The most basic of English verbs: BE, MAKE, DO, GIVE, etc. are all irregular, which means that they have a different form: they do not follow the “-ED” ending when we use the Simple Past or Past Participle. This can be confusing for English learners, even those at higher levels of English!
How can you improve your understanding and use of Irregular Verbs? Many students choose to look at list and memorize. Can you complete this chart?
| Base Form | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| awake | awoken | |
| be | was, were | been |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | become | |
| begin | begun | |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid | bid | bid |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broken | |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burned or burnt | burned or burnt |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | come | |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | |
| dig | dug | dug |
| do | done | |
| draw | drawn | |
| dream | dreamed or dreamt | dreamed or dreamt |
| drive | driven | |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| eat | eaten | |
| fall | fallen | |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flown | |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got (sometimes gotten) | |
| give | gave | given |
| go | gone | |
| grow | grown | |
| hang | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hidden | |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | known | |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| learn | learned or learnt | learned or learnt |
| leave | left | |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie | lay | lain |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | |
| ride | ridden | |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | risen | |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | |
| send | sent | sent |
| show | showed | showed or shown |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sung | |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spend | spent | spent |
| stand | stood | |
| swim | swam | swum |
| take | taken | |
| teach | taught | |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| understand | understood | understood |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | worn | |
| win | won | won |
| write | written |
This will only help you to a certain extent. The best practice is of course speaking using these verbs, as you do every day in the CISL classroom. But for a little extra practice, here is an article about California history. It is missing some Simple Past irregular verbs. Can you complete the blanks?
California History + Irregular Verbs in English
Adapted from Info Please. Access the complete article here.
The first voyage (1542) to Alta California (Upper California), as the region north of Baja California (Lower California) came to be known, was commanded by the Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who explored San Diego Bay and the area farther north along the coast. In 1579 an English expedition headed by Sir Francis Drake landed near Point Reyes, N of San Francisco, and claimed the region for Queen Elizabeth I. In 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno, another Spaniard, explored the coast and Monterey Bay.
Colonization was slow, but finally in 1769 Gaspar de Portolá, governor of the Californias, _______________ (lead) an expedition up the Pacific coast and established a colony on San Diego Bay. The following year he explored the area around Monterey Bay and later returned to establish a presidio there. Soon afterward Monterey _______________ (become) the capital of Alta California. Accompanying Portolá’s expedition _______________ (be) Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary who founded a mission at San Diego. Franciscans later founded several missions that extended as far N as Sonoma, N of San Francisco. The missionaries _______________ (seek) to Christianize the Native Americans but also forced them to work as manual laborers, helping to build the missions into vital agricultural communities (see Mission Indians). Cattle raising was of primary importance, and hides and tallow _______________ (be) exported. The missions have been preserved and are now open to visitors.
Russian and U.S. Settlement
Russian fur traders had penetrated south to the California coast and established Fort Ross, north of San Francisco, in 1812. Jedediah Strong Smith and other trappers made the first U.S. overland trip to the area in 1826, but U.S. settlement did not become significant until the 1840s. In 1839, Swiss-born John Augustus Sutter arrived and established his “kingdom” of New Helvetia on a vast tract in the Sacramento valley. He did much for the overland American immigrants, who began to arrive in large numbers in 1841. Some newcomers _______________ (meet) with tragedy, including the Donner Party, which was stranded in the Sierra Nevada after a heavy snowstorm.
Political events in the territory moved swiftly in the next few years. Under the influence of the American explorer John C. Frémont, U.S. settlers _______________ (set) up (1846) a republic at Sonoma under their unique Bear Flag. On July 7, 1846, Commodore John D. Sloat captured Monterey, the capital, and claimed California for the United States.
The Gold Rush
While establishing a sawmill for John Sutter near Coloma, James W. Marshall discovered gold and touched off the California gold rush. The forty-niners, as the gold-rush miners were called, _______________ (come) in droves, spurred by the promise of fabulous riches from the Mother Lode. San Francisco rapidly became a boom city, and its bawdy, lawless coastal area, which became known as the Barbary Coast, _______________ (give) rise to extralegal community groups formed to suppress civil disorder. American writers such as Bret Harte and Mark Twain have recorded the violence and human tragedies of the roaring mining camps.
Statehood and Immigration
With the gold rush came a huge increase in population and a pressing need for civil government. In 1849, California entered the Union as a free, non-slavery state. San Jose became the capital. Monterey, Vallejo, and Benicia each served as the capital before it was moved to Sacramento in 1854.
A railroad-rate war (1884) and a boom in real estate (1885) fostered a new wave of overland immigration. Cattle raising on the ranchos gave way to increased grain production. Vineyards were planted by 1861, and the first trainload of oranges was shipped from Los Angeles in 1886.
Industrialization and Increased Settlement
Los Angeles _______________ (grow) rapidly in this period and, in population, soon surpassed San Francisco, which suffered greatly after the great earthquake and fire of 1906. Improvements in urban transportation stimulated the growth of both Los Angeles and San Francisco; the cable car and the electric railway _______________ (make) possible the development of previously inaccessible areas.
Successive waves of settlers arrived in California, attracted by a new real-estate boom in the 1920s and by the promise of work in the 1930s. California’s population has continued to grow since then, each year attracting more immigrants than any other state in the country.
Answers
The first voyage (1542) to Alta California (Upper California), as the region north of Baja California (Lower California) came to be known, was commanded by the Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who explored San Diego Bay and the area farther north along the coast. In 1579 an English expedition headed by Sir Francis Drake landed near Point Reyes, N of San Francisco, and claimed the region for Queen Elizabeth I. In 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno, another Spaniard, explored the coast and Monterey Bay.
Colonization was slow, but finally in 1769 Gaspar de Portolá, governor of the Californias, LED (lead) an expedition up the Pacific coast and established a colony on San Diego Bay. The following year he explored the area around Monterey Bay and later returned to establish a presidio there. Soon afterward Monterey BECAME (become) the capital of Alta California. Accompanying Portolá’s expedition WAS (be) Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary who founded a mission at San Diego. Franciscans later founded several missions that extended as far N as Sonoma, N of San Francisco. The missionaries SOUGHT (seek) to Christianize the Native Americans but also forced them to work as manual laborers, helping to build the missions into vital agricultural communities (see Mission Indians). Cattle raising was of primary importance, and hides and tallow WERE (be) exported. The missions have been preserved and are now open to visitors.
Russian and U.S. Settlement
Russian fur traders had penetrated south to the California coast and established Fort Ross, north of San Francisco, in 1812. Jedediah Strong Smith and other trappers made the first U.S. overland trip to the area in 1826, but U.S. settlement did not become significant until the 1840s. In 1839, Swiss-born John Augustus Sutter arrived and established his “kingdom” of New Helvetia on a vast tract in the Sacramento valley. He did much for the overland American immigrants, who began to arrive in large numbers in 1841. Some newcomers MET (meet) with tragedy, including the Donner Party, which was stranded in the Sierra Nevada after a heavy snowstorm.
Political events in the territory moved swiftly in the next few years. Under the influence of the American explorer John C. Frémont, U.S. settlers SET (set) up (1846) a republic at Sonoma under their unique Bear Flag. On July 7, 1846, Commodore John D. Sloat captured Monterey, the capital, and claimed California for the United States.
The Gold Rush
While establishing a sawmill for John Sutter near Coloma, James W. Marshall discovered gold and touched off the California gold rush. The forty-niners, as the gold-rush miners were called, CAME (come) in droves, spurred by the promise of fabulous riches from the Mother Lode. San Francisco rapidly became a boom city, and its bawdy, lawless coastal area, which became known as the Barbary Coast, GAVE (give) rise to extralegal community groups formed to suppress civil disorder. American writers such as Bret Harte and Mark Twain have recorded the violence and human tragedies of the roaring mining camps.
Statehood and Immigration
With the gold rush came a huge increase in population and a pressing need for civil government. In 1849, California entered the Union as a free, non-slavery state. San Jose became the capital. Monterey, Vallejo, and Benicia each served as the capital before it was moved to Sacramento in 1854.
A railroad-rate war (1884) and a boom in real estate (1885) fostered a new wave of overland immigration. Cattle raising on the ranchos gave way to increased grain production. Vineyards were planted by 1861, and the first trainload of oranges was shipped from Los Angeles in 1886.
Industrialization and Increased Settlement
Los Angeles GREW (grow) rapidly in this period and, in population, soon surpassed San Francisco, which suffered greatly after the great earthquake and fire of 1906. Improvements in urban transportation stimulated the growth of both Los Angeles and San Francisco; the cable car and the electric railway MADE (make) possible the development of previously inaccessible areas.
Successive waves of settlers arrived in California, attracted by a new real-estate boom in the 1920s and by the promise of work in the 1930s. California’s population has continued to grow since then, each year attracting more immigrants than any other state in the country.
| V1 Base Form |
V2 Past Simple |
V3 Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| awake | awoke | awoken |
| be | was, were | been |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid | bid | bid |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burned or burnt | burned or burnt |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | cut |
| dig | dug | dug |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| dream | dreamed or dreamt | dreamed or dreamt |
| drive | drove | driven |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got (sometimes gotten) |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grow | grew | grown |
| hang | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | knew | known |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| learn | learned or learnt | learned or learnt |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie | lay | lain |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | read |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| show | showed | showed or shown |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spend | spent | spent |
| stand | stood | stood |
| swim | swam | swum |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| understand | understood | understood |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| win | won | won |
| write | wrote | written |
How did you do? For extra practice, check out our article on the Simple Past.
Cover photo: “Capitol Building MG 1600 Sans watermark” by PeteBobb – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capitol_Building_MG_1600_Sans_watermark.jpg#/media/File:Capitol_Building_MG_1600_Sans_watermark.jpg