Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular and Irregular Verbs :


The simple past tense of most verbs ends in -ed. These verbs are called regular verbs.


Who closed all the windows?
It snowed last night.
Mom opened the door for us.
Sally petted the dog.
That event happened long ago.
We visited our uncle last week.
They walked to school together yesterday.
They worked until twelve last night.
Dad tried to fix the light.
William Tell aimed at the apple on his son’s head.


Base Form….Simple Past

aim….aimed
bake….baked
open….opened
happen….happened
pull….pulled
push….pushed
scold….scolded
shout….shouted
visit….visited
wait….waited
walk….walked
work….worked


The simple past tense is usually formed by adding –ed to the verb.

For examples :

jump + ed = jumped lift + ed = lifted
laugh + ed = laughed look + ed = looked

If the verb ends with -e, just add -d.

For examples :

agree + d = agreed hate + d = hated
die + d = died live + d = lived


Remember these spelling rules. You must double the last letter of some verbs before adding -ed.

For examples :

fan + ed = fanned
pat + ed = patted
grab + ed = grabbed
rip + ed = ripped
nod + ed = nodded
slam + ed = slammed

Notice that the verbs above are all short verbs of just one syllable. They all end with a consonant such as b, d, m, n, p, t, and have only a single vowel before the consonant.

With verbs that end in -y, change the y to i before adding -ed.

For examples :

bury + ed = buried
fry + ed = fried
carry + ed = carried
hurry + ed = hurried
cry + ed = cried
try + ed = tried


The simple past form of some verbs does not end in -ed. Such verbs are called irregular verbs. The simple past tense of some irregular verbs does not change at all.


David hurt his foot when he jumped over the drain.
The worker cut down the tree this morning.
Her ring cost only 10 dollars.
He hit the ball over the net.
Dad read to us last night.
He shut the door.
I put some sugar in my coffee.


Base Form….Simple Past

beat….beat
burst….burst
cost….cost
cut….cut
hit….hit
hurt….hurt
put….put
read….read
split….split
shut….shut


Most irregular verbs, however, take a different form in the simple past tense.

Sam bent the stick in two.
Tom shot and scored a goal.
A bird flew into the classroom.
I lost my pen on the bus.
We sold our car last week.
The baby slept right thought the night.
Peter got a watch for his birthday.
I heard a noise in the night.
He brought his pet mouse to school.
My book fell off the desk.


Base Form….Simple Past

bend….bent
break….broke
bring….brought
buy….bought
fall….fell
fly….flew
get….got
hear….heard
keep….kept
lose….lost
sell….sold
shoot….shot
sleep….slept


verbs….simple past tense

take….took
tell….told
walk….walked
write….wrote
rain….rained
sit….sat
shut….shut
read….read
open….opened
close….closed
cry….cried
cook….cooked


She went home alone.
The wind blew throughout the night.
An apple dropped on his head.
The Princess’s ball rolled into the well.
A frog jumped into the well and brought it back to her.
Jack got the highest grade in his English class.
The party began at 8:00 P.M.
He sold his old car and bought a new one.
Jack climbed up the ladder carefully.
Who shut all the windows?

Regular and Irregular Verbs :

Regular and Irregular Verbs


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