Why "had shook" shakes up grammar

Reviewed and edited by

Lloyd Cooper 13/10/2024, 09:22

English.me team member

What kind of error is it?

Had shook or had shaken. What's correct?

It's a grammatical error involving the misuse of verb tense.

Why do people make this mistake?

People may confuse "shook" (the simple past tense) with "shaken" (the past participle) because the forms of irregular verbs can be challenging to remember.

What is correct?

The correct past participle of "shake" is "shaken". So the correct form for perfect tenses is "had shaken".

Examples of correct usage

She had shaken the bottle before opening it.
By the time he arrived, they had already shaken hands.
The earthquake had shaken the entire building.