Vocabulary 1, Problems Words: Difficult Verb Pairs

PROBLEM WORDS - Difficult Verb Pairs

A small number of verbs give problems because the past tense (and usually also the past participle) of one
verb has the same spelling as the present tense and infinitive of another. In each sentence below use the
right form of the correct verb.
1. fall, fell, fallen
fell, felled, felled (cut down)
(a) Prices have ______________ steeply since last August.
(b) Three old trees will have to be ______________ because they are diseased and dangerous.
(c) He lost his balance and ______________ heavily.
2. find, found, found
found, founded, founded (establish)
(a) My grandfather ______________ this firm in 1924.
(b) While clearing out the bedroom, I ______________ these old letters
(c) The United Nations was ______________ in 1945.
3. bind, bound, bound (tie up)
bound, bounded, bounded (i: jump ii: border)
(a) Switzerland is ______________ by France, Germany, Austria and Italy
(b) The lion ______________ forward and sprang at her.
(c) He was ______________ hand and foot by the robbers.
4. see, saw, seen
saw, sawed, sawed/sawn (cut with a saw)
(a) I suddenly ______________ a face at the window.
(b) He ______________ the branch in half and put the pieces on the fire.
(c) Two prisoners ______________ through the bars of their cell window and escaped
5. grind, ground, ground (crush into powder)
ground, grounded, grounded (compel to remain on the ground)
(a) The ship went too near the coast and was ______________ on rocks.
(b) The beans are ______________ in this machine before they are put in the coffee pot.
(c) The airline has decided to ______________ all its planes until special safety checks have been
carried out.
6. wind, wound /waund/, wound (twist)
wound /wu:nd/, wounded, wounded (injure)
(a) The train ______________ its way up the hillside and stopped just below the top.
(b) The police opened fire and ______________ six of the rioters.
(c) Keep still and I'll ______________ a bandage round your arm.
7. lie, lay, lain (be or put oneself in a horizontal position, intransitive)
lay, laid, laid (put, transitive)
(a) He ______________ the enormous box on the ground and looked for a taxi.
(b) He ______________ there for an hour until someone finally heard his cries for help.
(c) In this school emphasis is ______________ on discipline and hard work.
(d) I'm tired. I think I'll ______________ down for a while.
(e) They were ordered to ______________ down their weapons.
(f) The villages ______________ at the foot of the mountains.

by Hoai Huong, High School for Gifted Students, HNUE Page 1

Vocabulary 1, Problems Words: Difficult Verb Pairs

Some verbs have two past participle forms and there is usually no difference between the two (e.g.
learned/learnt, sawed/sawn). However, in a few cases the two forms are used for two different applications of
the verb and are not interchangeable. In each sentence below use the correct past participle form of the verb.

born (give birth to)

8. bear, bore,
borne (i: carry; ii: endure)
(a) He was _____________ in Tokyo in 1906.
(b) The winning team were ____________ through the streets on the shoulders of their excited
supporters.
(c) No one else could have ______________ the terrible experiences he went through.

cost, cost (be of certain price)

9. cost
costed, costed (calculate the cost of)
(a) Accountants and engineers have _______________ a new heating system for the factory. The
board of directors will consider their estimates and decide whether to go ahead with the scheme.
(b) Houses have never _______________ more than they do today.
(c) The proposed new road system has been ________________ by experts at £73,000,000.

hung, hung (suspend)

10. hang,
hanged, hanged (kill by hanging)
(a) When you’ve ________________ your coat up, come and sit down.
(b) Before the abolition of the death penalty, convicted murderers were sometimes _______________.
(c) This picture has been badly _________________. It should be nearer the light and lower.

struck (hit)
11. strike, struck,
stricken (attack, e.g. with fear, doubt, disease)
(a) Thousands of people have been __________________ by this terrible illness.
(b) I have never ________________ anyone in my life.
(c) Panic-________________, they rushed through the flames to the exits.

AUSTRALIAN SLANG
Australian English is most interesting for its colourful slang. Many words end in ‘-i’, ‘-ie’, ‘-y’ or in ‘-o’:
uni (university) prezzie (present)
postie (postman) barbie (barbecue)
truckie (truck driver) Crissy (Christmas)
arvo (afternoon) smoko (break for cigarette and refreshment)
Other common slang expressions:
chunder (vomit), pom, pommy (British person), crook (no good, sick), beanie (woolen skull cap),
roo (kangaroo)

by Hoai Huong, High School for Gifted Students, HNUE Page 2