The Tricky Past Tense of See
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- The simple past tense of see is “saw.” Example: We saw dad make dinner.
- The past participle is “seen.” Example: I have not seen my keys since this morning.
- “Saw” is used for completed past actions, while “seen” is used with present perfect tenses.
Grammatical Properties
The verb “see” is an irregular verb, meaning it doesn’t follow the typical rules for forming past tenses by adding “-ed”. Instead, it has two distinct past forms we need to master:
Simple Past Tense of See: saw
Past Participle of See: seen
Other past tenses:
Forming the Past Tense of See
Simple Past Tense of See:
Saw” refers to an action that was completed in the past.
Example:
- Mom saw me clean my room.
Past Participle of See:
Use “seen” after have/has/had to form present perfect, past perfect, or future perfect tenses.
Example:
- Jane has seen her friend every day this week.
Past Participle vs Past Tense of See
Past Tense (“saw”) talks about events in the past, especially at a certain time.
Example:
- We saw a rainbow.
Past Participle (“seen”) talks about something that happened before another event in the past. It forms perfect tenses.
Example:
- I had seen that movie already when you recommended it.
Conjugation of “See”
Like all verbs, “see” follows specific conjugation patterns depending on the subject:
Present Tense:
- I see
- You see
- He/She/It sees
- We see
- They see
Past Tense:
- I saw
- You saw
- He/She/It saw
- We saw
- They saw
Future Tense:
- I will see
- You will see
- He/She/It will see
- We will see
- They will see
Regular vs Irregular Conjugation
“See” doesn’t follow the normal rules for verb. For instance, adding “-ed” for past tense. It’s called an irregular verb. It’s important to know irregular verbs’ forms.
Other Verb Tenses of “See”
Perfect Tenses:
- Present Perfect: have/has seen (I have seen that play)
- Past Perfect: had seen (I had seen it before)
- Future Perfect: will have seen (By then, I will have seen it twice)
Progressive Tenses:
- Present Progressive: am/is/are seeing (I am seeing a new tutor)
- Past Progressive: was/were seeing (We were seeing a movie)
- Future Progressive: will be seeing (They will be seeing the doctor soon)
Continuous Tenses:
- Present Continuous: am/is/are seeing (He is seeing someone)
- Past Continuous: was/were seeing (They were seeing each other)
- Past Perfect Continuous: had been seeing (We had been seeing a therapist)
Example Sentences
Simple Past:
- I saw a brilliant sunset over the lake last evening.
- On our walk we saw lots of pretty flowers.
Past Continuous:
- We were seeing our relatives every few months.
- I was seeing shapes when I closed my eyes.
Past Participle:
- We have seen monkeys jump at the zoo.
- Grandma has seen me paint a picture before.
Present Tense:
- I want to see the puppies at the pet store.
- Look, do you see the birds in the tree?
5 Verbal Forms of See
- Base form/infinitive: to see
- Simple past: saw
- Past participle: seen
- 3rd person singular: sees
- Present participle: seeing
Common Mistakes
- Mixing up “saw” and “seen” (e.g. “I had saw that already”)
- Using “seen” without an auxiliary verb (e.g. “I seen it”)
Definition and Usage of See
The verb “see” means to perceive with the eyes or to understand mentally. Its many forms allow us to describe visual experiences across various tenses.
Origin of the Word See
The word “see” originated from the Old English “sēon” and is related to the Dutch “zien” and German “sehen”.
With plenty of examples and explanations, this guide has hopefully given you the tools to “see” clearly when using this very common verb.
