Ring vs. Rang vs. Rung
You can tell when to use ring, rang, or rung by whether you need the present, past, or past participle (used with has or have) form.
Present: ring
Example: I always ring the bell after I knock.
Example: He rings twice before entering.
Past: rang
Example: I rang the bell after I knocked.
Example: He rang twice before entering.
Past Participle: has or have rung
Past participles are used with all perfect forms of a verb.
Present Perfect Form
Examples: I have rung the bell. She has rung the bell.
Past Perfect Form
Examples: I had rung the bell. She had rung the bell.
Future Perfect Form
Example: I will have rung the bell by noon if the automated system is still malfunctioning.
Conditional Perfect Form
Example: I would have rung the bell if the automated system had still been malfunctioning.
The present participle of ring is ringing. Present participles are used with “to be” verbs.
Examples: I am ringing the bell. She was ringing the bell. We will be ringing the bell.
Pop Quiz
1. He rings/rangs/rungs the bell to get the students’ attention.
2. We ring/rang/rung the bell but no one answered the door.
3. She had ringed/rang/rung the bell three times before I was near enough to hear it.
4. They are ringing/ranging/runging the bell to start trading in the stock market.
Answers
1. He rings the bell to get the students’ attention.
2. We rang the bell but no one answered the door.
3. She had rung the bell three times before I was near enough to hear it.
4. They are ringing the bell to start trading in the stock market.
Posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 4:55 am
38 Responses to “Ring vs. Rang vs. Rung”
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the telephone was ringing for serval time before i answered it?
or
the telephone had rung serval times before i anwered it?
The simplest and best way to write the sentence is in past tense like this: The telephone rang several times…
Your second alternative is fine. Your first one, although awkward, should be as follows: The telephone was ringing several times before I answered it.
My Microsoft Word can’t even decide which form to use here….
The bell was without a rope to be rung by.
The bell was without a rope to be rang by.
The bell was without a rope to be ringed by.
I’m thinking the first option?
You are correct by using “rung.”
I have a problem with some of the advice regarding rung/rang/ring!
In Dickens Great Expectations my wife tells me Dickens – a not bad grammatician … ! says, “The bellls had rung.” Isn’t this contrary to your advice regarding the past tense?
Thanks,
Mr. Dickens was using the past perfect form. My examples of the past perfect form are “I had rung the bell” and “She had rung the bell,” which are consistent with the sentence, “The bells had rung” by Mr. Dickens.
Not sure here…
What an eventful new year we have rung in…
What an eventful new year we have rang in…
What an eventful new year we have rung in.
What an eventful new year we rang in.
(If you are referring to the New Year holiday, then “New Year” would be capitalized.)
Isn’t that correct to use simple past after “be”? So in case of Adele, the rang should be the correct answer, please clarify? Thank you!
In this case, “be” is used as an auxiliary verb (otherwise known as a “helping” verb). Auxiliary verbs help form the tense, voice, or mood of the verb. In the example sentence, “The bell was without a rope to be rung by,” the past participle is used.
Thank you so much for clearing this up for me! I’ve wondered which one (rang/rung) and now I know. Thank you!
You are welcome!
When shopping, I noticed a sign that said, for items that scan at higher than the shelf tag, you will receive one of that item free.
“All additional like items will be rang up at the lower price”.
I felt, Ouch! And thought that should say “All additional like items will be rung up at the lower price”.
I thought how about a sentence that has all forms of “Ring” in it?
Bill was ringing the register and he was asked to ring up the toaster, and when it was rung up, it rang up at more than the shelf tag, so the customer asked Bill to re-ring the register at the price found on the shelf tag.
You are correct that the store sign should have read, “All additional like items will be rung up at the lower price.” In your sentence, you did manage to correctly use “ring,” “rang,” and “rung” although it is a run-on sentence and not grammatically correct.
Would you please provide an example of Conditional Perfect Form?
I would have rung the bell if the automated system had still been malfunctioning.
is it corect this
has the bell been rung ? or has the bell rung ? or what is the correct way of asking whether the bell rang.
Either is correct: “Has the bell been rung?” or “Has the bell rung?”
The bell has rung and you are still wasting time!
Or
The bell has rang and you are still wasting time!
Or neither!
Either of the following would be correct:
The bell has rung and you are still wasting time!
The bell rang and you are still wasting time!
The bell is ringing the bell has rung? or The bell is ringing the bell rang?
It would be best not to mix present and past tenses in the same sentence. For present tense you would write:
The bell is ringing.
For past tense, either of the following would be correct:
The bell has rung.
The bell rang.
The bell already rang?
The bell had rung?
Either question would be grammatically correct. The first example is the past form and the second example is the past participle form.
the telephone was ringing for serval time before i answered it?
or
the telephone had rung serval times before i anwered it?
Actually, neither one of them is good.
the telephone rang several times before I answered it
is the best choice. They also spelled several wrong.
As I responded previously, the simplest and best way to write the sentence is in past tense: “The telephone rang several times before I answered it.”
“The telephone had rung several times before I answered it,” is also grammatically correct.
“The telehpone was ringing several times before I answered it,” is also acceptable, but awkward.
My sister always says – I rung her whereas I think she should say – I rang her. Who is correct please?
I assume your sister is referring to a phone call she made. “Rang” is the past tense: “I rang her.” “Rung” is the past participle: “I have/had rung her.”
The drinks were _________ into the register.
Would rang or rung work better? Thanks.
This is an example of “passive voice.” Voice shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted on (passive voice)–that is, whether the subject performs or receives the action of the verb. The passive voice is formed with an auxiliary verb (were) plus a participle (usually the past participle) of a verb (ring). Since you have the auxiliary verb were you need the past participle form of ring, which is rung. “The drinks were rung into the register,” would be correct.
Is it I rung the customer out or I rang the customer out?
I rang the customer out.
This is similar to Angie’s question.
Let me get those drinks ____ in for you.
Thank you.
This is another case of the passive voice, so you would use the word rung.
Would it be correct to say “The bell has not rang yet.” or should it be stated “The bell has not rung yet.” ?
With the word has or have, use the past participle form rung.
The bell has not rung yet.
Good morning, Jane!
Every so often the following statement arrives from our building manager via email:
“The fire bells will be rang continuously on Wednesday, from 05:30 hrs. to 05:50 hrs.”
Although it doesn’t sound right to me, I’m not certain whether it’s correct or incorrect.
Thanks for your help!
The phrase “will be rang” is a mixture of future and past tenses. Better wording would be, “The fire bells will be ringing continuously on Wednesday from 5:30 pm to 5:50 pm.” (Unless this is occurring on a military base and is really being done in the morning, then it would be, “The fire bells will be ringing continuously on Wednesday from 0530 to 0550.” The inclusion of hours or hrs. is optional.)