards,
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