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The Verb "Sew" in English

by Craig Shrives

Conjugation of "To Sew"

The verb "sew" is an irregular verb. (This means that "sew" 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 Sew"

Form	sew	Alternative Name
Base Form	sew	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	sews	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	sewed	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	sewing	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	sewn (also sewed)	[no alternative name]

"To Sew" in All the Tenses

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

Printable Test

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

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Suitable for: Teachers, advanced students, and business writers.

Description: Published by London's Octopus Publishing, "Smashing Grammar" is the third, and most comprehensive, grammar reference book written by Craig Shrives (the founder of the Grammar-Monster.com). It is divided into three sections: