AEE: How to Dance Around Tricky Past Participles

Summary

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All Ears English Podcast

Episode: "How to Dance Around Tricky Past Participles"

Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Aubrey Carter
Date: August 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into a quirky and practical element of spoken American English: how native speakers frequently “dance around” using certain tricky past participles—most notably with irregular verbs like drink, run, and go. Lindsay and Aubrey highlight the real-life approaches natives use to avoid these forms (even though they're grammatically correct) and share strategies ESL learners can confidently use too, focusing on natural communication.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Do Natives Avoid Some Past Participles?

• Native Intuition Feels ‘Off’:
  • Words like “drunk” (for drink) sound odd or even carry awkward or negative connotations, so even seasoned English speakers hesitate to use them.
  • Aubrey (02:06): “We really avoid it, everyone. I feel like in the United States you don't hear this a lot.”
  • Lindsey (02:20): “...Even when I've taught this ... every time I've had to teach this, I will go back and double check that the grammar's right.”
• Perceived Social/Cultural Connotations:
  • “Drunk” is most often associated with being inebriated, causing native speakers to sidestep using it in contexts like “Have you drunk water today?”

The Core “Dance Around” Strategies

• Strategy 1: Swap Present Perfect with Present Perfect Continuous

  • Use “have/has been” + [verb]-ing to skirt around the past participle.
    • Instead of: “Have you drunk a lot of water?”
      Use: “Have you been drinking a lot of water?” (03:41, 07:13)
    • Instead of: “I've run a lot this week.”
      Use: “I've been running a lot this week.” (09:00)
    • Instead of: “I've gone to the grocery store a lot.”
      Use: “I've been going to the grocery store a lot.” (10:08)
  • Aubrey (07:13): “Instead of, I haven't drunk enough water today, you would say, I haven't been drinking enough water today. And they mean the same thing...so pick the easy one.”

• Strategy 2: Swap Present Perfect with Present Continuous/Progressive

  • Especially in questions or with repeated actions.
    • “Are you drinking a lot today?” instead of “How much have you drunk today?” (13:19)
    • “Are you running a lot these days?” instead of “Have you run a lot lately?” (13:33)
    • “Have you been going to many concerts this year?” instead of “Have you gone to many concerts this year?” (13:33)
  • Lindsey (13:19): “So the present progressive. Right?...Love it.”

Verb-Specific Hotspots & Sociolinguistics

• Drink (drank, drunk): Most commonly avoided

  • Multiple strategies for avoidance mentioned by both hosts.
  • Aubrey (07:49): “If you say, I am drunk, that has a very different meaning than I haven't drunk a lot of water.”

• Run (ran, run): Frequent native mistakes (“I have ran”) occur, so speakers opt for safer options.

• Go (went, gone):

  • Regional and dialectical variations (use of “I've went” in some American English varieties and African American English).
    • Aubrey (10:29): “Where I grew up, people say ‘I've went’ all the time. This is also very common in African American English.”
    • Lindsey (10:08): “This one I think is something our listeners should learn. Right. ‘I've gone’...it's everywhere.”
  • Recommendation: “Go” is so common learners should master it properly—less need to avoid.
    • Aubrey (11:57): “It seems so doable to learn that gone is the past participle for go...it's best case scenario, right? We learn that past participle so that we can say, I have gone.”

• Other Verbs: Caution for verbs with less familiar or irregular forms (e.g., “grind – ground — grinded”).

Why This Happens—even for Educated Natives

• Even the hosts (both experienced educators with English MAs) find themselves sidestepping less-used participles out of discomfort or habit.
  • Lindsey (06:34): “...even people that are super educated and, you know, well read, they also might do this. Use these strategies.”
  • Aubrey (04:49): “We both have master's degrees in English. Right. But because we don't hear it a lot...we often will also dance around it.”

Linguistic Flexibility & Cultural Context

• Mistakes and “dancing around” participles aren’t about lack of education but cultural/linguistic usage.
• Learners should decide case-by-case which participles to master and which to “dance around,” especially to avoid sounding awkward or overly formal in casual contexts.
• Context, connection, and who you’re speaking to matter.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Have you drunk a lot of water today?”
  (Lindsey, 01:48, with immediate self-doubt signaling native awkwardness.)
• Aubrey (02:06): “We really avoid it, everyone. I feel like in the United States you don't hear this a lot.”
• Lindsey (06:34): “Even people that are super educated and, you know, well read, they also might do this. Use these strategies. Right. This is not necessarily about education levels.”
• Aubrey (07:49): “If you say, I am drunk, that has a very different meaning than I haven't drunk a lot of water.”
• Aubrey (10:29): “Where I grew up, people say ‘I've went’ all the time. This is also very common in African American English.”
• Lindsey (18:19): “...these are habits that native speakers participate in, dancing around certain verbs. Because for whatever reason, we're not sure if it's right. We don't hear other people say it or we feel awkward saying it. It is okay to do it.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:48–02:16: Hosts discuss discomfort with “drunk” as past participle of “drink”
• 03:30–04:07: How natives favor present perfect continuous: “Have you been drinking...?”
• 06:12–07:13: Concrete pro tip: Swap present perfect for present perfect continuous
• 09:00–09:15: Examples: “I’ve run” vs “I’ve been running”
• 10:08–11:34: Socio-dialectal discussion of “gone” vs “went” (“I’ve went” vs “I’ve gone”)
• 12:39–13:19: Quick examples swapping present perfect with present progressive/continuous
• 15:25–17:17: Role play between hosts demonstrating “dance around” in typical park conversation
• 17:40–17:58: Shoutout to a related episode on “grind/ground”

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Role Play: Real Conversation Examples

• 15:26–16:20
  • “I feel like I see you here running a lot lately.”
    (Present perfect continuous avoids “run/running” confusion.)
  • “Yes, I've been running every day. ... training for that marathon next month.”
• 16:32
  • “Have you been drinking enough water?”
    (Avoids “Have you drunk…” entirely.)
• 16:45–17:17
  • “Have you been running much lately?” / “I've been going to that new gym across town.”
    (Both sentences demonstrate strategies in fluid conversational context.)

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Practical Takeaways

• Don’t stress if certain participles feel awkward to use, even natives often avoid them.
• Master “have gone” (go-went-gone) since it’s so fundamental, but feel comfortable using present perfect or continuous alternatives when in doubt—especially with verbs like “drink.”
• Connection, NOT perfection: Choose forms that make you sound natural and help you connect, rather than worrying about perfect grammar in every instance.
• Context and dialect matter—embrace flexibility and focus on what achieves the best communication.

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Recommended Next Episode

• AEE Episode 2434: “Vocabulary to Help With Your English Grind” (Discusses “grind/ground/grinded” and similar participle challenges.)
  (Mentioned at 17:44)

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Final Note

Native English conversation often prioritizes practicality and comfort over strict grammar, even among “experts.” For learners, using these “dance around” strategies is not only acceptable but reflective of real-life American English. Choose the approach that fits your social context and communication goals—connection first!

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Transcript

[Aubrey Carter]

This is an All Ears English Podcast how to dance around tricky past participles.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe There is a funny thing that native speakers do when they want to avoid using certain less common verbs is in English. Find out what they do and how you can do this too.

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[Lindsey McMahon]

Hey there, Aubry. How's it going today? How you feeling?

[Aubrey Carter]

I'm great, Lindsay. How are you? Good, good.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It's really hot today here in Denver. It's 99 degrees that I just saw.

[Aubrey Carter]

So that is hot. It's hot in Idaho too. I'm like trying to escape the Phoenix heat and I think it's 95 here, so still quite warm. Pretty summer.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. Well, have you drunk a lot of water today? Because it's so warm out, Aubry?

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh, great question. I haven't drunk a lot of water. That question sounds a little weird to me. Does it sound weird to you?

[Lindsey McMahon]

It totally sounds weird. It totally sounds weird. Before I said it, I was like, is this right? Let me just double check in my head, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. Right. Because we avoid saying the word drunk, even though that is correct grammar. To say, have you drunk a lot of water. That's the part. That's the past participle.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes.

[Aubrey Carter]

We really avoid it, everyone. I feel like in the United States you don't hear this a lot.

[Lindsey McMahon]

And even when I've taught this, you know, you and I have both been teaching English for 20 plus years. Every time I've had to teach this, I will go back and double check that the grammar's right. Right.

[Aubrey Carter]

Because it feels wrong. Because we don't hear it very often. Totally.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Exactly. So this is what we're going to get into. This little funny Thing that native speakers do, which is what?

[Aubrey Carter]

Aubry.

[Lindsey McMahon]

What exactly do they do when they feel weird about a past participle of a verb?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. We have a few techniques we use to avoid them. We dance around these past participles, and we're going to teach you. Say what natives do. That you can do, too. If ever you're not sure about a past participle, there are a couple of little hacks you can use.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. This is a real art. And I know that we've taught the phrase dance around. Just I think this summer we taught that on Allers English. So I'm really excited about this because our listeners know what that means now. So what should our listeners do right now? Aubry. Before we go any further in the episode.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. Be sure to hit follow right here on the podcast. If you're not following it, you are missing bonus content. You're likely missing episodes. So wherever you listen to podcasts, open up your search bar. Search all Ears English and hit follow on the podcast.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, so if you want to ask this question, Aubrey, what would a native speaker more likely do rather than asking the question, have you drunk a lot of water today? What would we do instead?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, they would likely use the present perfect continuous, and they would say, have you been drinking a lot of water? So they would avoid that past participle drunk, and they would use a different grammar tense entirely. And often this works. We talked about this a lot on the podcast that often there are a few options for the grammar tense. Right. Maybe depending. Like, does time matter if the exact time doesn't really matter? Sometimes you have options.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. And it totally works here because we're still in that day. Right. The day's going on. It makes complete grammatical sense. The other thing that I do just as an asterisk in this kind of situation is I just grab another verb. Right. And that's not what we're talking about today, I don't think. But we could do another episode on that.

[Aubrey Carter]

That's a great idea. Be sure to hit follow. I agree. Right. You might say are you stay. Staying hydrated. Right.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Good one, too. Yeah. Sounds like a Mountain West. A question. Right. Everyone in the Mountain west is always, you know, hydration is really important, but. Or even just saying, like, have you had a lot of water today? Just something really basic. But I know that the past participle of have is had. I don't have to worry about it.

[Aubrey Carter]

I feel.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I feel comfortable. Right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. That's what's fascinating. Right. A lot of native speakers do this, we even do it. And we both have master's degrees in English. Right. But because we don't hear it a lot, because everyone else is avoiding it, even though we know the correct grammar, we often will also dance around it. We often will also use a different verb tense. So you guys out there listening, you certainly can, too.

[Lindsey McMahon]

That is so funny. How did you think of this topic today, Aubry?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, this came up when Michelle and I recorded a podcast about the verb grind past tense, ground. Someone had written in asking about the past tense. They hear it as ground and grinded. And this is we. We mentioned, like, often we'll avoid this. Instead of using ground or gr. Grinded, we'll do this and say, I've been grinding herbs my whole life. If we're not positive about the past participle, because this is another one where natives use both past tense verbs. So you might go to say it and not be sure. And you can use one of these. Hacks change the verb tense.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. I love it. We obviously have to make sure it works grammatically. Sometimes it changes the meaning of what we're saying. Right. So, yeah, that's. But what does this look like? So the first tip, we're going to show our listeners today exactly how to do this, how to dance around the past participle. If you feel like you never hear it, it sounds weird. You think people might look at you like you're strange. If you use it correctly, what would you do? What's the first strategy?

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly, Right. These are some pro tips. Your first strategy is that you could swap present perfect tense with present perfect continuous. So the difference here is instead of having to have that past past participle, instead you use bin, b, e, n and then verb ing. So that's easy. You have the base verb at ing. You don't need to know the past participle.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, way easier. So instead of saying, I haven't drunk enough water today, and again, I. I don't hear even, you know, even people that are super educated and, you know, well read, they also might do this. Use these strategies. Right. This is not necessarily about education levels. Okay?

[Aubrey Carter]

Right. This is really the best example because regardless of education level, someone might either be trying to just avoid the word drunk or because they never hear anyone else saying that way, even though it's correct grammar, they're maybe trying to avoid sounding pretentious and so they are just speaking the same way everyone else they know speaks.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Right. So then what would it sound like again? One more time, Aubrey. If we use strategy One.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. So instead of, I haven't drunk enough water today, you would say, I haven't been drinking enough water today. And they mean the same thing. Like you said, Lindsay, it's still within the same day. Whether you use present perfect, continuous, or present perfect tense, it means the same thing. So pick the easy one. The one where you don't have to have that past participle drunk.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. And I think this really is about the grammar just not being used. Another reason that native speakers maybe don't use it is because we reserve the word drunk for when you're inebriated. Right. And maybe if you use it, you think people are gonna think you're saying you're drunk. I'm not sure exactly.

[Aubrey Carter]

That's definitely a possibility. Right. If you say, I am drunk, that has a very different meaning than I haven't drunk a lot of water. So you might be worried someone just hears the word drunk and misunderstands. So for whatever reason, we have this negative connotation with it, and we. We avoid it a lot.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. But it's not the only one that we do this for. Right. As we said. So what's another example of how we could use strategy one here?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. So that there are common mistakes when people aren't sure about the past participle. You might hear someone say, I have a drink. I have a drink. That's the mistake. It should be I have drunk, so we avoid it. Again, there are other verbs where the past participle is different from the verb in past tense, so it can cause mistakes. Someone might be. Not be positive. They might change their verb. So another example is run. So the past tense verb is ran, but then the past participle is run. So you should say, I have run a lot this week. And someone might say, I have ran a lot this week. I've heard that mistake from native speakers. So a lot of people will change it just to. In case they're not certain of the past participle.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Exactly. So if we changed it and we're going to use the continuous form, we're going to say, I've been running a lot lately. Okay.

[Aubrey Carter]

So that exactly instead of I've run a lot lately means the same thing. I've running a lot lately. When you're using these present perfect tenses, you're talking about something that's continuing to happen. You're going to run more. You've been running. So either tense is correct.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. I love it. So instead of saying, I've run a lot lately, I've been running a lot lately. Again, saying the same thing. Love it. Okay. And then go, went, gone. What's the mistake that we hear here? I mean, this should be a little more low hanging fruit. Right?

[Aubrey Carter]

This is interesting. So go is the verb. Went is go in past tense. But then the past participle is gone. There are actually a lot of verbs like this where the past participle is irregular. There will be certain regional dialects where this mistake is much more common. And you hear someone say, I've went instead of I've gone. So again, instead of saying I've gone to the grocery store so often this week, you can use that present perfect continuous and say, I've been going to the grocery store so often this week. Because it's a repeated action, you can often swap it out with present perfect continuous.

[Lindsey McMahon]

You can. I mean, you can get away with it. This might be a place we disagree. This one, I think is something our listeners should learn. Right. I've gone. It's just such an incredibly common verb. Go, went, gone. Right. It's everywhere. So I think for this one, we should just learn it and use it. And it's. For me, it's less common to hear someone avoid this one.

[Aubrey Carter]

Aubrey, this is really interesting because this really comes down to regional dialects. I think where you grew up, you didn't hear this mistake very often. Right. So it feels, it sounds and feels very ungrammatical to you. It sounds perfectly normal to me because where I grew up, people say I've went all the time. This is also very common in African American English. So it's interesting that one person might really see it as an error because you grew up hearing things a certain way. But we do want to be careful what we call a mistake because it's so common in certain dialects, certain regions that you will hear it if you're in the United States, maybe on TV podcasts, but especially if you're traveling in the United States in some regions, it's extremely common. But this is a good way to avoid it being an issue at all.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. But I do think that, you know, for our listeners, when they make the choice whether to avoid gone or, you know, themselves, I would encourage them to just use gone. Say it correctly because it's such a building block of the language, don't you think? Aubry, Instead of avoiding it and dancing around it, it.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, interesting. Yeah, it's interesting to think about. I can see what you're saying. Right. For everyone out there learning English. Right. If you're choosing which verbs to Dance around to maybe switch up. The verb drink is the biggest one where native speakers are going to do this. It. Because you hear drunk so seldom. Absolutely switch that out, right?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes.

[Aubrey Carter]

Run also. Yeah, it's true.

[Lindsey McMahon]

You.

[Aubrey Carter]

It. It seems so doable to learn that gone is the past participle for go. You will hear n. Native English speakers, especially in the United States, make this mistake. But yeah, it's best case scenario, right? We learn that past participle so that we can say, I have gone. I've gone to the grocery store a lot.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. And I totally agree with you. I think that mistakes are relative, especially on, you know, in terms of our philosophy, we do believe that, you know, there is the regional differences, but with this one, I think it's just a little different. I think it's. Let. Let's learn the grammar. Let. When we're choosing to make this statement, let's say it's it. You know, by the book in this case. So interesting.

[Aubrey Carter]

So let's move on to number two. You can also swap present perfect with present continuous. So we'll just give some quick examples with these same three verbs. Drink, run and go. Instead of I've drunk a lot today, you can say, I've been drinking a lot today. Right. So same. And then what about run?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, instead of saying I've run a lot this week, we could say, I've been running a lot this week.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, yeah. And then with go, I've gone to the movies a lot this month. I've been going to the movies a lot this month. We also use this for questions. For example, instead of asking someone, how much have you drunk today? You could say, are you drinking a lot today?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, I like it. So the present progressive. Right? So not until this time, but just in general today, right? Love it. Love it. Or instead of have you run a lot lately? We could say, are you running a lot these days?

[Aubrey Carter]

Right, Exactly. Yeah. And go. You could say instead of have you gone to many concerts this year? You could also say, have you been going to many concerts this year? Right. So these all. It's interesting to think about. Like we said earlier, if time doesn't matter, usually you can be more flexible with the tense with which verb tense you're using. And you can often avoid that past participle.

[Lindsey McMahon]

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[Aubrey Carter]

You want to start us out?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. Hey, Aubry. I feel like I see you here running a lot lately. Well done. Hey.

[Aubrey Carter]

Good to see you. Yes, I've been running every day. I'm training for that marathon next month.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Impressive. I hope you're staying hydrated. Have you been drinking enough water?

[Aubrey Carter]

Trying to. What about you? Have you been running much lately? I used to see you jogging here at the park all the time.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Not as much. I've started focusing on weight training, so I've been going to that new gym across town on. Okay. All right. So shall we go through this and see what verbs we danced around here?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, we got a lot of examples here. I first said, yeah, I've been running every day. So I could say, I have run every day, but some people will like, oh, what's the past part of. Is that I have ran every day. I have run every day. If you're not certain, use this continuous tense. I have been running every day.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay. Yes. And then I said, impressive. I hope you're staying hydrated because we need to drink to build a run. And then I said, have you been drinking enough water? Instead of saying, have you drunk enough water?

[Aubrey Carter]

Drunk enough water? Yes, exactly. And this is more common, this dancing around. Right. You won't often hear, have you drunk enough water today? Instead, have you been drinking enough water?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Exactly. And what's the last one here, Aubrey?

[Aubrey Carter]

And then I asked, you know, have you been running much lately? So, same thing. When you're asking a question, you can also change. Change up that verb tense. And then you said, I've been going to that new gym across Town. And in this case, it's interesting to think about. Sometimes the continuous tense makes more sense.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah.

[Aubrey Carter]

You can say, I've gone to that new gym across town, but because it's a repetitive action, often this present perfect continuous makes the most sense anyway. And it is the easiest to create because you don't need the past participle.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, I totally agree. It wouldn't. Yeah, it wouldn't convey the same meaning. Right. You'd have to say, yes, I've gone to the gym across town three times so far this week. Right. To say the same thing.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, you could say, I have gone to that new gym a lot. You can keep it general. But yeah, it's when. When both work. If you're not sure about the past participle, stick with the continuous.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Love it. All right, what's another episode our listeners should check out right away?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes, this is the one we mentioned where Michelle and I were talking about grind and that common native speaker mistake where you'll hear grinded instead of ground. So check it out. It was 2434. Vocabulary to help with your English grind.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes, I love it. And for the takeaway today, I mean, I think this comes down to these are habits that native speakers participate in, dancing around certain verbs. Because for whatever reason, we're not sure if it's right. We don't hear other people say it or we feel awkward saying it. It is okay to do it. You just choose what verb, which verbs you want to do this with.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right, Definitely. And you're going to hear native English speakers make these mistakes. Don't worry about it. It is interesting to. When should you speak like the people you're hearing speak? And. And when does you know correct grammar really matter? Depending on the situation you're in, it really does change how important it is.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. This is a theme that comes up a lot on the show. Right. And so those are choices that we make in each moment depending on the context, who we're around and how we want to connect. Right. There are different ways to connect. Okay.

[Aubrey Carter]

Love it. Yeah. Interesting, interesting. Really interesting grammar today. Thanks for joining me, Lindsay.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, Aubry, talk to you soon.

[Aubrey Carter]

Bye. Talk to you soon.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Bye. Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluencyscore. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.

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