Grammar
Irregular verbs: a useful past-tense reference and practice method
Yesterday, I went to the market and bought fruit. Both verbs describe finished actions, but neither ends in -ed. English calls forms like went and bought irregular verbs.
Recognize common irregular verbs and choose the correct past simple or past participle form in short everyday sentences.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
went, gone, wrote, written /went/, /ɡɒn/, /rəʊt/, /ˈrɪt.ən/
The short answer
Learn an irregular verb as a three-part set: the base form, the past simple, and the past participle. Use the past simple for a finished past action, such as We went home. Use the past participle after have, has, or had, such as We have gone home.
Mina wrote the email yesterday, and she has written a short note today.
Why it works: Wrote is the past simple after a finished-time word. Written is the past participle after has.
5 more examples
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I went to the pharmacy after work.
Went is the past simple of go. The action happened at a finished time.
Not this:I
have goneto the pharmacy already. What changes: Gone is the past participle because it follows have. -
Ravi wrote a clear reply last night.
Wrote is the past simple of write.
Not this:Ravi
has writtena clear reply. What changes: Written is the past participle after has. -
We bought tickets at the station.
Bought is the irregular past simple of buy.
Not this:We
have boughtthe tickets already. What changes: Bought is also the past participle of buy, so the form stays the same after have. -
The children drank water after the game.
Drank is the past simple of drink.
Not this:The children
have drunkwater after the game. What changes: Drunk is the past participle. Do not use drank after have. -
Did you see the new timetable?
After did, use the base form see, even though the question is about the past.
Not this:You
sawthe new timetable yesterday. What changes: Use saw in a positive past simple statement without did.
Read the full guide
Use this list as a working reference, not as a test to finish in one sitting. Begin with the verbs that appear in your reading, messages, or conversations. Say a short sentence with each form. Then return after a day or two and try to recall the form before you check the table.
Start with high-frequency irregular verbs
These verbs appear often in everyday English. Learn the three forms as one unit. The middle column is usually for a completed past action. The final column is for a form after have, has, or had.
| Base form | Past simple | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| be | was or were | been |
| begin | began | begun |
| break | broke | broken |
| bring | brought | brought |
| buy | bought | bought |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| do | did | done |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| find | found | found |
| get | got | got |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
We chose the earlier train because the later one was full.
Chose names the completed choice. In We have chosen the earlier train, chosen follows have.
Complete the sentence: They have ___ the keys. Use find.
They have found the keys. Found is the past participle of find, and it also happens to be its past simple form.
Add another useful group to your reference
Do not try to memorize every irregular verb at once. Add a group that you can use in short sentences. Notice that some verbs keep the same form in two or three columns, while others change each time.
| Base form | Past simple | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | knew | known |
| leave | left | left |
| make | made | made |
| meet | met | met |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | read |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| take | took | taken |
| write | wrote | written |
My colleague spoke to the client this morning.
Spoke is the past simple. In My colleague has spoken to the client, spoken follows has.
Which form completes this sentence: I ___ that book last year. Use read.
I read that book last year. The spelling stays read, but the past form is pronounced /red/.
Choose the past simple for a finished time
Use the past simple when you describe an action at a finished time. Words such as yesterday, last month, and in 2024 often point to this form. The sentence does not need have, has, or had before the verb.
I took the bus home last Friday.
Last Friday is a finished time, so took is the past simple form of take.
Avoid: I have took the bus home. Use I have taken the bus home, or I took the bus home last Friday.
Choose the correct form: Sara ___ her cousin yesterday. Use see.
Sara saw her cousin yesterday. Saw is the past simple because yesterday gives a finished past time.
Use the past participle after have, has, and had
Have, has, and had are helper verbs in forms such as the present perfect and past perfect. The next verb is a past participle. Check your table when the participle differs from the past simple, as in drank and drunk or wrote and written.
We have seen the new schedule.
Seen is the past participle of see. The past simple is saw: We saw the new schedule yesterday.
By noon, the team had completed the report.
Completed is regular, but the same position after had would use an irregular participle too: had written, had taken, or had gone.
Complete the sentence: He has ___ the door. Use break.
He has broken the door. Broken is the past participle after has.
Keep did with the base form
Did already carries the past meaning in most questions and negatives. After did or did not, use the base form from the first column. This rule applies to regular and irregular verbs alike.
Did the package arrive this morning?
Use arrive after did, not arrived. The positive past simple is The package arrived this morning.
We did not go to the meeting.
Go returns to the base form after did not. Do not write did not went.
Correct this question: Did she wrote the address down?
Did she write the address down? Write is the base form after did.
Before you go
Remember this
Keep irregular verbs in three-part sets. Choose the past simple for a finished past action and the past participle after have, has, or had. After did, use the base form. Learn a short useful group, make your own sentence, and revisit the group before adding more verbs.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Irregular verbs: a useful past-tense reference and practice method"
What is an irregular verb in English?
An irregular verb does not usually make its past form by adding -ed. For example, go becomes went and write becomes wrote. Learn the base form, past simple, and past participle together so you can choose the right form in a sentence.
I went to the pharmacy after work.
What is the difference between past simple and past participle?
Use the past simple for a completed past action, such as We went home yesterday. Use the past participle after have, has, or had, such as We have gone home. Some verbs use one form for both positions, including buy - bought - bought.
I have gone to the pharmacy already.
Why do I need to learn three forms of an irregular verb?
The three forms help you make different sentence patterns. Write gives the dictionary form, wrote works in a past simple statement, and written follows has or have. Keeping the forms together makes the pattern easier to recall.
Ravi wrote a clear reply last night.
Do I use an irregular past form after did?
No. Did already marks the past, so use the base form after it. Ask Did you see the notice? rather than Did you saw the notice? Use saw only in a positive past simple statement without did.
Ravi has written a clear reply.
How can I remember irregular verbs more easily?
Choose a small useful group, say the three forms aloud, and make one short sentence for each form you need. Return after a gap and try to recall the form before checking your list. Context will help more than reading a long table once.
We bought tickets at the station.
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