Are these correct examples of irregular verb tenses?

[mom2abcd]

If not, please suggest corrections. (Or suggest something better). I tried to include a word that explained when it happened, too.

Irregular verb tenses:
Infinitive: to beat

Present – beat(s)
Past – beat
Present participle – beating
Past participle – beaten

Examples using a checkers game:
Present – Can you beat me at checkers today?
Past – Samantha beat Jeremy at checkers yesterday.
Present participle – Adelaide is beating Hannah Grace at checkers now.
Past participle – Millie has beaten Katie at checkers in the past.


Is there a website or some fun way to teach the irregular verb tenses? We could act these out and that might be "fun."

I'm a CC tutor and want to do something creative. Future verbs: to break, to write, to shake, to go.

[matroyshka]

The examples are all used correctly, but you're confusing tense and participle. A participle is a form or part of a verb, and some verbs are irregular in how they form their past participle, or how they are conjugated in certain tenses, but tenses themselves can't be irregular. Tense just refers to when the action takes place, and whether it's completed or ongoing or conditional. A verb that's conjugated irregularly in any tense or form is considered an irregular verb, even if it's conjugated regularly in some tenses.

The present participle is used with the progressive tenses, and the past participle with the perfect tenses. The examples you give are using the present progressive and the present perfect tenses (because the helping verbs are in the present tense).

[mom2abcd]

Originally Posted by matroyshka

The examples are all used correctly, but you're confusing tense and participle. A participle is a form or part of a verb, and some verbs are irregular in how they form their past participle, or how they are conjugated in certain tenses, but tenses themselves can't be irregular. Tense just refers to when the action takes place, and whether it's completed or ongoing or conditional. A verb that's conjugated irregularly in any tense or form is considered an irregular verb, even if it's conjugated regularly in some tenses.

The present participle is used with the progressive tenses, and the past participle with the perfect tenses. The examples you give are using the present progressive and the present perfect tenses (because the helping verbs are in the present tense).

Thanks for that. Can you please give correct examples?

BTW, these terms are from CC! Could this be yet another area that needs correction? (We tutors all know it needs clarification)

[angela in ohio]

One of our tutors had the children chant it while beating their hands on their knees. I don't know that you need examples, as they are just learning the "grammar" stage of grammar - memorizing the lists, not needing to understand how they are used. They will be taught to use them, as well as more than anyone could ever hope to know about verb tenses, in Essentials.

We refer to them as Principal Parts.

[mom2abcd]

Originally Posted by angela in ohio

One of our tutors had the children chant it while beating their hands on their knees. I don't know that you need examples, as they are just learning the "grammar" stage of grammar - memorizing the lists, not needing to understand how they are used. They will be taught to use them, as well as more than anyone could ever hope to know about verb tenses, in Essentials.

We refer to them as Principal Parts.

That's what we've been doing all year, but it seems like such a waste of time. We ought to be able to explain how we use these things, etc., ya know? And many of our kids don't do Essentials.

But I guess just chanting through the list is easy on us tutors. If that's all others are doing, I guess we can keep on keeping on)

[angela in ohio]

Originally Posted by mom2abcd

That's what we've been doing all year, but it seems like such a waste of time. We ought to be able to explain how we use these things, etc., ya know? And many of our kids don't do Essentials.

But I guess just chanting through the list is easy on us tutors. If that's all others are doing, I guess we can keep on keeping on)

It really requires a faith in classical education. It gets to whether you believe that filling grammar students with tools and facts at an early age, then teaching them to use them later, is effective. I think, as does CC leadership I can assume, that it is. CC is based largely on the Sayers essay, which posits the three stages of learning found in most modern understandings of classical education.

To me, it is not a waste of time. Even if they don't do Essentials, I would hope at some point in their schooling, they do *some* English grammar work, in which case knowing these facts will be useful. Even if they don't, the information will still be useful.

[matroyshka]

Originally Posted by mom2abcd

Thanks for that. Can you please give correct examples?

BTW, these terms are from CC! Could this be yet another area that needs correction? (We tutors all know it needs clarification)

The examples you gave are correct usage, they're just not labeled as tenses, which could well be intentional, as it's the participles, not the tenses, that are irregular. From your original:

Present – beat(s)
Past – beat
Present participle – beating
Past participle – beaten

These are all correct - the latter two are just participles, not tenses. If you were to label the examples all with the correct tenses, they'd be as follows:

Examples using a checkers game:
Present – Can you beat me at checkers today?
Past – Samantha beat Jeremy at checkers yesterday.
Present progressive – Adelaide is beating Hannah Grace at checkers now.
Present perfect – Millie has beaten Katie at checkers in the past.

But - you could keep them labeled as you originally had them if you explained these were examples of uses of the irregular verb participles, not examples of "irregular tenses", which don't exist. Do the CC materials actually say "irregular tenses" anywhere, or are they just talking about irregular verbs and irregular participles?

There are of course other tenses that use the participles. All progressive tenses are formed with a conjugated form of "to be" + the present participle, and the perfect tenses with a conjugated form of "to have" + the past participle.

Past progressive: was beating
Future progressive: will be beating
Past perfect (pluperfect): had beaten
Future perfect: will have beaten

And for fun, there's perfect progressive tenses (conjugated "to have" + past participle of "to be" + present participle of verb in question):

Present perfect progressive: have been beating
Future perfect progressive: will have been beating
Past perfect progressive: had been beating

Just remember, a tense can't be irregular, the verb is irregular if it is not formed regularly in any tense (or in forming any participle).

[mom2abcd]

Originally Posted by matroyshka

The examples you gave are correct usage, they're just not labeled as tenses, which could well be intentional, as it's the participles, not the tenses, that are irregular.

Do the CC materials actually say "irregular tenses" anywhere, or are they just talking about irregular verbs and irregular participles?

Thanks, matroyshka! No wonder I was so confused!

Yes, in this year's Cycle 3 alone, there are thirteen straight weeks where CC calls these Irregular Verb Tenses. The worst is they have no explanation. I have no problem with kids hearing facts that are beyond them, but the facts must be correct!!!

Hopefully they will correct this in future editions of the guide. And hopefully they will give examples and explanations.

[mom2abcd]

Originally Posted by angela in ohio

It really requires a faith in classical education. It gets to whether you believe that filling grammar students with tools and facts at an early age, then teaching them to use them later, is effective. I think, as does CC leadership I can assume, that it is. CC is based largely on the Sayers essay, which posits the three stages of learning found in most modern understandings of classical education.

To me, it is not a waste of time. Even if they don't do Essentials, I would hope at some point in their schooling, they do *some* English grammar work, in which case knowing these facts will be useful. Even if they don't, the information will still be useful.

I'm not saying that learning the lists is a waste of time, but that learning things incorrectly is a waste of time. As pointed out in this thread, CC has some errors.

Yes, the kids will do English grammar work over the years. No problem. But it is very helpful if the tutors understand what they are talking about and it's especially helpful if they are give correct information to teach! Memorizing the list of words without any explanation is not very helpful, IMHO. (Besides, most of our CC kids come from environments where these words are used correctly and they learn intuitively the correct usage.)

I guess I'm one that tries to understand and now I've found out I had incorrect information. I'm a happy camper now) I'll just change the wording and keep teaching.

[newlifemom]

One of our tutors brought an egg, a bowl and a whisk last week. I think their example was much better than mine. I can't say what I did but proably won't do it again. Normally I do not go into a lot of explanation but since mine are older I like to give a bit of context. That's all. It really is for memorizing so it can be pulled out later to be applied. You will find in your travels many points of view on memorization. When, why, how etc. I think it is great b/c even if it is never used for anything else(which of course it will be) but it is great for exercising the mind as well.