You have to memorize the irregular verbs. Here is a list of very common ones.
Base | Past | Past |
| be begin bite blow break bring build buy catch choose come dive do draw dream drink drive drown eat fall feel fight fly forget forgive freeze get give go grow hang hide know lay lead lie light lose prove read ride ring rise run see set shake show sing sink sit speak spend spring steal stand sting strike swear swim swing take tell think throw use wake wear write | was/were began bit blew broke brought built bought caught chose came dived/dove did drew dreamed/dreamt drank drove drowned ate fell felt fought flew forgot forgave froze got gave went grew hung hid knew laid led lay lit lost proved read — say “red” rode rang rose ran saw set shook showed sang sank sat spoke spent sprang stole stood stung struck swore swam swung took told thought threw used woke wore wrote | been begun bitten/bit blown broken brought built bought caught chosen come dived done drawn dreamt drunk driven drowned eaten fallen felt fought flown forgotten forgiven frozen got/gotten given gone grown hung hidden known laid led lain lit lost proved/proven read — say “red” ridden rung risen run seen set shaken shown sung sunk sat spoken spent sprung stolen stood stung struck sworn swum swung taken told thought thrown used woken worn written |
About This Chart
Remember that there is no third-person form in the past. In the present, we add -s as in I walk to the store. He walks to the store.
In the past, it’s all the same form: I walked to the store. He walked to the store. We walked to the store.
We will use the Past Participles when reviewing the Passive Tense and also with the Perfect tenses. If you have not learned these past participles yet, go ahead and memorize them now.
Now practice the irregular verbs by answering a few simple questions. You will notice that most questions in the simple past have this pattern:
Answer in complete sentences and use the irregular verb in your answer. The grammatical patterns of the questions are shown.
Did you _________________ yesterday?
[simple present verb]
Other question words like WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO or HOW may be added to the beginning.
1. When did you wake up yesterday morning?
2. What did you buy last week?
3. Did you come to class on time?
4. Where did you go yesterday?
5. How did you feel yesterday?
What was __________________ that you ______________?
[noun phrase] [past verb]
6. What was the first book that you read in English?
7. When was the first time that you flew in an airplane?
Use 3 or more irregular verbs in your answer to number 8:
8. What did you do last week?
Remember your irregular verbs: study the chart.
| English Practice Main Page | Speak the Verb Tenses |
Speak Method Pro 
Leave a Reply