The Verb "Light" in English

Conjugation of "To Light"

The verb "light" is an irregular verb. (This means that "light" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To Light"

Form	light	Alternative Name
Base Form	light	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	lights	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	lit	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	lighting	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	lit	[no alternative name]

"To Light" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "light" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	lit lit lit lit lit lit The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was lighting were lighting was lighting were lighting were lighting were lighting The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had lit had lit had lit had lit had lit had lit The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been lighting had been lighting had been lighting had been lighting had been lighting had been lighting The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	light light lights light light light The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am lighting are lighting is lighting are lighting are lighting are lighting The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have lit have lit has lit have lit have lit have lit The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been lighting have been lighting has been lighting have been lighting have been lighting have been lighting The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will light will light will light will light will light will light The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be lighting will be lighting will be lighting will be lighting will be lighting will be lighting The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have lit will have lit will have lit will have lit will have lit will have lit The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been lighting will have been lighting will have been lighting will have been lighting will have been lighting will have been lighting The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

This page was written by Craig Shrives.

The Verb "Light" in English

Conjugation of "To Light"

The Five Forms of "To Light"

"To Light" in All the Tenses

Past Tenses

Present Tenses

Future Tenses

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Learning Resources

Test Time!

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