sweep
Base form
sweep
/swiːp/
Past simple
swept
/swept/
Past participle
swept
/swept/
MeaningB2
to clean the floor with a brush
to sweep someone off their feet
In use
- Imperative · Form 1Sweep the kitchen floor before you mop it.
- Question · Form 1Did you sweep up all the broken glass?
- Past simple · Form 2Yesterday Ben swept the leaves off the garden path.
- Past simple · Form 2Last winter a huge storm swept across the north of Scotland.
- Passive · Form 3The streets are swept every morning before the shops open.
- Past perfect · Form 3Someone had swept the snow from the front steps before we got up.
Watch out
Swept is short /swept/, like kept and slept: sweeped and swepted are wrong.
Same pattern
A — B — BForms two and three are the same
Irregular VerbsLearn all three forms for good
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