+109.+ To express _past time_ we change the form of the verb. Notice the
following:
I } called We } called
She } sent You } sent
He } fell They } fell
It } brought The men } brought
The man } hid } hid
Notice that these various forms of the verb which express past time are
all made by changes from the simple form, which expresses present time.
You will also notice that these five verbs used in the above table all
form their past time form in different ways. For example, _call_ adds
_ed_; _send_ changes the final letter from _d_ to _t_; _fall_ changes
the vowel in the middle of the word from _a_ to _e_; _bring_ changes
both the vowel and the final letter from _bring_ to _brought_; _hide_
drops the final letter _e_.
+110.+ +Verbs whose past time forms are made by adding _d_ or _ed_
to the simple form are called regular verbs.+
+Verbs whose past time forms are made in some other way than by adding
_d_ or _ed_ are called irregular verbs.+
+111.+ There are about two hundred of these irregular verbs which form
their past time in the following ways:
1. By change in the vowel letter, as _fall_, _fell_; _write_, _wrote_;
_see_, _saw_; _sing_, _sang_; _come_, _came_.
2. By dropping the final vowel; as _hide_, _hid_; _slide_, _slid_;
_bite_, _bit_.
3. By dropping a vowel from the middle of the word; as _bleed_, _bled_;
_feed_, _fed_; _lead_, _led_.
4. By changing the final letter or letters; as _send_, _sent_; _lose_,
_lost_; _spend_, _spent_.
5. By changing the vowel and final letters; as _bring_, _brought_;
_seek_, _sought_; _catch_, _caught_.
6. By changing the vowel sound and adding _t_ or _d_; as _sleep_,
_slept_; _feel_, _felt_; _flee_, _fled_.
There are some irregular forms which we must learn and be exceedingly
careful in their use. Study the list in this lesson.