The Verb "Shear" in English

Conjugation of "To Shear"

The verb "shear" is an irregular verb. (This means that "shear" 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 Shear"

Form	shear	Alternative Name
Base Form	shear	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	shears	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	shore (also sheared)	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	shearing	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	shorn (also sheared)	[no alternative name]

"To Shear" in All the Tenses

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