A1/A2 · Grammar
The past simple: irregular verbs
After this page you can use about 25 frequent irregular verbs in the past simple (went, had, saw, bought …) and say in simple sentences what you did yesterday or last week.
Rules
1.
One past form for all persons
- I had a busy day yesterday.
- Anna went to Bristol last week.
- We saw a good film on Friday.
- My parents came for dinner two days ago.
Use the past simple for finished actions in the past. An irregular verb has its own past form. It is the same for I, you, he, she, it, we and they: no -s.
Past time words
- yesterday · yesterday morning · yesterday evening
- last night · last week · last Saturday · last year
- two days ago · an hour ago · in 2019 · on Monday
I went · she went · they went: one form, no -s.
yesterday, last week, ago → past simple.
2.
The vowel changes
- Tom got up at six and drank a coffee.
- Priya wrote an email to her boss.
- We met Lucy at the station.
- Ben took a photo of the castle.
In many irregular verbs, only the vowel in the middle changes. The rest of the word stays.
A new vowel
- come → came · give → gave · eat → ate · take → took
- get → got · drink → drank · write → wrote · meet → met
- see → saw · know → knew · find → found
Say them aloud in pairs: come – came, give – gave. The sound helps you remember.
come → came · get → got · drink → drank
eat → ate (it sounds like et or eight).
3.
A past form with -t or -d
- Olga slept badly last night.
- The train left at 7:15.
- Ahmed made soup for his family.
- My neighbour said hello and told me the news.
Some verbs end in -t or -d in the past, but they are not regular: the word changes too.
-t and -d
- sleep → slept · leave → left · feel → felt
- have → had · make → made · say → said
- tell → told · hear → heard
sleep → slept (not: sleeped)
have → had · say → said
4.
The -ought group
- Sofia bought a new mobile phone.
- I thought about my holiday all day.
- Marek brought flowers to the party.
- Lucy taught English in Spain for two years.
Four frequent verbs end in -ought or -aught in the past. The two endings sound the same.
-ought · -aught
- buy → bought · think → thought · bring → brought
- teach → taught
The letters gh are silent: bought rhymes with sort.
buy → bought · bring → brought: not the same verb!
teach → taught with an a.
5.
A new word or no change
- Tom went to the gym after work.
- I did the shopping on Saturday.
- The tickets cost forty pounds.
- Anna put the milk in the fridge.
Two verbs get a new word: go → went, do → did. Some verbs do not change at all: put, cost, cut, read.
New word · no change
- go → went · do → did
- put → put · cost → cost · cut → cut · read → read
go → went (not: goed)
Yesterday she put … (not: puts, not: putted)
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