The Verb "Swell" in English

Conjugation of "To Swell"

The verb "swell" is an irregular verb. (This means that "swell" 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 Swell"

Form	swell	Alternative Name
Base Form	swell	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	swells	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	swelled	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	swelling	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	swollen	[no alternative name]

"To Swell" in All the Tenses

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