Irregularity by tense
The verbs that break the pattern, tense by tense. This screen is Irregularity by tense: open Linguistic analysis on the Home screen and tap Irregularity by tense. It is also where the drill for a single tense starts.
One row per tense: how many things there are to learn there — a family of verbs that share one stem counts once, and so does a verb on its own — and the share of its verbs that are not fully predictable. Tenses that hold exactly the same verbs are folded into one row, and the row says what they share — the compound tenses all rest on the same past participles. A cap beside the number means there is a drill behind the row.
Opening a row lists those verbs. From there:
- tapping a verb opens its page at that tense, with the explanation of why it departs open under the table (for a folded row, at the first of its tenses);
- Practise starts Produce the conjugation over exactly the irregular verbs on the list, in that tense;
- Cycle through randomly shows one verb's conjugation at a time in that tense and walks every verb on the list, in the order shown.
The order menu in the toolbar sets the order of the list:
- By pattern — the default. The verbs are grouped under the patterns that explain how the tense is formed.
- By reason — the verbs are grouped by what departs: The stem differs, The ending differs, and The stem and the ending differ for a verb that departs in both. Each row shows the stem the verb takes in that tense, such as viendr- for the futur of venir, and beside it, as a + number, how many more verbs of its family share that stem. At the top, the box Fewer than the numbers suggest shows how much there really is to learn: a family of verbs that share one stem counts once, and so does a verb on its own.
- Alphabetical — the verbs from A to Z.
The filter button in the toolbar is on when the list opens: it shows the irregular verbs only. Switch it off with Show all verbs and the list shows every verb in your level, from A to Z, each opening at that tense; only the irregular verbs show the explanation of why they depart. Show irregular verbs only switches the filter back on. Practise and the drills keep to the irregular verbs. With all verbs shown, the order menu is hidden.
What the list shows.
- The rows follow the order of the tenses in the app.
- A tense needs at least three irregular verbs before the cap appears; the row itself is always there.
- The verbs come from the whole catalogue, not from your verb selection.
The first time you open the screen it scans the catalogue, which takes a moment ("Scanning the catalogue…").