Don't Use the Past Participle as the Predicate of a Clause

Don't Use the Past Participle as the

Predicate in a Clause

by Tina Blue

March 27, 2005

In "The Last Verb in a Verb Phrase Must Be a Participle" I explain that substituting the past tense for the past participle in a verb phrase is such a serious grammatical error that making it is considered a sign of particular ignorance.

This error is only evident when the past tense and the past participle of the verb have different forms. Here are a few of the approximately 200 verbs in English that have irregular forms:

InfinitivePast TensePast Participle

was

been

run

ran

run

sing

sang

sung

went

gone

choose

chose

chosen

break

broke

broken

write

wrote

written

swim

swam

swum

bite

bit

bitten

fall

fell

fallen

begin

began

begun

eat

ate

eaten

know

knew

known

Another gross error that is related to the misuse of the past tense for the past participle in a verb phrase is the misuse of the past participle for the past tense as the predicate of a clause. The reason why the past participle cannot be used as the predicate of a clause is explained in "Verbals: Nonfinite Verb Forms."

Here are a few examples of the past tense incorrectly used for the past participle in a verb phrase:

WRONG:

~He could have went home earlier.

~I should have ran home for a quick lunch.

~I wish I could have sang in the talent show.

~They couldn't have came with us anyway.

~I have broke off the relationship for good.

~We have did the best we could.

~Spring Break has already began.

CORRECTED:

~He could have gone home earlier.

~I should have run home for a quick lunch.

~I wish I could have sung in the talent show.

~They couldn't have come with us anyway.

~I have broken off the relationship for good.

~We have done the best we could.

~Spring Break has already begun.

Here are a few examples of the other error, in which the past participle is improperly used for the past tense:

WRONG:

~He gone home earlier.

~I been in the talent show in third grade.

~They come with us yesterday.

~I seen my duty and I done it.

~Our choir sung like angels.

~I drunk two cups of strong coffee to stay awake.

CORRECTED:

~He went home earlier.

~I was in the talent show in third grade.

~They came with us yesterday.

~I saw my duty and I did it.

~Our choir sang like angels.

~I drank two cups of strong coffee to stay awake.