The Verb "Swing" in English

Conjugation of "To Swing"

The verb "swing" is an irregular verb. (This means that "swing" 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 Swing"

Form	swing	Alternative Name
Base Form	swing	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	swings	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	swung	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	swinging	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	swung	[no alternative name]

"To Swing" in All the Tenses

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