A few confusing verbs
❒ Lie, Lay
Lie (Intransitive. to rest) – lay – lain
Lie (Intransitive Verb: to speak falsely)–lied–lied
Lay (Transitive Verb: to put)– laid – laid
Thus:
It lay or has lain (not has laid) here for some time.
Lay (not lie) it here.
He laid or has laid (not has lain) it here.
He has lain (not laid) in bed.
He laid (not lay) himself down in bed.
The hep has laid (not lain) two eggs.
I hate him because he lies (not lays).
❒ Strike, Stroke
Strike–struck–struck, stricken
Stroke–stroked–stroked
Also, stroke is the noun form of strike, but never its past tense.
Examples:
He struck me.
He stroked (patted) the cat on the back.
He died from sun-stroke.
❒ Awake, Wake
"Awake has past awoke rarely awaked, and past participle awaked rarely awoke; wake has past woke rarely (and that usually in transitive sense) waked, and past participle waked rarely woke or waken; awaken and waken have -ed-." — MEU.
❒ Await, Wait
Await is always transitive, but wait is not always intransitive. I am awaiting to hear your decision is not English; I await, and I wait, your decision are equally good." — MEU.
Also I wait for you to decide, or I wait for your decision.
❒ Lose, Loose, Loss
Carefully note the spelling and use of the words lose, loose, and loss.
These are very often confused:–
Lose (verb) – Cease to have, fail to obtain : I do not want to lose the money.
Loose(adj.)– free, not tied up: The box was tied loose. I always prefer loose clothes.
Loose (verb) – make free or loose: "Wine loosed his tongue."
Loss (noun) – that which is lost: He suffered a great loss in the business.
❒ Fly, Flee, Flow
Carefully note the uses of the past and past participle forms of fly, flee, and flow. The common confusions are :—
(i) flown for flowed. Thus, we should write, "The river has overflowed (not overflown) the banks," because flowed be longs to flow, but flown belongs to fly.
(ii) Between to flee and to fly: Flee has the underlying sense of to escape, whereas to fly means to run or hurry. It is only occasionally that fly is used in the sense of flee (but in the present tense only):
He is compelled to fly or flee from the country; but he fled for his life.
The bird has flown (not fled or flowed) away.
The man has fled (not flown) away.
❒❒ The following verbs have no change : Bet, burst, cast, cost, cut, hit, hurt, let, put, rid, set, shed, shut, split, spread, thrust.
✏️ Fill up the blanks with correct forms of the verbs given in the margin:
Lie, lay:
He ___ it here safely.
Do not ___ on the grass. He has ___ to his father.
It has ___ there for a long time.
The boy has ___ down the burden.
He has ___ the foundation of the building. The hen ___ eggs.
The hen has ___ several eggs.
The sick must ___ in bed.
As he was tired he ___ down to rest.
He ___ the watch on the table.
Fly, flow, flee:
The birds have ___ away.
The river over ___ the banks.
The stream of time ___ on.
The enemy has ___ away.
He ___ into a rage.
They refused ___ to.
The thief ___ away.
Hang:
He ___ the coat on the peg.
The murderer was ___ to death.
I ___ the picture on the wall.
He was ___ from the gallows.
It has remained ___ there for many days.
Strike, stroke:
He ___ me yesterday.
He has ___ me on the face.
The people were awe ___ .
The famine ___ people suffered terribly.
The girl ___ her favourite cat on the back.
We were ___ thunder to hear it.
The terror ___ people fled in all directions.
Find, found:
He ___ the book on the table.
He has ___ out the missing link.
Your father has ___ a school there.
Who ___ the lost chain?
Who ___ the dispensary ?
Born, borne:
He was ___ of poor parents.
She has ___ two sons.
He was ___ blind.
He has ___ the burden.
