Flee past tense
Meaning of flee
to run away from a place or situation of danger.
Infinitive
- 1. Every time they hear thunder, the dogs flee to a safer place.
- 2. When faced with danger, his first instinct is to flee rather than confront the situation.
- 3. In many stories, heroes flee from their homes to embark on great adventures.
Past Simple
- 1. The townspeople fled their homes as the wildfires approached.
- 2. In the middle of the night, she fled from her captor, taking advantage of the darkness.
- 3. As the storm grew stronger, the sailors quickly fled the coast to find shelter inland.
Past Participle
- 1. The city had been fled by thousands before the hurricane made landfall.
- 2. By nightfall, the haunted house was fled by the frightened teenagers.
- 3. The criminals had been fled across borders by the time authorities arrived.
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Bare infinitive
- Habitual actions or routines.Example. He often flees from uncomfortable situations.
- General truths or facts.Example. Predators flee when they sense a greater threat.
Past Simple
- Completed actions in the past.Example. The prisoners fled their cells during the blackout.
- Past habits or states no longer true.Example. She fled from her responsibilities before she turned her life around.
- Sequential actions in the past.Example. He fled the scene, then called his friend for help.
- In indirect speech, to express an action that happened before the time of reporting.Example. They said they fled the town when the invasion started.
Past Participle
- Perfect tenses.
- Present Perfect. For actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past or have an outcome in the present.Example. They have fled the area due to the conflict.
- Past Perfect. For actions that were completed before another action or time in the past.Example. They had already fled by the time we arrived.
- Future Perfect. For actions that will be completed before a specified future time.Example. By next year, they will have fled to a safer country.
Common mistakes
— 01
Confusing forms
One of the most common mistakes is confusing the past simple form 'fled' with the past participle form, which is also 'fled'. While both forms are identical for the verb 'flee', their usage in sentences is different. The past simple is used for actions completed in the past, e.g., 'He fled the scene yesterday.' The past participle needs auxiliary verbs like 'have' or 'had' to form perfect tenses, e.g., 'He has fled the country.'
— 02
Incorrectly Creating Regular Forms
A frequent error is treating 'flee' as a regular verb and adding -ed to make past forms, resulting in incorrect forms like 'fleeed'. This mistake overlooks the fact that 'flee' is an irregular verb, and its correct past simple and past participle form is 'fled'. Saying or writing 'He fleeed from danger' instead of the correct 'He fled from danger' is a common error stemming from this misunderstanding.
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Misuse in compound tenses
Another mistake involves the incorrect use of 'fled' in compound tenses, either by omitting necessary auxiliary verbs or using the wrong tense. For instance, saying 'I have fled the city last year' instead of the correct 'I fled the city last year' (simple past) or 'I had fled the city by then' (past perfect). This error shows a misunderstanding of how to properly integrate the past participle into different tenses and structures.
Past tense quiz
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