Regular and Irregular Verbs
A2 · ElementaryVerbsMost English verbs form their past tense the same predictable way — but some of the most common verbs simply have to be memorized.
What you'll learn
- Regular verbs: add -ed to the base form (walk → walked, play → played)
- Spelling changes: study → studied, stop → stopped, live → lived
- Irregular verbs: no predictable pattern — go → went, eat → ate, buy → bought
- The past simple form never changes based on the subject — worked for I/you/he/she/we/they alike
Regular vs. irregular
Regular verbs form the past simple by adding -ed to the base form. Irregular verbs don't follow this pattern — many of the most common English verbs (be, go, have, do, say, see) are irregular and simply need to be memorized.
Spelling changes for regular verbs
Verbs ending in a consonant + y change y to i before -ed: study → studied. Short verbs ending in a single vowel + consonant often double the final consonant: stop → stopped. Verbs already ending in e just add -d: live → lived.
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs change in unpredictable ways — sometimes a vowel change (go → went, give → gave), sometimes a completely different word (be → was/were), sometimes no change at all (put → put, cut → cut). There's no shortcut — these need to be learned individually.
One past form for every subject
Unlike the present simple (which changes for he/she/it), the past simple form stays exactly the same no matter who the subject is.
Real English
Watch out
Go is irregular — its past form is went, not 'goed'. Adding -ed to an irregular verb is a very common learner mistake.
Study ends in a consonant + y, so the y changes to i before adding -ed.
The past simple form never changes based on the subject — unlike the present simple's he/she/it -s rule.
Real life — Talking about the weekend
"What did you do this weekend?"
"We drove to the coast and stayed at a small hotel."
"Sounds nice! Did the weather cooperate?"
"Mostly — it rained on Saturday, but Sunday was perfect."
Practice
Exercise 1 · Choose the correct form
What is the past simple of the regular verb 'walk'?
Exercise 2 · Choose the correct form
What is the past simple of the irregular verb 'go'?
Exercise 3 · Choose the correct form
Which past form is correct for 'study'?
Exercise 4 · Choose the correct form
Which past form is correct for 'stop' (double the consonant)?
Exercise 5 · Choose the correct statement
Which is correct for all subjects (I/you/he/she/we/they) in the past simple?
Exercise 6 · Choose the correct form
What is the past simple of 'eat'?
Exercise 7 · Fix the mistake
Fix the mistake:
Exercise 8 · Complete the sentence
Complete: the past simple of the regular verb 'play' is ___.
Exercise 9 · Complete the sentence
Complete: the past simple of the irregular verb 'buy' is ___.
Exercise 10 · Build the sentence
Exercise 11 · Choose the correct sentence
Which is correct?
Quick challenge
Five quick questions to check what stuck.
Question 1 / 5
Score: 0/0
What is the past simple of 'watch'?
You learned
- Regular verbs add -ed to the base form: walk → walked.
- Watch for spelling changes: study → studied, stop → stopped, live → lived.
- Irregular verbs don't follow a pattern — they must be memorized individually.
- The past simple form never changes based on the subject.
Related grammar lessons
Verb Types
Get an overview of the main categories of English verbs — main verbs, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, and phrasal verbs — and how they work together in a sentence.
Verb Forms
Learn the five basic forms of an English verb — base, -s, -ing, past, and past participle — and how the -ing and past participle forms get reused across many different constructions.
Auxiliary Verbs
Go deeper into be, do, and have as auxiliary (helping) verbs — how they build questions, negatives, continuous and perfect tenses, the passive voice, and emphasis — and how to tell an auxiliary use apart from a main-verb use.
Verb Basics
Learn what a verb is, how to find it in a sentence, and why English sentences always need a subject — even when there's nothing real to refer to.