For instance, a regular verb is “to want. " To make it past tense, you add “-ed” to it, making it “wanted. " “Wanted” is also the past participle. The past participle is what usually follows “have” or “has” in English, such as “I have wanted. " An irregular verb doesn’t follow this rule. For instance, “to begin” is an irregular verb. The past tense is “began,” while the past participle is “begun. " Irregular verbs don’t follow any specific patterns. Some irregular verbs are different in American and British English. Try to focus on one or the other when you’re learning irregular verbs. [2] X Research source For instance, British English adds “t” at the end of more verbs to make them past tense, such as “dreamt. "
You would say, “I set the book down here” (present), “I set it there yesterday” (past tense), and “I have set it there” (past participle). Other verbs that fall into this category include the following: let, spread, shed, thrust, split, upset, hurt, shut, put, burst, hit, cut, and cost.
For “keep,” you’d say, “I keep this with me all the time” (present), “I kept it with me all the time” (past tense), or “I have kept it with me the whole time” (past participle). These verbs fall into several patterns. Some verbs change vowels, such as “sit” (“sat”) and “get” (“got”). Some verbs add “t” at the end, often exchanged for a vowel or consonant elsewhere in the word. Examples include “feel” (“felt”), “lend” (“lent”), “keep” (“kept”), or “build” (“built”). Other verbs add “d,” sometimes with an extra vowel or vowel/consonant changes, such as “pay” (“paid”), “say” (“said”), “sell” (“sold”), “tell” (“told”), “hear” (“heard”), and “stand” (“stood”). Verbs like “bring,” “buy,” “fight,” and “think” change to “brought,” “bought,” “fought,” and “thought. " These verbs add “ght. “[5] X Research source
For instance, for “to be,” you’d say, “I am here” (present), “I was there” (past), and “I have been there” (past participle). In this category, some verbs take “-en” in the past participle, such as “break-broke-broken,” “fall-fell-fallen,” “ride-rode-ridden,” “see-saw-seen,” and “speak-spoke-spoken. " Other verbs change the vowel to an “e” in the past tense and/or add “wn” in the past participle. Examples include “flow-flew-flown,” “draw-drew-drawn,” “show-showed-shown,” and “grow-grew-grown. " Still others take different vowels in each form, such as “swim-swam-swum,” “begin-began-begun,” “sing-sang-sung,” and “drink-drank-drunk. "
Another good resource is https://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/605/01/.
You could also place the past participle on the back as well.
Using irregular verbs in sentences will help solidify them in your mind.
For instance, you can find an irregular verb game at https://www. macmillandictionary. com/us/verb_wheel/. Another option is http://eslgamesworld. com/members/games/ClassroomGames/Quizshow/Irregular%20Past%20Simple%20Quiz%20Show/index. html.
For instance, you can find quizzes at http://learnenglishteens. britishcouncil. org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos/past-simple-irregular-verbs or http://esl. fis. edu/grammar/verbs/5. htm.
It doesn’t really matter what you read, as long as you’re reading. Irregular verbs are everywhere.
Try watching one of your favorite television shows in English at least once a day. You’ll be learning more than you realize!
Use context clues to help you. If the whole passage is in past tense, then the sentence you’re reading is likely in past tense, too, even if the verb doesn’t have “-ed” at the end.
Some dictionaries only list the past tense if the verb is irregular.
