Irregular Verbs
Essential Question
How do different kinds of verbs show past tense?
Grammar in the World
Take a look at these two cartoons. What is wrong with how they are talking about the past?
While adding an -ed to the end of a verb usually works to make it past tense, there are some verbs where it just sounds.... well, weird to do that. That is because English verbs haven't always used that one marker to show the simple past tense. Today, we refer to those older, non-standard forms as irregular, and there are many of them. How would you change the irregular past tense verb in each cartoon to make what the characters are saying sound right?
In this lesson, we will review regular verbs in the simple past, and then take a look at verbs that don't follow the simple formula of adding -ed to the end. But first, let's see what you already know.
What Do I Know?
What do you already know about verbs that don't follow the same rules as regular verbs? Use this interactive exercise to find out.
Decide which type of verb is in bold – either regular or irregular. When you think you know, click the verb to see if you are correct.
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Building Blocks
Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time. It is also helpful to see how each skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:
- Parts of Speech
- Verbs
- Verb Tenses
- Auxiliary Verbs
- Active and Passive Voice
Learn About Regular and Irregular Past Tense Verbs
Regular Verbs
For simple past tense, we form regular verbs by adding -d or -ed to the base form of the verb.
There are a lot of rules. Don’t worry if they don’t all make sense now or if you can’t memorize them. If you remember that regular verbs end in -d or -ed, you understand the most important part and can work on spelling the rest of the verb correctly as you learn more.
To explore some of the spelling rules for adding -d and -ed, click on the tabs below.
Irregular Verbs
What about all those verbs that do not end in -d or -ed? Those are called irregular verbs, and they follow their own rules. Even though they are irregular, they actually are more common than regular verbs. Because they are so common, we remember how to say them (even though they don't follow the rules). The English language is filled with irregular verbs.
We don’t say “I amed tired,” or “I haved a snack after school.” Instead, we use irregular verbs to replace “am” and “have.” So, the first set of irregular verbs you will want to memorize are forms of to be, to do, and to have. (These verb types are also known as auxiliary or helping verbs.)
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To Be |
To Have |
To Do |
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Simple Present |
I am We are You are They are |
I have We have You have They have |
I do We do You do She/He does They do |
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Simple Past |
I was |
I had We had You had They had |
I did We did You did She/He did They did |
Note-- though irregular, the past tenses of "have" and "do" still end with the "d" sound and letter.
Other common irregular verbs are to say, to see, to take, to go, and to get.
We say, “What a beautiful sunrise!”
We said, “What a beautiful sunrise!”
I see the Seattle skyline.
I saw the Seattle skyline.
They take a long walk after lunch each day.
They took a long walk after lunch today.
He goes to Seattle every summer.
He went to Seattle last summer.
I get excited when the elevator rises.
I got excited when the elevator rose.
You will also know that can and will are irregular verbs.
I can see the Space Needle from my hotel room.
I could see the Space Needle from my hotel room.
She will be one of a million guests at the landmark this year.
She would be one of a million guests if she visited the landmark this year.
There are many more irregular verbs. You will recognize them more as you speak, read, and write.
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Present |
Past |
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keep |
kept |
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make |
made |
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hold |
held |
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stand |
stood |
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hear |
heard |
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let |
let |
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know |
knew |
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give |
gave |
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drive |
drove |
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grow |
grew |
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draw |
drew |
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buy |
bought |
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wear |
wore |
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write |
wrote |
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leave |
left |
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teach |
taught |
Irregular verbs are common but tricky. They follow lots of different patterns without set rules, so we learn them only because we use them so often. Practice using irregular verbs in the last activity.
Do I Get It?
Use the interactive exercise below to test your knowledge of irregular verbs: