IELTS Vocabulary 27

Difficult Verb Pairs

A small number of verbs give problems because the past tense (and usually also the past participle) of one verb has the same spelling as the present tense and infinitive of another. In each sentence below use the right forms of the correct verb.

1 fall, fell, fallen
fell, felled, felled (cut down)

(a) Prices have ……….. steeply since last August.
(b) Three old trees will have to be ……….. because they are diseased and dangerous.
(c) He lost his balance and ……….. heavily.

2 find, found, found
found, founded, founded (establish)

(a) My grandfather ……….. this firm in 1924.
(b) While clearing out the bedroom, I ……….. these old letters.
(c) The United Nations was ……….. in 1945.

3 bind, bound, bound (tie up)
bound, bounded, bounded (1: jump 2: border)

(a) Switzerland is ……….. by France, Germany, Austria and Italy.
(b) The lion ……….. forward and sprang at her.
(c) He was ……….. hand and foot by the robbers.

4 see, saw, seen
saw, sawed, sawed/sawn (cut with a saw)

(a) I suddenly ……….. a face at the window.
(b) He ……….. the branch in half and put the pieces on the fire.
(c) Two prisoners ……….. through the bars of their cell window and escaped.

5 grind, ground, ground (crush into powder)
ground, grounded, grounded (compel to remain on the ground)

(a) The ship went too near the coast and was ……….. on rocks.
(b) The beans are ……….. in this machine before they are put in the coffee pot.
(c) The airline has decided to ……….. all its planes until special safety checks have been carried out.

6 wind, wound, wound (twist)
wound, wounded, wounded (injure)

(a) The train ……….. its way up the hillside and stopped just below the top.
(b) The police opened fire and ……….. six of the rioters.
(c) Keep still and I’ll ……….. a bandage round your arm.

7 lie, lay, lain (be or put oneself in a horizontal position, intransitive)
lay, laid, laid (put, transitive)

(a) He ……….. the enormous box on the ground and looked for a taxi.
(b) He ……….. there for an hour until someone finally heard his cries for help.
(c) In this school emphasis is ……….. on discipline and hard work.
(e) They were ordered to ……….. down their weapons.
(d) I’m tired. I think I’ll ……….. for a while.
(e) They were ordered to ……….. down their weapons.
(f) The villages ……….. at the foot of the mountains.

Some verbs have two past participle forms and there is usually no difference between the two (e.g. learned/learnt, sawed/sawn); However, in a few cases the two forms are used for two different applications of the verb and are not interchangeable In each sentence below use the correct past participle form of the verb.

8 bear, bore, born (give birth to)
bear, bore, borne

(a) He was ……….. in Tokyo In 1906
(b) The winning team were ……….. through the streets on the shoulders on their excited supporters.
(c) No one else could have ……….. the terrible experiences he went through.

9 cost, cost, cost (be of certain price)
cost, costed, costed (calculate the cost of)

(a) Accountants and engineers have ……….. a new heating system for the factory. The board of directors will consider their estimates and decide whether to go ahead with the scheme.
(b) Houses have never ……….. more than they do today.
(c) the proposed new road system has been ……….. by experts at £73,000,000.

10 hang, hung, hung (suspend)
hang, hanged, hanged (kill by hanging)

(a) When you’ve ……….. your coat up. come and sit down.
(b) Before the abolition of the death penalty, convicted murderers were sometimes ………..
(c) This picture has been badly ……….. it should be nearer the light and lower.

11 strike, struck , struck (hit)
stricken (attack, e.g. with fear, doubt, disease)

(a) Thousands of people have been ……….. by this terrible illness.
(b) I have never ……….. anyone in my life.
(c) Panic ……….. they rushed through the flames to the exits.

Answers:

1 a) fallen b) felled c) fell
2 a) founded b) found c) founded
3 a) bounded b) bounded c) bound
4 a) saw b) sawed c) sawed
5 a) grounded b) ground c) ground
6 a) wound b) wounded c) wind
7 a) laid b) lay c) laid d) lie e) lay f) lie
8 a) born b) borne c) borne
9 a) costed b) cost c) costed
10 a) hung b) hanged c) hung
11 a) stricken b) struck c) stricken