The Verb "Speed" in English

Conjugation of "To Speed"

The verb "speed" is an irregular verb. (This means that "speed" 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 Speed"

Form	speed	Alternative Name
Base Form	speed	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	speeds	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	sped (also speeded)	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	speeding	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	sped (also speeded)	[no alternative name]

"To Speed" in All the Tenses

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