The Verb "Tread" in English

Conjugation of "To Tread"

The verb "tread" is an irregular verb. (This means that "tread" 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 Tread"

Form	tread	Alternative Name
Base Form	tread	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	treads	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	trod	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	treading	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	trodden	[no alternative name]

"To Tread" in All the Tenses

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