The Verb "Undertake" in English

Conjugation of "To Undertake"

The verb "undertake" is an irregular verb. (This means that "undertake" 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 Undertake"

Form	undertake	Alternative Name
Base Form	undertake	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	undertakes	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	undertook	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	undertaking	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	undertaken	[no alternative name]

"To Undertake" in All the Tenses

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