The past tense of the verb 'swim' is swam.
Understanding the past forms of verbs like 'swim' is essential for clear communication. The verb swim is classified as an irregular verb because it does not follow the standard rule of adding '-ed' to form its past tense and past participle forms.
Understanding Irregular Verbs
Unlike regular verbs (e.g., walk, walked, walked), irregular verbs have unique forms for the past tense and past participle. You often have to memorize these forms.
The Past Tense: 'Swam'
According to linguistic resources, including the provided reference: "Swim is an irregular verb; swam is the past tense of swim, while swum is the past participle." The form swam is used for the simple past tense, referring to an action that happened at a specific time in the past.
Examples of 'Swam' in Sentences
Here are a few examples showing 'swam' in use:
- Yesterday, I swam in the ocean for an hour.
- She swam across the pool twice during her lesson.
- They swam with dolphins on their vacation.
- He swam competitively when he was younger.
The Past Participle: 'Swum'
While swam is the simple past tense, the past participle form is swum. This form is used with auxiliary verbs like 'have', 'has', or 'had' to create perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect), or sometimes in passive voice constructions.
Examples of 'Swum' in Sentences
Here are examples using 'swum':
- I have never swum in a lake before. (Present Perfect)
- By the time we arrived, he had already swum ten laps. (Past Perfect)
- She feels proud because she has swum further than ever today. (Present Perfect)
- Note: Passive voice with 'swum' is less common for the action itself but can appear in related phrases.
Verb Forms Table
To summarize the forms of the verb 'swim':
| Base Form | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| swim | swam | swum |
Remembering these distinct forms helps ensure correct grammar when talking about past actions related to swimming.
