The Verb "Stink" in English

Conjugation of "To Stink"

The verb "stink" is an irregular verb. (This means that "stink" 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 Stink"

Form	stink	Alternative Name
Base Form	stink	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	stinks	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	stank	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	stinking	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	stunk	[no alternative name]

"To Stink" in All the Tenses

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