Grammar 101

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Learning Objectives

To change irregular verbs into past tense correctly.

Verbs are found in all sentences Verbs form an important part of all sentences as

they express the action done by the subject.

Verbs change to show time As action markers, they change with 'ed' to

show present and past tense. Not all verbs change tenses with 'ed'.

Regular Verbs have 'ed' in the past Regular Verbs show past tense by ending with an

'ed' or 'd'.

1) She doesn't like to wait for people. (present)

2) She waited for a total of three hours. (past)

3) He plays soccer for the school team. (present)

4) He played soccer for the school team last year. (past)

Irregular Verbs do not have 'ed' Irregular Verbs do not have 'ed' in past tense. They are the same or they change their forms

totally. For example: Present

1) Put/Hit/Cut or bend/build/know/tear Past

1) Put/Hit/Cut or bent/built/knew/tore

Examples of Irregular Verbs Irregular verbs do not have 'ed' as past tenses.

#1 Type of Irregular Verb These Irregular Verbs do not change at all

when changing from present to past tense.

Tip: They all end with consonant 't'.

#2 Type of Irregular Verb These Irregular Verbs change between simple

present and past tense.

Tip: They all change in one phoneme.

Simple Rules to Irregular Verbs Change

1) There are fewer irregular verbs than regular verbs. They can be remembered by sight.

2) They usually change one phoneme when changing from present to past.

Ben/d/ – ben/t/ , buil/d/ – buil/t/ , wr/i/te – wr/o/te

beg/i/n – beg/a/n , dr/i/ve – dr/o/ve , b/i/te – b/i/t

f/i/nd – f/ou/nd , ch/oo/se – ch/o/se , d/i/g – d/u/g

Learning Activity Without referring to your Learning Guide, are

you able to change for forms of these verbs from present to past?

1) Quit

2) Cast

3) Shut

4) Find

5) Shake

6) Let

Learning Activity Answers The prsent and past aspects are as follows:

1) Quit – quit

2) Cast – cast

3) Shut – shut

4) Find – found

5) Shake – shook

6) Let – let

Discussion

What are irregular verbs? How do we remember them?

In Summary

Irregular Verbs do not change into simple past tense with 'ed'.

They change in two ways. They can stay the same even in past tense Or, they can change with a single phoneme. We recognise them through reading, spelling

and using them.