The Verb "Spoil" in English

Conjugation of "To Spoil"

The verb "spoil" is an irregular verb. (This means that "spoil" 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 Spoil"

Form	spoil	Alternative Name
Base Form	spoil	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	spoils	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	spoilt (also spoiled)	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	spoiling	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	spoilt (also spoiled)	[no alternative name]

"To Spoil" in All the Tenses

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