Mislay past tense
Meaning of mislay
to lose temporarily by placing in an unremembered location.
Infinitive
- 1. I often mislay my keys and spend ages looking for them.
- 2. She usually mislays her glasses at least once a day.
- 3. They mislay their homework assignments more often than they'd like to admit.
Past Simple
- 1. I mislaid my keys somewhere in the house and spent the whole evening looking for them.
- 2. She realized too late that she mislaid her passport, causing a panic before her flight.
- 3. They mislaid the original document, which delayed the project's progress significantly.
Past Participle
- 1. The keys had been mislaid by the time we needed to leave.
- 2. The report was mislaid, leading to a delay in the meeting.
- 3. My glasses had been mislaid multiple times last week.
Learn more words on the go
Master verb forms with Promova!
Bare infinitive
- Habitual actions or general truthsExample. 'I often mislay my keys.'Example. 'She always mislays her glasses before our weekly meeting.'
- Fixed arrangements, programs, etc. (often with time expressions)Example. 'I often mislay my keys.'Example. 'She always mislays her glasses before our weekly meeting.'
Past Simple
- Completed actions in the pastExample. 'He mislaid his passport last night and couldn't find it.'Example. 'When we were children, we often mislaid our toys.'Example. 'They never learned from their mistakes; they constantly mislaid important documents.'
- Past habitsExample. 'He mislaid his passport last night and couldn't find it.'Example. 'When we were children, we often mislaid our toys.'Example. 'They never learned from their mistakes; they constantly mislaid important documents.'
- Past facts or generalizationsExample. 'He mislaid his passport last night and couldn't find it.'Example. 'When we were children, we often mislaid our toys.'Example. 'They never learned from their mistakes; they constantly mislaid important documents.'
Past Participle
- Perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect, etc.) to talk about actions or events at unspecified times in the past
- Example (Present Perfect). 'I have mislaid my report somewhere in the office.'
- Example (Past Perfect). 'By the time he realized his mistake, he had already mislaid the original document.'
- Passive voice to describe actions done to the subject
- Example (Passive Voice). 'The manual has been mislaid by someone, and now we can’t proceed.'
Common mistakes
— 01
Confusing Forms
A common mistake with the verb 'mislay' is mixing up its past simple form 'mislaid' with its past participle form, which is also 'mislaid'. This confusion often arises because, unlike regular verbs that simply add -ed for both forms, irregular verbs like 'mislay' have unique forms. It’s crucial to understand that both forms of 'mislay' are 'mislaid', but they serve different purposes in a sentence. The past simple is used for actions completed in the past ('Yesterday, I mislaid my keys.'), while the past participle is often used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses ('I have mislaid my keys several times this month.').
— 02
Incorrectly Regularizing the Verb
Another frequent mistake is attempting to regularize the verb 'mislay' by adding -ed to form its past simple and past participle, resulting in incorrect forms like 'mislayed'. This error stems from the natural inclination to apply the regular verb pattern to all verbs. However, 'mislay' is an irregular verb, and its correct past simple and past participle form is 'mislaid', not 'mislayed'.
— 03
Misusing Past Participle
Sometimes, learners incorrectly use the past participle 'mislaid' as if it were the past simple, without pairing it with an auxiliary verb where necessary. For example, saying 'I have mislaid my keys' is correct, but saying 'Yesterday, I have mislaid my keys' is incorrect. The latter should correctly be 'Yesterday, I mislaid my keys.' Understanding the distinction between when to use the past simple and when to use the past participle with an auxiliary verb is key to avoiding this mistake.
Past tense quiz
Check your skills and find areas for improvement