Verb forms
Base form
/rʌn/
Past Simple
/ræn/
Past Participle
/rʌn/
Example sentences
Base form · run
- I run five kilometres every morning before work.
Past Simple · ran
- He ran to catch the last train home.
- I ran it as soon as I possibly could.
- We ran it together earlier this week.
- She ran without any hesitation.
Past Participle · run
- She has run three marathons this year.
- She has just run the very same thing.
- By the time we arrived, they had run everything.
- We have never run anything quite like it.
Common collocations
run a business
to manage a company
run out of
to use up the whole supply of something
run late
to be behind schedule
Key tenses
| Present Simple | Past Simple | Present Perfect |
|---|---|---|
I run he / she / it runs | I ran | I have run |
| Present Continuous:I am running · he / she / it is running | ||
Grammar guide
The verb "run" belongs to the rare ABA group: the base form and past participle are identical ("run" and "run"), while the past simple ("ran") is the odd form out. Only a handful of common English verbs follow this pattern, which makes "run" easy to identify once you know the group.
Use the past simple "ran" for a single completed action at a specific point in the past: "She ran a personal best in last year's race." It stands alone as the main verb with no auxiliary required. Past-time markers — yesterday, last month, in 2019, an hour ago — accompany it naturally.
The past participle "run" — identical to the base form — always requires an auxiliary. It appears in: (1) present perfect constructions — "Have you ever run a marathon?"; (2) past perfect — "By the final lap, she had already run past three rivals"; (3) passive voice — "The route is run every spring." Because "run" looks exactly like the plain present tense, always check for an auxiliary verb (have, has, had, or a form of be) to determine the actual grammatical structure.
The ABA group is so small that it fits in one sentence: come–came–come, become–became–become, run–ran–run, and overcome–overcame–overcome. All four are closely related words built on the same roots. Once you know "run", the past participle comes free — the only form that requires separate memorisation is the irregular past simple "ran".
Quick quiz
Which sentence is correct?
Conjugation pattern
The base form and the past participle are the same; only the past simple differs.
Verbs with the same pattern