Instructions
Some verbs are irregular. Their past forms do not end in -ed.
So how do I know which verbs are regular and which are irregular?
You have to learn them!
Learn them from the list? Oh no!
It's not so bad. There aren't really so many verbs to learn and remember that English is much easier than many languages. The past forms don't change.
I took a taxi to the airport. (take → took)
That was when we spoke. (speak → spoke)
One person gave me his last bar of chocolate. (give → gave)
I see what you mean. I made, you made, he made, she made, it made, we made, they made!
Exactly! They're all the same. And the negatives are all formed with did + not + the infinitive without to. The question forms are very similar: did + subject pronoun + the infinitive without to.
What did you do all day in the airport?
Did you have enough food?
We didn't think you would get home in time for your birthday.
OK, you're right, that's not too bad. Are there any exceptions?
Yes the verb to be. The past form is was for I, he, she and it, but were for you, we and they.
It was horrible not being able to phone you two!
There wasn't any food. I was so hungry!
We were stuck in the airport.
So what about this verb list?
Right, here it is!
| Present | Past Simple | Present | Past Simple |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was / were | begin | began |
| break | broke | bring | brought |
| build | built | buy | bought |
| catch | caught | choose | chose |
| come | came | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | do | did |
| draw | drew | drink | drank |
| drive | drove | eat | ate |
| fall | fell | feel | felt |
| fight | fought | find | found |
| fly | flew | forget | forgot |
| freeze | froze | get | got |
| give | gave | go | went |
| have | had | hear | heard |
| hold | held | hit | hit |
| keep | kept | know | knew |
| learn | learnt | leave | left |
| lead | led | let | let |
| lie | lay | lose | lost |
| make | made | mean | meant |
| meet | met | pay | paid |
| put | put | read | read |
| ride | rode | run | ran |
| say | said | see | saw |
| sell | sold | send | sent |
| set | set | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sit | sat |
| sleep | slept | speak | spoke |
| spend | spent | stand | stood |
| steal | stole | swim | swam |
| take | took | teach | taught |
| tell | told | think | thought |
| understand | understood | wake | woke |
| wear | wore | win | won |
| write | wrote |
Wow! OK, so how do I learn these verbs?
There are lots of things you can try:
- Make cards to test yourself – put the infinitive on one side and the past on the other.
- Write sentences with different verbs in them. Include some negatives.
- Make up stories and record yourself. The story could just be about what you did last weekend.
- Do practice activities online. You can start by doing the ones below on this page!
OK, I'm going to start learning them now!
Worksheets and downloads
Transcript
Discussion
Have you ever been stuck in some terrible weather?
Comments
i love your web its really useful but the videos wont play i tried it whit other browsers but it didn't worked
Hi nikki,
We're really pleased you love our site! I'm sorry the videos aren't working for you. I've just checked them on various browsers and they are working fine, so I think it may be a local problem on your computer. Can you watch videos from other websites on the computer you're using?
Best wishes, Jo (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
its very very easy
I liked the video! Very informative :)
Oops, I made a little mistake in my first comment.. Typed to fast ! I meant:
This is really helpful, I think I know everything now for so far, thank you very much it was really helpful! Great website!
Hi iriskuit. We're very glad to hear that and thank you for letting us know. :) We have more videos coming soon, so keep on checking this website. Is there any particular grammar area you'd like to practice? And don't worry, I make lots of spelling mistakes too because of typing too fast!
Jonathan (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
This is reallt helpful, I think I know everything now for so far, that you very much it was really helpful! Great website!
I Really liked :D It was a good lesson, thank you so much!
it's verry easy lesson thanks
thanku very much provide this site
lovely to sort out irregular verbs,especially make sentence
very easier than before
I like to learn the irregular verbs, it's very interesting. Since I already know all those verbs, I was wondering if there are any other verbs that can be useful.
i love so much this web. here i can practice my english
when i want
the web is really useful, and the questions helped me a lot :)
very beautiful
I should learn it :( But it is so easy in this page :) Thanks ;)
I really like Grammer Snacks.
It's fun.
Good! :D
games are very fun
all answers were correct
site is very fun and useful!!!!!!!!!
Yes, games is great, becuse the check us knowlegle. (^w^)
hi my english is not so good . but i want to learn english. this exercise is very help full. i want to learn future tenses can you please help me
Hi jojo 001. Thanks for your comment! Why not try this page and exercise (going to / will / present continuous) on the LearnEnglish website. You can also try this more difficult one (future continuous and future perfect). Good luck with your English, and let us know if they helped you!
Jonathan (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
I like this Grammar Snack))))Good lesson))))
Like it very much.... I learn new things...
Quite nice way to understand about the past simple tense.
I really like it(:
That was quite easy for me, but I think that these exercises are really useful!!! Thank you so much! :)
Thank you lady96 - glad to hear the Grammar snacks are useful. :)
Best wishes, Jo (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
Hi Mnara, Thanks for your comments, I'm glad you like the exercise. If you want something more challenging, why don't your try something from English Skills Practice - Improve your reading Level 2 or 3, for example? Let us know how it goes.
Joanna (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
And yeah I forget to tell you that this exercise is very great , I like it
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