Irregular verbs · Grade 1

Regular verbs make their past with -ed: play → played. Irregular verbs don't: go → went, see → saw. Every verb has three forms: the base form, the past simple and the past participle (used after have and has). For irregular verbs you learn the three forms together.

Key facts

  • The three forms: base, past simple, past participle: go → went → gone, see → saw → seen, eat → ate → eaten.
  • Use the past simple for a finished time in the past: Yesterday I went to the park.
  • Use the past participle after have or has: She has written a letter.
  • Some verbs have the same past simple and participle: buy → bought → bought, think → thought → thought, make → made → made.
  • Some never change: put → put → put, cut → cut → cut. Some follow a pattern: sing → sang → sung, drink → drank → drunk, swim → swam → swum.

Worked examples

Example 1

Complete: Last week we ___ (fly) to Dubai.

Answer: flew

Example 2

Complete: She has ___ (eat) her lunch.

Answer: eaten

Example 3

Which is right: I buyed a jacket. or I bought a jacket.?

Answer: I bought a jacket.

Other years