The Verb "Send" in English

Conjugation of "To Send"

The verb "send" is an irregular verb. (This means that "send" 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 Send"

Form	send	Alternative Name
Base Form	send	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	sends	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	sent	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	sending	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	sent	[no alternative name]

"To Send" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "send" 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	sent sent sent sent sent sent The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was sending were sending was sending were sending were sending were sending The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had sent had sent had sent had sent had sent had sent The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been sending had been sending had been sending had been sending had been sending had been sending 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	send send sends send send send The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am sending are sending is sending are sending are sending are sending The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have sent have sent has sent have sent have sent have sent The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been sending have been sending has been sending have been sending have been sending have been sending 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 send will send will send will send will send will send The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be sending will be sending will be sending will be sending will be sending will be sending The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have sent will have sent will have sent will have sent will have sent will have sent The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been sending will have been sending will have been sending will have been sending will have been sending will have been sending 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

This page was written by Craig Shrives.