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The Verb "Pay" in English

Conjugation of "To Pay"

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The verb "pay" is an irregular verb. (This means that "pay" 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 Pay"

Form	pay	Alternative Name
Base Form	pay	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	pays	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	paid	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	paying	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	paid	[no alternative name]

"To Pay" in All the Tenses

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

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