Irregular English verbs: -ode and -ade

by Jakub Marian

Tip: See my list of the Most Common Mistakes in English. It will teach you how to avoid mis­takes with com­mas, pre­pos­i­tions, ir­reg­u­lar verbs, and much more.

It is no wonder Raj in the Big Bang theory couldn’t find the right past tense of “forbid”. The verb “bid” in the sense of either issuing a command or uttering a greeting is the only verb root following the “pattern” -id/-ade/-idden in the past tense:

bid – bade – bidden
(In the sense of bidding in an auction, the verb does not change at all in the past tense: he bids – he bid – he has bid.) For example:

He bade me farewell.

The only other verb following the same pattern is its derived form forbid:

forbid – forbade – forbidden

A slightly more common pattern is -ide/-ode/-idden:

stride – strode – stridden
ride – rode – ridden; also “override”
hagride – hagrode – hagridden

“Hagride” is an uncommon verb meaning “to afflict with worry or dread”. Its past tense has also another archaic form:

hagride – hagrid – hagrid

(so now you know where the name of Hagrid in J.K.Rowling’s universe came from). Finally, the verb abide, meaning “to stay in a place” or “endure” can follow two different patterns:

abide – abided – abided
abide – abode – abode

The past participle of “abide” can be also “abidden”, but this form is archaic and rare.

This article was based on my guide to irregular verbs in English, which deals with many similar topics. Why don’t you check it out?

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