The Rule
Most English verbs form the past simple by adding -ed: walk → walked. But the most frequent verbs in English are irregular — they change form unpredictably.
| Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was / were | been | She was at the meeting. |
| go | went | gone | We went to Madrid last week. |
| have | had | had | I had a call with the client. |
| do | did | done | He did an excellent job. |
| say | said | said | She said the deadline was Friday. |
| get | got | got | We got the contract yesterday. |
| make | made | made | They made a great proposal. |
| know | knew | known | I knew the answer immediately. |
| take | took | taken | She took notes during the meeting. |
| come | came | come | He came to the office early. |
| see | saw | seen | We saw the results this morning. |
| give | gave | given | She gave a clear presentation. |
| think | thought | thought | I thought it was a good idea. |
| write | wrote | written | He wrote the report last night. |
| buy | bought | bought | We bought new equipment. |
Group verbs by pattern — it is faster than memorising individually.
bring/brought · buy/bought · think/thought · teach/taught · catch/caught
know/knew · grow/grew · blow/blew · throw/threw
write/wrote · drive/drove · ride/rode · rise/rose
bring/brought · buy/bought · think/thought · teach/taught · catch/caught
know/knew · grow/grew · blow/blew · throw/threw
write/wrote · drive/drove · ride/rode · rise/rose
Common Mistakes
I goed to the client meeting yesterday.
I went to the client meeting yesterday.
She has wrote the full report already.
She has written the full report already.
We buyed new laptops for the whole team.
We bought new laptops for the whole team.
He thinked the proposal was too expensive.
He thought the proposal was too expensive.
They have gived us very positive feedback.
They have given us very positive feedback.
Gap Fill — Press Enter to Check
Error Correction
Multiple Choice
Put the Words in the Correct Order
Sentence Transformation — Press Enter to Check
Conversation Practice
1
Tell your partner about 3 things you did at work last week. Use at least 5 irregular verbs.
2
Describe your career so far using irregular verbs: where you went, what you did, what you learned, who you met.
3
Talk about a project that went wrong. What happened? What did people say? What did you do about it?
Homework
Choose 8 irregular verbs from today's lesson. Write one sentence for each verb — 4 in past simple and 4 in present perfect. Make each sentence about your professional life.