Microsoft Word Theoretical Course of English Grammar

Nino Kirvalidze
35
1.
The main principle of the morphological classification of verbs is the way how they 
form simple past and past participle or participle II. Accordingly verbs are divided into two 
large groups: regular and irregular verbs. Regular verbs form past simple and past participle by 
adding the inflectional suffix 
–ed,
while irregular verbs form these forms individually. English 
irregular verbs can be differentiated into the following subgroups:

verbs that form simple past and participle II by means vowel gradation: 
drink – drank – drunk begin – began - begun 
sing – sang – sung sink – sank – sunk

verbs with vowel gradation + affixation for participle II: 
break – broke – broken take – took -taken 
give – gave – given write – wrote – written

verbs with vowel gradation + the same suffixation forms for simple past and participle 
II: 
bring – brought – brought catch – caught – caught
teach – taught - taught buy – bought – bought

verbs with consonant gradation: 
build –built – built send – sent –sent
lend – lent –lent rend – rent –rent

verbs with homonymous forms: 
burst – burst –burst cut – cut – cut
let – let –let set – set – set 

verbs with suppletive forms: 
be – was, were – been
go – went 
2.
Finite and non-finite forms of the verb differ both in the number of the categories 
they possess and in their syntactical functions. There are three non-finite forms of the verb: the 
infinitive, the participle (two forms of participle: participle I or present participle, which is 
formed with the help of inflectional suffix 
-ing: dancing, 
and participle II or past participle with 

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Theoretical Course of English Grammar 
Script by prof. 
Nino Kirvalidze
36
the inflectional suffix 
-ed
for regular verbs and other means of word-forming for irregular 
verbs: 
danced, taken
, etc.), and the gerund.