The Verb "Cling" in English

Conjugation of "To Cling"

The verb "cling" is an irregular verb. (This means that "cling" 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 Cling"

Form	cling	Alternative Name
Base Form	cling	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	clings	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	clung	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	clinging	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	clung	[no alternative name]

"To Cling" in All the Tenses

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

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.

The Verb "Cling" in English

Conjugation of "To Cling"

The Five Forms of "To Cling"

"To Cling" in All the Tenses

Past Tenses

Present Tenses

Future Tenses

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Learning Resources

Test Time!

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