Recommend past tense
Meaning of recommend
to suggest that someone or something would be good or suitable for a particular purpose or job, or to advise a particular course of action.
Infinitive
- 1. He always recommends the best books to read over the summer.
- 2. My doctor recommends drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
- 3. The travel guide recommends visiting the old town for its historic architecture.
Past Simple
- 1. She recommended a great book to me last week, and I couldn't put it down.
- 2. The teacher recommended studying two hours a night for the best results.
- 3. They recommended trying the new restaurant downtown, so we decided to check it out on Saturday.
Past Participle
- 1. The book has been highly recommended by several critics.
- 2. The new restaurant was recommended to me by my friend.
- 3. That movie had been widely recommended before it even released.
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Bare infinitive
- Habitual actions or routines.Example. I recommend trying the new coffee shop near the park; they serve amazing espresso.
Past Simple
- Actions completed at a specific time in the past.Example. I recommended that book to you last week; did you get a chance to read it?
- A series of completed actions in the past.Example. She recommended a great restaurant, we tried it, and it was fantastic.
- Habitual actions or routines in the past.Example. Every summer, we recommended different hiking trails to all our visitors.
Past Participle
- Perfect tenses forming the present perfect, past perfect, future perfect by combining with have/has/had.Example. Present Perfect. I have recommended that movie to all my friends.Example. Past Perfect. By the time the meeting started, the manager had already recommended a new strategy for the project.Example. Future Perfect. By next year, they will have recommended several candidates for the position.
- Passive voice describing an action done to the subject.Example. The book was highly recommended by all critics.Example. Past Perfect. By the time the meeting started, the manager had already recommended a new strategy for the project.Example. Future Perfect. By next year, they will have recommended several candidates for the position.
- As an adjective describing a state resulting from an action.Example. The recommended list of books for the course is available on the websiteExample. Past Perfect. By the time the meeting started, the manager had already recommended a new strategy for the project.Example. Future Perfect. By next year, they will have recommended several candidates for the position.
Common mistakes
— 01
Incorrect Regular Verb Conjugation
A common mistake is treating 'recommend' as a regular verb that would typically end in '-ed' for its past simple and past participle forms. However, 'recommend' is a regular verb, but it follows a pattern where the past simple and past participle forms are 'recommended.' The incorrect assumption might lead someone to use an incorrect form like 'recommmend' or 'recommened,' which are incorrect.
— 02
Misuse in Passive Voice
When using 'recommend' in the passive voice, it's crucial to use the correct past participle form. The mistake often occurs when the past simple form is mistakenly used instead of the past participle in passive constructions. For example, the correct passive voice construction is 'He was recommended for the job,' not 'He was recommend for the job.'
— 03
Confusing Forms
Since both the past simple and past participle forms of 'recommend' are 'recommended,' confusion might arise in their application within perfect tenses and passive voice constructions. The mistake lies in not recognizing that the same form 'recommended' should be consistently used across these grammatical structures. For instance, using 'has recommend' instead of the correct 'has recommended' in the present perfect tense is a common error stemming from this confusion.
Past tense quiz
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