Lean past tense
Meaning of lean
to incline, deviate, or bend from a vertical position.
Infinitive
- 1. She always leans against the fence while waiting for the bus.
- 2. He leans on his experience to make tough decisions.
- 3. The tower leans to one side due to its faulty foundation.
Past Simple
- 1. He leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath.
- 2. She leaned towards me to whisper a secret.
- 3. They leaned out of the window to enjoy the fresh air.
Past Participle
- 1. The bike was leaned against the wall by its owner.
- 2. The old fence has been leaned upon by many weary travelers.
- 3. Every portrait in the gallery had been carefully leaned against the backdrop for the exhibition's setup.
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Bare infinitive
- Habitual ActionsExample. He leans against the doorway every morning to greet us.Example. The Tower of Pisa leans to one side because of its faulty foundation.Example. The seminar leans towards discussions on renewable energy next week.
- General TruthsExample. He leans against the doorway every morning to greet us.Example. The Tower of Pisa leans to one side because of its faulty foundation.Example. The seminar leans towards discussions on renewable energy next week.
- Scheduled Events (in the near future)Example. He leans against the doorway every morning to greet us.Example. The Tower of Pisa leans to one side because of its faulty foundation.Example. The seminar leans towards discussions on renewable energy next week.
Past Simple
- Completed Actions in the PastExample. He leaned against the fence and watched the sunset yesterday evening.Example. When she lived in Italy, she often leaned out the window to chat with neighbors.Example. He leaned over, picked up the coin, and handed it back to the woman.
- Past Actions without specific timeExample. He leaned against the fence and watched the sunset yesterday evening.Example. When she lived in Italy, she often leaned out the window to chat with neighbors.Example. He leaned over, picked up the coin, and handed it back to the woman.
- In a Series of Past EventsExample. He leaned against the fence and watched the sunset yesterday evening.Example. When she lived in Italy, she often leaned out the window to chat with neighbors.Example. He leaned over, picked up the coin, and handed it back to the woman.
Past Participle
- Perfect Tenses (Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect)Example. Present Perfect. They have leaned on each other for support since childhood.Example. Past Perfect. She had leaned out the window before the rain started.Example. Future Perfect. By next year, they will have leaned into the digital transformation fully.Example. The tree was leaned against the house to prevent it from falling during the storm.
- Passive VoiceExample. Present Perfect. They have leaned on each other for support since childhood.Example. Past Perfect. She had leaned out the window before the rain started.Example. Future Perfect. By next year, they will have leaned into the digital transformation fully.Example. The tree was leaned against the house to prevent it from falling during the storm.
Common mistakes
— 01
Confusing Forms
A prevalent mistake with the past simple and past participle forms of the word 'lean' involves treating it as a regular verb. However, 'lean' is an irregular verb, and its correct past simple form is 'leaned' or 'leant' (British English), and the past participle form is also 'leaned' or 'leant'. Mistakenly applying the regular verb rule, some might incorrectly form the past simple and past participle as 'leaned' in all contexts, not recognizing 'leant' as an acceptable variant, especially in British English.
— 02
Incorrect Past Participle
Another common mistake is using the past participle form when the past simple form is required. This often occurs in simple past tense sentences. For example, saying 'I have leant against the wall yesterday' instead of 'I leaned/leant against the wall yesterday.' The confusion arises because the forms can be similar, but their usage depends on the sentence structure and tense, not interchangeable without affecting grammatical correctness.
— 03
Forgetting the Contextual Meaning
The word 'lean' can also change in meaning depending on its form and context. When 'lean' is used in its base form, it primarily means to incline or bend from a vertical position. However, its past forms, 'leaned' or 'leant,' can also imply a reliance or dependency on something else for support. A mistake might occur when the intended meaning is not made clear through the context or when the user is unaware that the past forms can carry this additional nuance.
Past tense quiz
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