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Irregular past tense verbs

Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs correctly (e.g., sat, hid, told, went, came, ran), recognising that these do not follow the regular -ed pattern

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What a learner can do afterwards

  • Supply the correct past tense of common irregular verbs: go→went, see→saw, run→ran, tell→told
  • Correct over-regularised forms in writing (e.g. change 'goed' to 'went', 'hided' to 'hid')
  • Write a short recount using at least five irregular past-tense verbs accurately

The lesson

Most verbs make their past tense by adding -ed, like 'walk' becomes 'walked'. Some verbs do not follow that rule at all. They change into a whole new word instead. These are called irregular verbs.

gowent
'Go' does not become 'goed'. It changes completely to 'went'.
Try it together

Yesterday, Leo ran to the park, sat on the swing, and saw his friend. Then he told her a joke.

seesaw
Good to know

There is no single rule for irregular verbs, so notice them when you read. Watch out for mistakes like 'goed', 'runned', 'sitted', and 'hided'. The right words are 'went', 'ran', 'sat', and 'hid'.

Irregular verbs change into their own special word in the past. You learn each one by heart instead of adding -ed.

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Where it sits

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Then practise

8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.

Irregular past tense verbs · English, ages 7 to 8 · LightMySky