Shy past tense

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Meaning of shy

to start suddenly aside because of fear or surprise.

Infinitive

Word: shy /ʃaɪ/
Examples:
  • 1. She always turns red and shy when someone compliments her.
  • 2. He doesn't like to speak in front of crowds because he's quite shy.
  • 3. Their dog is shy around new people but warms up after a few treats.

Past Simple

Word: shied /ʃaɪd/
Examples:
  • 1. She shied away from the spotlight, preferring to remain in the background.
  • 2. She shied away from the crowd, feeling overwhelmed by the number of people.
  • 3. The horse shied at the sudden noise, causing the rider to hold on tightly.

Past Participle

Word: shied /ʃaɪd/
Examples:
  • 1. She had always been shied away from by others because of her quiet nature.
  • 2. The puppy had been shied away from the noisy crowd.
  • 3. The student have shied when he was asked to answer at the board.

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Bare infinitive

  1. Habitual Actions or Routines
    Example. He always shys away from confrontation.
    Example. She shys from the spotlight, preferring to work behind the scenes.
  2. When describing actions or behaviors that are regular or habitual.
    Example. He always shys away from confrontation.
    Example. She shys from the spotlight, preferring to work behind the scenes.
  3. Permanent States or Situations
    Example. He always shys away from confrontation.
    Example. She shys from the spotlight, preferring to work behind the scenes.
  4. When describing states or situations that are permanent or longterm.
    Example. He always shys away from confrontation.
    Example. She shys from the spotlight, preferring to work behind the scenes.

Past Simple

  1. Completed Actions in the Past
    Example. He shied away from making public speeches in high school.
    Example. When she was a child, she always shied away from sports.
    Example. People often shied away from discussing mental health openly in the past.
  2. When referring to actions or events that were completed at a specific time in the past.
    Example. He shied away from making public speeches in high school.
    Example. When she was a child, she always shied away from sports.
    Example. People often shied away from discussing mental health openly in the past.
  3. Habitual Actions in the Past
    Example. He shied away from making public speeches in high school.
    Example. When she was a child, she always shied away from sports.
    Example. People often shied away from discussing mental health openly in the past.
  4. Describing past habits or regular actions that no longer happen.
    Example. He shied away from making public speeches in high school.
    Example. When she was a child, she always shied away from sports.
    Example. People often shied away from discussing mental health openly in the past.
  5. Past Facts or Generalizations
    Example. He shied away from making public speeches in high school.
    Example. When she was a child, she always shied away from sports.
    Example. People often shied away from discussing mental health openly in the past.
  6. When stating facts or generalizing about the past.
    Example. He shied away from making public speeches in high school.
    Example. When she was a child, she always shied away from sports.
    Example. People often shied away from discussing mental health openly in the past.

Past Participle

  1. Present Perfect Tense
    Example. He has always shied away from confrontations, even as an adult.
    Example. By the time the conversation started, she had already shied away from participating.
    Example. Due to her introverted nature, she was often shied away from by her more outgoing peers.
  2. To talk about experiences or changes that happened at an unspecified time in the past.
    Example. He has always shied away from confrontations, even as an adult.
    Example. By the time the conversation started, she had already shied away from participating.
    Example. Due to her introverted nature, she was often shied away from by her more outgoing peers.
  3. Past Perfect Tense
    Example. He has always shied away from confrontations, even as an adult.
    Example. By the time the conversation started, she had already shied away from participating.
    Example. Due to her introverted nature, she was often shied away from by her more outgoing peers.
  4. To talk about something that happened before another action or time in the past.
    Example. He has always shied away from confrontations, even as an adult.
    Example. By the time the conversation started, she had already shied away from participating.
    Example. Due to her introverted nature, she was often shied away from by her more outgoing peers.
  5. Passive Voice Constructs
    Example. He has always shied away from confrontations, even as an adult.
    Example. By the time the conversation started, she had already shied away from participating.
    Example. Due to her introverted nature, she was often shied away from by her more outgoing peers.
  6. When focusing on the action or result rather than who or what is performing the action.
    Example. He has always shied away from confrontations, even as an adult.
    Example. By the time the conversation started, she had already shied away from participating.
    Example. Due to her introverted nature, she was often shied away from by her more outgoing peers.

Common mistakes

— 01

Incorrectly adding an 'ed'

A common mistake when conjugating 'shy' into its past simple and past participle forms is to simply add '-ed' to the end without changing the 'y' to 'i', resulting in an incorrect 'shyed' instead of the correct 'shied.' This error stems from misunderstanding the rule that when a verb ends in a consonant plus 'y,' the 'y' should change to 'i' before adding '-ed.'

— 02

Mispronunciation

Given the transformation of 'shy' to 'shied,' learners might struggle with its correct pronunciation /ʃaɪd/, possibly pronouncing it as it looks, similar to 'shy-ed' instead of the correct single syllable sound. This mistake reflects challenges in English pronunciation rules, especially in handling verbs ending in 'y' and the changes they undergo in their conjugated forms.

— 03

Using 'shied' incorrectly

Some might mistakenly use 'shied' when a different verb tense or form is more appropriate, due to confusion over when to use the past simple versus the present or future tense. For example, they might say 'I shied to speak in public' when they mean to express a present or ongoing reluctance, 'I shy from speaking in public.' This error highlights difficulties in accurately matching verb tenses with the intended time frame or aspect of an action, particularly with verbs that involve subtle shifts in spelling or pronunciation across their forms.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the past simple form of 'shy'?

The past simple form of 'shy' is 'shied'. It is used to describe an action that occurred and was completed at a specific time in the past. For example, 'The horse shied away from the sudden noise yesterday.'

What is the past participle form of 'shy'?

The past participle form of 'shy' is also 'shied'. This form is used in perfect tenses and passive voice. For example, in the sentence 'The horse has shied away from the noise', 'shied' is the past participle being used with the auxiliary verb 'has' to form the present perfect tense.

How do I use the past participle form of 'shy' in a sentence?

The past participle 'shied' can be used in several ways. In perfect tenses, it combines with forms of 'have' to indicate actions that occurred at an unspecified time in the past or that were completed by a certain point in time. For example, 'She has always shied away from confrontations.' In passive constructions, it can be used to describe something being acted upon, although this usage is less common with the verb 'shy' due to its nature.

Can you provide an example of a sentence using both the past simple and past participle forms of 'shy'?

Certainly! Here's a sentence that uses both forms. 'Yesterday, the cat shied away from the dog, and it has shied away from him ever since.' In this sentence, 'shied' is first used in the past simple form to denote a specific action that happened yesterday. The second instance of 'shied' is the past participle form, used with 'has' to form the present perfect tense, indicating an action that started in the past and continues up to the present.