1. Regular and Irregular Verbs
The Simple Past Tense
Regular and Irregular Verbs
By:
Marichel Robinson
Patricia Salom

2. How do we form the simple past tense?
There are two types of verbs in the past tense:
REGULAR VERBS AND IRREGULAR VERBS
Look at the following list of past tense verbs…
Which verbs are REGULAR and which are IRREGULAR?
needed regular came irregular
played regular bought irregular
studied regular became irregular
jumped regular caught irregular

3. Regular verbs are verbs that… end with –ed.
Simple Form Past Form
play played
jump jumped
bury buried
study studied

4. Irregular verbs are verbs that… don’t end with –ed.
Some Irregular verbs have a vowel change in the past tense:
Simple Form Past Tense
become became
give gave
drive drove
forget forgot

5. Other irregular verbs have a different kind of change.
Example:
Simple Form Past Form
teach taught
sell sold
take took
drive drove
build built

6. And some Irregular Verbs don’t change at all…
Example:
Simple Form Past
hit hit
put put
set set
Elizabeth sets the table everyday.
Elizabeth set the table yesterday.

7. For Regular Verbs, simply use the –ed form of the verb in a positive sentence.
Example:
Yesterday, mom worked at the office until eight o’clock.
Melissa lived and studied in Piura when she was a child.
Be careful with spelling changes!

8. For Irregular Verbs use the correct past tense form in positive sentences.
Unfortunately, these forms must be memorized!
Last week, I sent you a present for your birthday.
The girl gave a speech in English.
She did a great job!

9. For negative sentences use…
Did not or didn’t verb
simple form
I went to the party yesterday.
Andrea didn’t go to the party yesterday because she was sick.

10. Exception = Verb to be ! The verb “to be” is special.
Never use did not or didn’t with the verb “to be.”
Instead, just use:
Was or were + not

11. Meaning and Use We use the Simple Past Tense…
To complete actions in the past.
Common time expressions used with the past tense…
The day before yesterday
Last summer
yesterday
Last year
Last week
Last month
recently
Two days ago

12. Examples: I met Jimena yesterday.
Last Friday, we went to the party together.
My parents were married ten years ago.
These actions are over, finished!

13. The –ed ending has: Three different sounds t – d - id
Pronunciation of Regular Verbs…
The –ed ending has: Three different sounds t – d - id
Some regular verbs end with a “t” sound.
Example:
walked, laughed, washed, jumped, and
talked.

14. Some regular verbs end with “d” sound
Some regular verbs end with “d” sound. Example: planned, played, learned, loved, and answered.

15. Other regular verbs end with an “id” sound.
Example:
Simple form Past form
invite invited
wait waited
decide decided
need needed

16. Practice
Now make a list of which –ed verbs have a “t” sound, which have a “d” sound and which have an “id” sound.
With practice you can start to learn and memorize correct pronunciation.

17. Keep learning!
Good job!