Hook

Not all verbs follow the -ed rule. “Go” doesn’t become “goed” — it becomes “went”! These special verbs must be memorized.

Notice

Common irregular past forms:

  • go → went, have → had, do → did, see → saw
  • eat → ate, drink → drank, make → made, take → took
  • come → came, get → got, say → said, buy → bought
  • write → wrote, read → read, give → gave, know → knew

Examples: I went to the market. She ate breakfast at 8. They saw a great movie.

Rule

Irregular verbs don’t add -ed — they change form completely. There’s no single rule; they must be learned one by one.

Negative and question forms still use didn’t and did + base verb (not the irregular past form!): Did you go? (NOT Did you went?) I didn’t go. (NOT I didn’t went.)

Practice

  1. Complete: I ___ (go) to the park yesterday. (Answer: went)
  2. Complete: She ___ (eat) pizza last night. (Answer: ate)
  3. Complete: They ___ (see) a good film. (Answer: saw)
  4. Correct the error: Did you went home? (Answer: Did you go home?)
  5. Correct the error: I didn’t ate lunch. (Answer: I didn’t eat lunch.)
  6. Complete: He ___ (buy) a new phone. (Answer: bought)
  7. Complete: We ___ (have) a great time. (Answer: had)

Connect

Memorize irregular past forms with our Word Chain Challenge game.

Try the Word Chain Challenge →

CEFR A1: Writing & Reading — can recognize and use common irregular past-tense verbs.

Azizul Hakim
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