Grit past tense
Meaning of grit
clench (the teeth), especially in order to keep one's resolve when faced with an unpleasant or painful duty.
Infinitive
- 1. He always exhibits a lot of grit when faced with challenging situations.
- 2. Her grit and determination inspire everyone around her.
- 3. Success often requires more than talent; it demands grit and persistence.
Past Simple
- 1. He gritted his teeth as he listened to the criticism, trying not to react angrily.
- 2. Before the performance, she gritted her teeth in determination and went on stage.
- 3. The athletes gritted their teeth against the harsh weather conditions and pushed through to the finish line.
Past Participle
- 1. The path had been gritted by the city workers before dawn to prevent accidents.
- 2. Her determination had been gritted by years of rigorous training.
- 3. The gears in the machine were thoroughly gritted with dirt and needed cleaning.
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Bare infinitive
- Habitual actions or routines. When you're describing an action that someone does regularly or habitually.Example. He grits his teeth every time he's concentrating hard on his work.Example. She always grits her teeth when lifting heavy weights.Example. Engineers grit their teeth and push through challenges, solving problems that seem insurmountable.Example. To properly handle stress, sometimes you just need to grit your teeth and move forward.Example. The team grits their teeth and gets ready for the upcoming competition next week.
- Permanent states or facts. When referring to a situation or fact that is always true.Example. He grits his teeth every time he's concentrating hard on his work.Example. She always grits her teeth when lifting heavy weights.Example. Engineers grit their teeth and push through challenges, solving problems that seem insurmountable.Example. To properly handle stress, sometimes you just need to grit your teeth and move forward.Example. The team grits their teeth and gets ready for the upcoming competition next week.
- General truths or laws of nature. When talking about actions or events that are universally accepted.Example. He grits his teeth every time he's concentrating hard on his work.Example. She always grits her teeth when lifting heavy weights.Example. Engineers grit their teeth and push through challenges, solving problems that seem insurmountable.Example. To properly handle stress, sometimes you just need to grit your teeth and move forward.Example. The team grits their teeth and gets ready for the upcoming competition next week.
- Instructions or directions. In a context where you're giving fixed instructions.Example. He grits his teeth every time he's concentrating hard on his work.Example. She always grits her teeth when lifting heavy weights.Example. Engineers grit their teeth and push through challenges, solving problems that seem insurmountable.Example. To properly handle stress, sometimes you just need to grit your teeth and move forward.Example. The team grits their teeth and gets ready for the upcoming competition next week.
- Scheduled events in the near future (especially in a formal style). Less common for the verb 'grit,' but applicable for actions planned in the near future.Example. He grits his teeth every time he's concentrating hard on his work.Example. She always grits her teeth when lifting heavy weights.Example. Engineers grit their teeth and push through challenges, solving problems that seem insurmountable.Example. To properly handle stress, sometimes you just need to grit your teeth and move forward.Example. The team grits their teeth and gets ready for the upcoming competition next week.
Past Simple
- Completed actions in the past. When the action of gritting teeth occurred and was completed at a specific time in the past.Example. He gritted his teeth as he heard the bad news yesterday.Example. During her school years, she always gritted her teeth when solving math problems.Example. The boxer gritted his teeth, threw his punch, and won the match.Example. They gritted their teeth through the entire difficult period of renovation.
- Past habits or states. Describing a past habit or routine.Example. He gritted his teeth as he heard the bad news yesterday.Example. During her school years, she always gritted her teeth when solving math problems.Example. The boxer gritted his teeth, threw his punch, and won the match.Example. They gritted their teeth through the entire difficult period of renovation.
- Sequences of actions in the past. When narrating events that happened one after another in the past.Example. He gritted his teeth as he heard the bad news yesterday.Example. During her school years, she always gritted her teeth when solving math problems.Example. The boxer gritted his teeth, threw his punch, and won the match.Example. They gritted their teeth through the entire difficult period of renovation.
- Situations or actions that were true for a period of time in the past. When an action was continuously or frequently true in the past.Example. He gritted his teeth as he heard the bad news yesterday.Example. During her school years, she always gritted her teeth when solving math problems.Example. The boxer gritted his teeth, threw his punch, and won the match.Example. They gritted their teeth through the entire difficult period of renovation.
Past Participle
- Perfect tenses (Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect). To form various perfect tense aspects, which link past actions to present or future moments.Example. The challenges were gritted through by the team with immense perseverance.Example. Faced with the ultimatum, his gritted determination was visible to everyone in the room.
- Example (Present Perfect). I have gritted my teeth through many difficult meetings.Example. The challenges were gritted through by the team with immense perseverance.Example. Faced with the ultimatum, his gritted determination was visible to everyone in the room.
- Example (Past Perfect). By the time the negotiations ended, she had gritted her teeth for hours.Example. The challenges were gritted through by the team with immense perseverance.Example. Faced with the ultimatum, his gritted determination was visible to everyone in the room.
- Example (Future Perfect). They will have gritted their teeth through the entire project by next month.Example. The challenges were gritted through by the team with immense perseverance.Example. Faced with the ultimatum, his gritted determination was visible to everyone in the room.
- Passive voice. To describe actions done to the subject, not commonly used for the verb 'grit' but theoretically possible.Example. The challenges were gritted through by the team with immense perseverance.Example. Faced with the ultimatum, his gritted determination was visible to everyone in the room.
- Adjectival or descriptive uses. When used to describe a condition or state resulting from the action.Example. The challenges were gritted through by the team with immense perseverance.Example. Faced with the ultimatum, his gritted determination was visible to everyone in the room.
Common mistakes
— 01
Misusing The Same Form
A common mistake is using 'grit' as both the past simple and past participle forms, not recognizing that 'grit' should change. The correct past simple form is 'gritted,' and the correct past participle form is also 'gritted.' For example, one should say, 'He gritted his teeth during the race' (past simple) and 'She had gritted her teeth to avoid screaming' (past participle).
— 02
Misusing Past Participle
Another frequent error is using the past participle form without an auxiliary verb, which leads to grammatically incorrect sentences. The past participle form 'gritted' needs to be used with auxiliary verbs like 'have' or 'had' to form perfect tenses. An incorrect example would be saying 'She gritted her teeth since morning' when it should be 'She has gritted her teeth since morning.'
— 03
Confusing 'Grit' with Irregular Verbs
Some learners might mistakenly believe that 'grit' follows the pattern of irregular verbs, changing the vowel or the entire word for its past forms. This leads to incorrect forms like 'grat' or 'grotten,' mirroring patterns seen in verbs like 'begin' (began, begun) or 'write' (wrote, written). However, 'grit' does not follow this pattern and correctly uses 'gritted' for both the past simple and past participle forms.
Past tense quiz
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