Irregular Verbs List: How to Teach Past Tense Forms

Irregular verbs are the verbs that do not form the past tense by adding -ed. Children learn go and went by ear, then have to use and spell them correctly in writing. This article gives an irregular verbs list of 30 common verbs with their past and past participle forms, grouped by pattern. It also covers the mistakes you will see most often and four ways to teach the forms in class or at home.

What are irregular verbs?

Every verb has a base form (the one you use for the present: walk, go). Regular verbs add -ed to make the past tense. Irregular verbs change in some other way, or do not change at all.

Students need to know three forms of each verb:

• Base form: what you say for the present. Today I eat lunch.
• Past tense: the form for something finished. Yesterday I ate lunch.
• Past participle: the form used after have, has or had. I have eaten lunch. It also appears in passive sentences, such as The window was broken.

For regular verbs the past tense and past participle look the same, which hides the difference. Irregular verbs show it. Here is a short regular vs. irregular verbs list to see the contrast:

Irregular verbs list: base form, past and past participle

This list of irregular verbs groups 30 common verbs by pattern. Patterns are easier to remember than 30 separate sets of forms, and they give you a natural way to split the teaching into small pieces. Each table doubles as a list of past tense of irregular verbs (the second column) and their past participles (the third column).

Verbs that do not change

Students find these easy to spell and hard to tell apart in speech. The time words around the verb do the work: Yesterday I put my bag here. I have put it here every day. The verb read belongs with this group in spelling, but the past tense and past participle are pronounced like red.

Verbs with a vowel change

The first four follow the same i, a, u pattern, so one chant covers all of them. Run and come are different: the past participle goes back to the base form.

Verbs whose past participle ends in -n

In this group the past tense and the past participle are always different, so it is where students most often mix them up.

Verbs that end in -ought or -aught

Here the past tense and past participle match, which halves the memory work. The spelling is the challenge: students need to remember the -ought or -aught ending, and the silent gh.

Verbs with a past form that ends in -t

Verbs students use every day

These four have the least predictable forms, and students use them constantly. They are worth practicing on their own, even before you finish the other groups.

Common irregular verb mistakes

Children often add -ed to every verb because they have learned the regular rule and apply it everywhere. That mistake is a sign of learning, but it still needs correcting. The other common error is using the past tense where the past participle belongs.

A simple check helps with the last three: if there is a helper verb (have, has or had) right before the verb, use the third column of your chart. If there is no helper, use the second.

How to teach irregular verbs

Teach one pattern at a time

Pick one group and take four or five verbs from it for the week. Students learn the three forms together, sort word cards by pattern, and use each verb in a sentence. Then move on to the next group and keep the earlier verbs in a quick weekly review. A wall chart with the groups gives students something to check during writing.

Keep daily practice short

Five minutes a day works better than one long lesson. Write one verb on the board and have students say a three-part sentence aloud: Today I write. Yesterday I wrote. I have written many letters. The same frame works for every verb, so students stop thinking about the sentence and start thinking about the verb. If you are planning a weekly routine, our guide to ELA worksheets for 4th graders shows where a short grammar slot fits.

Correct errors without stopping the lesson

When a student says I goed to the store, repeat the sentence correctly as part of your reply: You went to the store. What did you buy? The student hears the right form in context without being singled out. In writing, circle the verb and let the student fix it with the chart. That keeps the mistake from becoming a habit and keeps writing time positive.

Use reading and writing, not only lists

Irregular verbs show up in nearly every story. During a read-aloud, ask students to listen for past tense verbs and put a thumb up when they hear one that does not end in -ed. For writing, ask for a short diary entry about yesterday using five verbs from the current group. Students practice the forms in sentences that mean something to them.

Practice material

Worksheets help once students have heard and said the forms. They give you written practice and an easy way to see which verbs a student still gets wrong. None of this replaces speaking, which is where most of the learning happens.

For grades 3 to 6

Our Irregular Verbs Practice Worksheets are a 40-page packet for grades 4 to 6 with a lesson plan, an answer key and 70 questions across 6 sections. The Past Simple Irregular Verbs Worksheets use multiple choice, fill in the blank and sentence choice questions, with a plain answer key and a teacher key that explains every answer (listed for grades 3 to 8). The Past Tense Verbs Worksheet mixes regular and irregular verbs, with negatives, questions and error correction, plus a teacher key and lesson plan.

For older students and English learners

The Past Tense Verbs Worksheet for grade 7 ESL has multiple choice, negatives and questions, sentence transformation and a reading passage, with an answer key. To compare the simple past with the past continuous, try the Past Continuous and Past Simple Worksheets: 80 questions across multiple choice and fill in the blank sections, with a plain answer key and teacher key (listed for grades 5 to 7).

The whole verb strand in one download

If you want to teach irregular verbs alongside other verb skills, the Verb Tenses and Verb Forms Worksheets Bundle has five packets: past continuous and past simple, irregular verbs, subject verb agreement, modal verbs, and gerunds and infinitives. It is listed for grades 4 to 8. If the matching rule is new to your class, start with our subject verb agreement rules guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the past tense and the past participle?

The past tense stands alone: I ate lunch. The past participle comes after a helper verb such as have, has or had, or after a form of be in a passive sentence: I have eaten lunch. The lunch was eaten. For many irregular verbs the two forms are different words, and for others they match.

When do students learn irregular verbs?

The Common Core State Standards ask second graders to form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs, such as sat, hid and told. In grade 3, students form and use regular and irregular verbs. Your state may place the skill differently, and many students need practice well beyond those grades.

Why are some verbs irregular?

Many irregular verbs are very old, very common words. Their forms changed over a long period of English rather than being reshaped by the -ed rule, which is why the same everyday verbs (be, go, do, have) are often the irregular ones. For students the practical answer is simpler: these forms have to be learned, and patterns make that easier.

Which irregular verbs should I teach first?

Start with the verbs students already say and write every day: be, go, do, have, see, eat and run. Then add one pattern group at a time from the list above.

Related resources

• Irregular Verbs Practice Worksheets
• Past Simple Irregular Verbs Worksheets
• Past Tense Verbs Worksheet, Regular and Irregular Verbs
• Past Tense Verbs Worksheet, Irregular Verbs, ESL
• Past Continuous and Past Simple Worksheets