The Verb "Sting" in English

Conjugation of "To Sting"

The verb "sting" is an irregular verb. (This means that "sting" 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 Sting"

Form	sting	Alternative Name
Base Form	sting	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	stings	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	stung	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	stinging	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	stung	[no alternative name]

"To Sting" in All the Tenses

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