Collins Cobuild English Grammar (202 page)

R76
    In some cases, different past forms or
-ed
participle forms relate to different meanings or uses of the verb. For example, the past form and the
-ed
participle of the verb
hang
is normally
hung
. However,
hanged
can also be used but with a different meaning. Check the different meanings in a Cobuild dictionary.

An Iron Cross
hung
from a ribbon around the man’s neck.
He had been found guilty of murder
hanged
.

They had
bid
down the chemical company’s stock.
He had
bidden
her to buy the best.

R77
    Some verbs consist of more than one word, for example
browbeat
and
typeset
, and some consist of a prefix plus a verb, for example
undo
and
disconnect
.

His teachers
underestimate
his ability.
We are always trying to
outdo
our competitors.
The figures show that the government has
mismanaged
the economy.

R78
    Verbs that consist of more than one word or of a prefix plus a verb usually inflect in the same way as the verbs that form their final part. For example, the past form of
foresee
is
foresaw
and the
-ed
participle is
foreseen
, and the past form and past
-ed
of
misunderstand
is
misunderstood
.

I
underestimated
him.
He had
outdone
himself.

I had
misunderstood
and
mismanaged
everything.
She had
disappeared
into the kitchen and
reappeared
with a flashlight.

R79
    With many verbs of this type, the fact that they consist of two parts does not make any difference to their forms. They follow the normal spelling rules.

Here is a list of verbs whose second part is an irregular verb:

browbeat

broadcast

forecast

miscast

recast

typecast

overcome

undercut

outdo

overdo

undo

withdraw

overeat

befall

forego

undergo

outgrow

overheat

mishear

behold

uphold

withhold

mislay

waylay

mislead

remake

repay

misread

override

outrun

overrun

re-run

foresee

oversee

outsell

resell

beset

reset

typeset

outshine

overshoot

oversleep

misspell

withstand

hamstring

mistake

overtake

retake

undertake

foretell

retell

rethink

overthrow

misunderstand

rewind

unwind

rewrite

underwrite

Note the past forms and
-ed
participle of the verbs shown below, whose second part is a verb with alternative past forms and
-ed
participle.

refit		refitted		refitted
overhang		overhung		overhung
floodlight		floodlit		floodlit

Here is a list of compound verbs whose second part is an irregular verb:

bottle-feed

breast-feed

force-feed

spoon-feed

baby-sit

lip-read

proof-read

sight-read

ghost-write

R80
    The different forms of the auxiliaries
be
,
have
, and
do
are summarized in the table below.