Irregular Verbs

In English, regular verbs consist of three main parts: the root form (present), the (simple) past, and the past participle. Regular verbs have an -ed ending added to the root verb for both the simple past and past participle. Irregular verbs do not follow this pattern, and instead take on an alternative pattern.

List of Irregular Verbs in English

The following is a partial list of irregular verbs found in English. Each listing consists of the present/root form of the verb, the (simple) past form of the verb, and the past participle form of the verb.

Present	Past	Past Participle
be	was, were	been
become	became	become
begin	began	begun

Active Verb Tenses

Simple Present
Present or Action Condition	General Truths
I hear you. Here comes the bus.	There are thirty days in September.
Non-action; Habitual Action	Future Time
I like music. I run on Tuesdays and Sundays.	The train leaves at 4:00 p.m.

Prepositions for Time, Place, and Introducing Objects

One point in time

On is used with days:

• I will see you on Monday.
• The week begins on Sunday.

At is used with noon, night, midnight, and with the time of day:

• My plane leaves at noon.
• The movie starts at 6 p.m.

In is used with other parts of the day, with months, with years, with seasons:

• He likes to read in the afternoon.
• The days are long in August.
• The book was published in 1999.
• The flowers will bloom in spring.

Relative Pronouns

Relative Pronouns in Restrictive Relative Clauses

Relative pronouns that introduce a restrictive relative clause ARE NOT separated from the main clause by a comma. Restrictive relative clauses (also known as defining relative clauses) add essential information about the antecedent in the main clause. The information is crucial for understanding the sentence's meaning correctly and cannot be omitted. In other words, without the restrictive relative clause, the sentence does not make sense.
The table below sums up the use of relative pronouns in restrictive relative clauses:

Function in the sentence	Reference to
	People	Things / concepts	Place	Time	Explanation
Subject	who, that	which, that
Object	(that, who, whom)*	(which, that)*	where	when	what/why
Possessive	whose	whose, of which

Pronouns

1. Agree in number
If the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, you have to use a singular pronoun.

If a student parks a car on campus, he or she has to buy a parking sticker.

(NOT: If a student parks a car on campus, they have to buy a parking sticker.)

Remember: the words everybody, anybody, anyone, each, neither, nobody, someone, a person, etc. are singular and take singular pronouns.

Everybody ought to do his or her best. (NOT: their best)

Neither of the girls brought her umbrella. (NOT: their umbrellas)

NOTE: Many people find the construction "his or her" wordy, so if it is possible to use a plural noun as your antecedent so that you can use "they" as your pronoun, it may be wise to do so. If you do use a singular noun and the context makes the gender clear, then it is permissible to use just "his" or "her" rather than "his or her."

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

This handout gives you several guidelines to help your subjects and verbs agree.
1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb.

She and her friends are at the fair.

2. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb.

The book or the pen is in the drawer.

3. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.

The boy or his friends run every day.

His friends or the boy runs every day.

4. Doesn't is a contraction of does not and should be used only with a singular subject. Don't is a contraction of do not and should be used only with a plural subject. The exception to this rule appears in the case of the first person and second person pronouns I and you. With these pronouns, the contraction don't should be used.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that connects other words or groups of words.  In the sentence Bob and Dan are friends the conjunction and connects two nouns and in the sentence  He will drive or fly,  the conjunction or connects two verbs.  In the sentence It is early but we can go, the conjunction but connects two groups of words.

Coordinating conjunctions are conjunctions which connect two equal parts of a sentence.  The most common ones are and, or, but, and so which are used in the following ways:

and is used to join or add words together in the sentence They ate and drank.
or is used to show choice or possibilities as in the sentence He will be here on Monday or Tuesday.
but is used to show opposite or conflicting ideas as in the sentence She is small but strong.
so is used to show result as in the sentence I was tired so I went to sleep.