What is a strong verb?

Answer 1

Strong verbs are the very common verbs like be, go, run and take, to name a few, that do not form the past tense by adding -ed to the stem. Instead, strong verbs change at least the vowel and sometimes the entire stem: was/were for be; went for go; ran for run; took for take, etc.

CommentThe key feature of a strong verb is (usually) that the simple past tense and the past participle do not end in -ed (or -t used in place of -ed). Often the stem vowel changes, too.

Examples of strong verbs (British English)

• sing - sang - sung
• break - broke - broken
• run - ran - run
• hit - hit - hit
• bite - bit - bitten
• grow - grew - grown
• come - came - come
• write - wrote - written
• arise-arose-arisen
• beget-begot-begotten