Dry past tense
Meaning of dry
to remove moisture from something.
Infinitive
- 1. He always dry his clothes outside during summer.
- 2. This climate tends to dry the skin quickly.
- 3. The desert sun dry the ground completely, leaving it cracked and barren.
Past Simple
- 1. After the rainstorm, I quickly dried my soaking wet clothes under the blazing sun.
- 2. He dried his tears and put on a brave smile for his little sister.
- 3. She dried the dishes and put them away before her guests arrived.
Past Participle
- 1. The clothes have been dried by the warm summer air.
- 2. Once the paint had dried, the room looked completely different.
- 3. The dishes were dried and put away by midnight.
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Bare infinitive
- To describe habitual actions or routines involving the removal of moisture.Example. She dries her hair every morning after showering.Example. This fabric dries quickly.Example. To preserve the color, dry the garment in the shade.
- To state facts or general truths about the process or capability of drying something.Example. She dries her hair every morning after showering.Example. This fabric dries quickly.Example. To preserve the color, dry the garment in the shade.
- To give instructions or advice related to the process of removing moisture.Example. She dries her hair every morning after showering.Example. This fabric dries quickly.Example. To preserve the color, dry the garment in the shade.
Past Simple
- To talk about a specific instance in the past when moisture was removed from something.Example. He dried the dishes after washing them last night.Example. After the flood, we pumped out the water and then dried the carpets.Example. Before we had a dryer, we always dried our clothes on the line outside.
- To describe a series of actions in the past involving the drying process.Example. He dried the dishes after washing them last night.Example. After the flood, we pumped out the water and then dried the carpets.Example. Before we had a dryer, we always dried our clothes on the line outside.
- To express a past habit or state involving drying that is no longer current.Example. He dried the dishes after washing them last night.Example. After the flood, we pumped out the water and then dried the carpets.Example. Before we had a dryer, we always dried our clothes on the line outside.
Past Participle
- Perfect tenses - To talk about actions of drying that have happened, with relevance to the present moment or completed at an unspecified time in the past.Example. The documents were dried after being rescued from the flood.
- Example (Present Perfect). The paint has finally dried, so we can hang the pictures.Example. The documents were dried after being rescued from the flood.
- Example (Past Perfect). By the time the guests arrived, the floors had already been dried.Example. The documents were dried after being rescued from the flood.
- Passive voice - To describe situations where the focus is on something that had moisture removed, rather than who removed the moisture.Example. The documents were dried after being rescued from the flood.
Common mistakes
— 01
Incorrect Verb Form for Regular Verbs
One common mistake is confusing forms of regular verbs, which should both end in -ed. For the verb 'dry,' the correct past simple and past participle form is 'dried.' However, people often incorrectly use the base form 'dry' for both, as in 'I dry my clothes yesterday' instead of 'I dried my clothes yesterday,' or 'I have dry my clothes' instead of 'I have dried my clothes.'
— 02
Misusing Past Participle
Another error involves not using auxiliary verbs (such as 'have' or 'had') with the past participle in perfect tenses. For instance, someone might incorrectly say 'I dried my clothes' when they mean to use the present perfect tense, which should be 'I have dried my clothes.' This mistake changes the tense of the sentence and can lead to confusion about the timing of the action.
— 03
Overgeneralizing Patterns
Some learners might mistakenly overapply irregular verb conjugation patterns to regular verbs. Given the diversity of past tense and past participle forms in English, it's a common error to think that 'dry' might follow an irregular pattern, as seen with 'fly' (flew, flown) or 'buy' (bought, bought), leading to incorrect forms like 'dray' or 'drown' instead of the correct 'dried' for both past simple and past participle.
Past tense quiz
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