Virtuous English AcademyPast Simple and Irregular Verbs (A2)
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Many English verbs are irregular in the past simple and do not simply add -ed (go / went, see / saw). This lesson helps you recognise and use the most common irregular past forms accurately.
Roughly two hundred English verbs form their past tense without adding -ed, and the hundred or so most common ones appear constantly: go became went, see became saw, take became took, buy became bought. These are the irregular verbs, and because they include almost every high-frequency verb in the language, you cannot avoid them.
There is no rule that predicts an irregular past form, but there are patterns, and grouping verbs by pattern makes them far easier to learn than a flat alphabetical list. Some change their vowel — sing, sang, sung. Some end in -ought or -aught — buy, bought; teach, taught. Some do not change at all — cut, cut, cut.
You also need to learn two forms, not one. The past simple is what you use for finished actions — I saw her yesterday — while the past participle is what you need for the present perfect and the passive: I have seen her, It was seen by everyone. For regular verbs these two forms are identical, which is why irregular verbs demand more attention.
How to form Irregular Verbs
| Pattern | Base → Past → Participle | Other verbs in the group |
|---|---|---|
| All three the same | cut → cut → cut | put, let, hit, cost, shut, hurt |
| Past and participle same | buy → bought → bought | bring, think, teach, catch, fight |
| Past and participle same | make → made → made | have, hear, pay, say, sell, tell |
| All three different | go → went → gone | see, do, take, write, drive, eat |
| Vowel change i-a-u | sing → sang → sung | drink, swim, begin, ring, run |
| Base and participle same | come → came → come | become, run (ran, run) |
Irregular Verbs: the key rules
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Irregular verbs form the past without -ed — each must be learned individually.
go → went, take → took, come → came, make → made
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Some high-frequency verbs cluster into sound patterns you can exploit.
sing → sang, drink → drank, swim → swam; buy → bought, think → thought, teach → taught
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Some verbs do not change at all.
put → put, cut → cut, cost → cost, read → read (pronunciation changes: /red/)
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In negatives and questions the irregular form disappears — did + base verb.
She went home. → Did she go home? She didn't go home.
When to use Irregular Verbs
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Telling a story about the past
Narratives are full of irregular verbs, because the verbs of movement, speech and perception are nearly all irregular.
We went outside, saw the crowd and took a different route.
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Talking about your day and your week
Everyday reporting relies on a small set of very frequent irregular verbs.
I got up late, had breakfast and left at eight.
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Building the present perfect
The past participle — the third form — is what the present perfect needs, and it often differs from the past simple.
I have written the report. She has taken the exam.
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Forming the passive
The passive also uses the past participle, so the third form appears in formal and written English constantly.
The letters were sent yesterday. The bridge was built in 1890.
Past simple vs. past participle
Learners often use the wrong one of the two irregular forms. Knowing which structure calls for which form solves the problem completely.
Past simple — the second form
Used alone for finished past actions. Never after have or be.
I saw the film. She wrote to me. They went home.
Past participle — the third form
Used after have in the perfect tenses and after be in the passive. Never alone.
I have seen the film. It was written by her. They have gone home.
Irregular Verbs in example sentences
- I bought a new jacket at the weekend.buy → bought; past and participle are identical.
- She taught mathematics for twenty years.teach → taught, following the -ought/-aught pattern.
- We swam in the lake every morning.swim → swam; the participle is swum.
- He put the keys on the table and left.put never changes; left is the past of leave.
- They drove all the way to Prague.drive → drove; the participle is driven.
- Did you see the message I sent?After did the base form returns — see, not saw.
- I haven't spoken to her since Friday.Participle spoken after have, not the past form spoke.
- The house was built in the 1920s.Passive needs the participle built.
Irregular Verbs in a real conversation
Count the irregular verbs — and notice how each one returns to its base form after did.
Rosa:How was the trip? Where did you go?
Milan:We went to Slovenia. We drove the whole way.
Rosa:Did you take the coast road?
Milan:No, we took the mountain route. It took nine hours.
Rosa:Have you written about it anywhere?
Milan:Not yet. I've made some notes but I haven't begun properly.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
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I taked a taxi to the airport.
I took a taxi to the airport.
Take is irregular; adding -ed to an irregular verb is the classic overgeneralisation.
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Did you saw the news?
Did you see the news?
After did the verb must return to its base form.
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He falled off his bike.
He fell off his bike.
Fall → fell — no -ed form exists.
Practise Irregular Verbs today
Learn irregular verbs in pattern groups and always in all three forms.
- Write out the three forms of twenty verbs, grouped by the patterns in the table above.
- Write a short account of your last holiday using at least eight irregular verbs.
- Correct these: I have saw it. — She writed a letter. — Did you went home?
- Cover the past column and test yourself on the base forms; repeat the next day.
Irregular Verbs: frequently asked questions
How many irregular verbs do I actually need?
There are around two hundred in the language, but frequency is heavily skewed. The most common fifty cover the overwhelming majority of everyday use — be, have, do, go, get, make, say, see, take, come, know, give, find, think, tell, become, leave, feel, put, bring, begin, keep, hold, write, stand, hear, let, mean, set, meet, run, pay, sit, speak, lie, lead, read, grow, lose, fall, send, build, understand, draw, break, spend, cut, rise, drive, buy. Learn those first.
Why do I still need did with irregular verbs?
Because did carries the past tense for the whole sentence, exactly as with regular verbs. Once it appears, the main verb returns to its base form regardless of how irregular it is: Did you go?, Did she write?, I didn't see him. The irregular past form is used only in positive statements without an auxiliary. Did you went is one of the most persistent A2 errors precisely because the irregular form feels so strongly attached to the past meaning.
Is it learnt or learned, burnt or burned?
Both are correct. British English traditionally prefers the -t forms — learnt, burnt, dreamt, spelt, spilt — while American English uses the regular -ed forms throughout. British usage is shifting towards -ed as well, so either choice is safe. What matters is consistency within a single piece of writing rather than picking the objectively right one, because there is not one.
What is the best way to memorise them?
Group them by sound pattern rather than alphabetically, because the patterns give your memory something to hold onto — the -ought group, the i-a-u group, the no-change group. Then always learn all three forms together as a chant: go, went, gone. Finally, use them immediately in sentences about your own life; a verb used in a real sentence about yesterday sticks far better than one read in a list.