Irregular Verbs – Exercises for learning
Irregular verbs in English: learning them in practice
One of the difficult topics for English learners is Irregular Verbs, which are verbs that have unpredictable past tense and participle forms. Their forms differ from the traditional rules of tense formation. Instead of adding the ending “-ed” as in the case of regular verbs, irregular verbs have unique forms for which there are no rules for formation.
For example, for the irregular verb “go”:
- Infinitive: go
- Past Simple: went
- Past Participle: gone
These verbs usually have to be learned by heart because their forms do not follow standard rules. In this article, we will look at various techniques for effectively learning irregular verbs, and we will also try to test our knowledge in practice at the end of the article.
Correct and incorrect verbs in English
- Regular Verbs: Regular verbs in English follow the standard rules for forming tenses. To form the past tense, they add the ending “-ed” to the base form. Example:
- play (basic form) -> played (past tense)
- Irregular Verbs: Irregular verbs do not obey the standard rules of tense formation. Their past tense and participle forms are unique and cannot be derived according to certain rules. Example:
- go (basic form) -> went (Past Simple) -> gone (Past Participle)
Table of irregular verbs
The table of irregular verbs is based on certain evolutions and changes in the pronunciation and spelling of words over time in the English language. Irregular verbs can be conditionally divided into three groups depending on how they change their forms in the past tense and the form of the participle. This division helps to better understand the patterns and remember the forms of these verbs. This approach helps to organize and systematize the large number of irregular verbs to simplify their study and use.
Group 1: This group includes verbs in which the form of the past tense and participle differ from the base form. For example: go (went, gone), do (did, done).
| Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | gone |
| do | did | done |
| say | said | said |
| make | made | made |
| take | took | taken |
| come | came | come |
| see | saw | seen |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| get | got | gotten/got |
| give | gave | given |
Group 2: This group consists of verbs in which the form of the past tense and the participle are similar. For example: sing (sang, sung), swim (swam, swum).
| Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| begin | began | begun |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| sing | sang | sung |
| swim | swam | swum |
| ring | rang | rung |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| spring | sprang | sprung |
| stink | stank | stunk |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| fling | flung | flung |
Group 3: This includes verbs that do not fall under the first two groups and have unique past tense and participle forms. For example: choose (chose, chosen), write (wrote, written).
| Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| choose | chose | chosen |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| break | broke | broken |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| write | wrote | written |
| drive | drove | driven |
| rise | rose | risen |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| see | saw | seen |
If you need a complete table with irregular verbs, go to the link: Irregular verbs
How to learn irregular verbs
- Groups: Divide the irregular verbs into groups based on the similarity of their forms. This will help simplify the learning process (for example, as we have shown above).
- Mnemonics: Create associations or abbreviations to help remember forms.
- Exercises and games: Use interactive exercises and games to activate memorization.
- Reading and Writing: Use irregular verbs in texts and your own written sentences for practice.
- Permanent practice: Learn a few words at a time and repeat them over and over to reinforce.
Practice (Exercises) for studying and testing knowledge of irregular verbs
Irregular verbs don’t have to be a difficult part of learning English. Through consistent practice, contextual learning, creative memorization, and active application, you will be able to learn them quickly. Remember that repetition and practice is the key to learning irregular verbs.