Help Once Had an Irregular Past Tense
A helper assists. The verb *help* used to be irregular, and the old form survived for centuries before regularising.
A helper is someone who assists. The verb behind it has quietly changed class: Old English *helpan* was a strong verb with a past tense *healp* and a participle *holpen*, exactly like *sing*, *sang*, *sung*. Those forms lasted into the seventeenth century and appear in the King James Bible before *helped* replaced them.
- One who assists. *A willing helper.*
- Help — to assist. *Help me lift it.*
- Helping — a portion of food. *A second helping.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | helper | A kitchen helper. |
| Plural | helpers | Willing helpers. |
| Verb | help | Help out. |
| Past | helped | He helped. |
| Archaic | holpen | He hath holpen. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Have another helping.A portion of food.
- He hath holpen his servant Israel.The King James Bible, using the old participle.
- Cannot help laughing.Cannot prevent oneself.
Verbs that regularised
- help — once helped, holpen
- climb — once clomb
- melt — once molten, which survives as an adjective
- work — wrought survives in wrought iron
- Trend — English verbs move steadily from irregular to regular
From Old English *helpan*, a strong verb of the third class. The strong past forms were replaced by *helped* during the early modern period.
Was *holpen* really English?
Yes. It was the standard past participle of help for centuries and appears throughout the King James Bible.
Do verbs usually become more or less irregular?
Less. English verbs steadily regularise, which is why so many old strong forms survive only as adjectives like molten and wrought.