The Verb "Shut" in English

Conjugation of "To Shut"

The verb "shut" is an irregular verb. (This means that "shut" 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 Shut"

Form	shut	Alternative Name
Base Form	shut	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	shuts	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	shut	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	shutting	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	shut	[no alternative name]

"To Shut" in All the Tenses

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