Question

What are the past tense and past tense and past participle forms of the verb "write"?

Answer 1

Hint: The given question is about verbs and their forms. Verbs are words that are used to show the action done by the subject of the sentence. Not just that, a verb can also provide us with the necessary cues about the tense of the sentence, i.e., past, present or future. This means that it is the “Verb” of the sentence which plays the most crucial role in the English language. keep this information in mind while working with these types of questions.

Complete answer:
The question is divided into two different segments. The first segment is asking about the meaning of the past tense. And the second segment is asking for the forms of the verb “Write”. Hence, the answer must be separated into two segments, each responding to the part respectively.

Past Tense: Originating from the Latin term for time, “Tempus”, Tenses are the cues or words which express the time of the action of a sentence. In simpler terms, tense is a verb-based method that is used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action or state in relation to the time of speaking.
A “Past Tense”, as the name signifies, is the tense in which the action is done in the past. In other words, past tense is used to describe an action already completed previously. The verbal forms used to describe past tense usually have a the Past or Past Participle.

Forms of Verb for “Write”: The past and past participle verb form for regular verbs is the root verb word + -ed-d, -t, -en, or -ne. It’s only used with the past tenses, i.e., it is used to describe past events.

Consider the following examples: -

Root Word/ Present Form	Past Form	Past participle Form
Play	Played	Played
Paint	Painted	Painted
Shop	Shopped	Shopped

Sometimes, the past participle can be difficult to determine for some irregular verbs. Using this information, we can determine the required forms of the given word “Write” as follows: -
i) The present form is “Write”.
e.g.- I can write a story. – In this sentence, the word “write” is used to describe the ability of the subject in the present tense.
ii) The past form of “Write” is “Wrote”.
e.g.- I wrote a story. – In this sentence, the word “wrote” is used to describe the idea that the subject has already done the action of writing the story, i.e., in the past tense.
iii) The past participle form of “Write” is “Written”.
e.g.- I’ve written the story. - In this sentence, the word “written” is used as a verb to demonstrate that the subject is the one who wrote the story.

Therefore the past form of “Write” is “Wrote” and the past participle form of “Write” is “Written”.

Note: While working with the forms of verbs, keep in mind the following tips:
- Always try to understand that verbs not only show the action of the sentence but the time as well. Therefore, give attention to the time of action while answering these types of questions.
- Try to increase your vocabulary regarding irregular verbs which do not follow the “root word + ed” rule as converting those words into past or past participle can be a bit tricky.
- Always focus on the whole sentence structure instead of just the verb part as there are other hints and cues in the sentence which can help you determine the tense of the sentence. Don’t be hasty in answering before properly assessing the requirements of the sentence.