The Verb "Shrink" in English

Conjugation of "To Shrink"

The verb "shrink" is an irregular verb. (This means that "shrink" 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 Shrink"

Form	shrink	Alternative Name
Base Form	shrink	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	shrinks	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	shrank	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	shrinking	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	shrunk	[no alternative name]

"To Shrink" in All the Tenses

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