Regular vs Irregular Verbs Explained (Past Tense Rules) | Grammar Guide

Traveling Back in Time with Verbs

When we talk about actions that happened in the past, our verbs need to change form. Think about “I walk today” versus “I walked yesterday.” That little “-ed” ending is a signal of the past tense. Many English verbs follow this simple pattern – they’re called Regular Verbs. But then there are the rebels, the verbs that break the rules and change in unpredictable ways, like “go” becoming “went” or “eat” becoming “ate.” These are the Irregular Verbs. Knowing which verbs are regular and which are irregular, and how the irregular ones change, is absolutely essential for speaking and writing accurately about the past. Let’s tackle this fundamental part of English grammar!

Quick Overview: The Rule Followers and the Rule Breakers

It mostly comes down to how a verb forms its Past Simple tense and its Past Participle form (used in perfect tenses like “have eaten” and passive voice like “was written”).

• Regular Verbs: These are the predictable ones! To form the Past Simple and Past Participle, you usually just add -ed to the base form. (There are some minor spelling rules, like dropping the ‘e’ or doubling consonants, but the principle is adding -ed).
  • Base: walk -> Past Simple: walked -> Past Participle: walked
  • Base: play -> Past Simple: played -> Past Participle: played
  • Base: decide -> Past Simple: decided -> Past Participle: decided
• Irregular Verbs: These verbs DON’T just add -ed. They change in various ways, and unfortunately, they mostly have to be memorized. Their Past Simple and Past Participle forms might be different from each other, or sometimes all three forms might be the same!
  • Base: go -> Past Simple: went -> Past Participle: gone (All different
  • Base: eat -> Past Simple: ate -> Past Participle: eaten (All different
  • Base: find -> Past Simple: found -> Past Participle: found (Past Simple/Participle same
  • Base: put -> Past Simple: put -> Past Participle: put (All forms same

Learning the common irregular verbs is a key task for English learners.

Let’s Dive Deep into Grammar

Mastering Past Forms

Distinguishing between regular and irregular verbs is crucial for accurate past tense usage.

Elementary Level: Recognizing Regular Verbs (-ed ending

• Most verbs are regular. You form the past simple and past participle by adding -ed.
  • talk -> talked
  • ask -> asked
  • wait -> waited
• Basic Spelling Rules for -ed:
  • Verb ends in ‘e’: Just add ‘d’ (like -> liked, move -> moved
  • Verb ends in consonant + ‘y’: Change ‘y’ to ‘i’, add ‘ed’ (cry -> cried, try -> tried
  • Verb ends in vowel + ‘y’: Just add ‘ed’ (play -> played, enjoy -> enjoyed
  • One-syllable verb ends in CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant): Double the last consonant, add ‘ed’ (hop -> hopped, plan -> planned

Intermediate Level: Common Irregular Verbs & Patterns

• Irregular verbs don’t follow the -ed rule. They must be memorized.
• Common Groups/Patterns (Examples):
  • Vowel Change (i -> a -> u): begin -> began -> begun; sing -> sang -> sung; drink -> drank -> drunk
  • Vowel Change (ee -> e): keep -> kept -> kept; sleep -> slept -> slept; feel -> felt -> felt
  • -ought / -aught Endings: buy -> bought -> bought; bring -> brought -> brought; catch -> caught -> caught; teach -> taught -> taught
  • No Change: put -> put -> put; cut -> cut -> cut; hit -> hit -> hit; cost -> cost -> cost
  • Past Simple ends in -ew, Past Participle in -own: know -> knew -> known; grow -> grew -> grown; throw -> threw -> thrown
  • Many Others: go -> went -> gone; see -> saw -> seen; eat -> ate -> eaten; take -> took -> taken; give -> gave -> given
• Focus on learning the most common ones first (like be, have, do, go, say, get, make, know, think, see, come, take).

Advanced Level: Past Simple vs. Past Participle Usage

• Past Simple: Used to talk about completed actions at a specific time in the past.
  • I went to the cinema yesterday.
  • She ate breakfast this morning.
• Past Participle: Used in several key structures:
  • Present Perfect (have/has + pp): Talk about past actions with present relevance or experiences. (I have seen that movie.
  • Past Perfect (had + pp): Talk about an action completed before another past action. (She had already left when I arrived.
  • Passive Voice (be + pp): When the subject receives the action. (The book was written by her.
  • As Adjectives: (a broken window, a written report
• For regular verbs, the Past Simple and Past Participle forms are the same (walked). For irregular verbs, they can be the same (found, found) or different (ate, eaten). Knowing both forms is essential.

Speak About the Past Accurately!

Regular and irregular verbs are the backbone of talking about the past in English. While regular verbs are easy (-ed!), irregular verbs require memorization. Don’t be discouraged! Focus on learning the most common irregular verbs first. Use lists, flashcards, or practice exercises. Pay attention to how native speakers use past tenses. The more you read, listen, and practice, the more familiar these forms will become. Mastering them will significantly improve your fluency and accuracy when sharing stories, experiences, and information about past events. Keep practicing!