The Verb "Sleep" in English

Conjugation of "To Sleep"

The verb "sleep" is an irregular verb. (This means that "sleep" 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 Sleep"

Form	sleep	Alternative Name
Base Form	sleep	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	sleeps	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	slept	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	sleeping	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	slept	[no alternative name]

Example Sentences with To Sleep

It's your go. Select the correct version of "to sleep":

"To Sleep" in All the Tenses

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