The Verb "Spin" in English

Conjugation of "To Spin"

The verb "spin" is an irregular verb. (This means that "spin" 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 Spin"

Form	spin	Alternative Name
Base Form	spin	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	spins	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	span (also spun)	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	spinning	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	spun	[no alternative name]

"To Spin" in All the Tenses

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