English

Simple Past:

"Irregulars Verbs"

Introduction

Although many verbs in English form their past tense with -ED, some do not. These are called irregular verbs, and they include some of the most basic verbs in English. This page will explain some of the most important patterns in forming the past tense. However, the only way to know how an irregular verb will change in the past tense is to learn all of the important verbs.

1. The three most important irregular verbs

The three most important irregular verbs are BE, HAVE, and DO. The simple past forms for BE are different depending on the subject.

Pronoun	BE	HAVE	DO
I	was	had	did
You	were	had	did
He / she / it	was	had	did
We	were	had	did
They	were	had	did

2. Other irregular verbs

Other irregular verbs fall into three main categories:

Category	Examples
Verbs which don't change	cut - cut hit - hit fit - fit
Verbs which change their vowel	get - got sit - sat drink - drank
Verbs which change completely	catch - caught bring - brought teach - taught

Irregulars Verbs:

Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle	Spanish
be	was / were	been	ser
become	became	become	convertirse
begin	began	begun	comenzar
bite	bit	bitten	morder
blow	blew	blown	soplar
break	broke	broken	romper
bring	brought	brought	traer
build	built	built	construir
buy	bought	bought	comprar
catch	caught	caught	atrapar
choose	chose	chosen	elegir
come	came	come	venir
cost	cost	cost	costar
cut	cut	cut	cortar
do	did	done	hacer
draw	drew	drawn	dibujar
dream	dreamt/dreamed	dreamt/dreamed	soñar
drink	drank	drunk	beber
drive	drove	driven	conducir
eat	ate	eaten	comer
fall	fell	fallen	caer
feel	felt	felt	sentir
fight	fought	fought	pelear
find	found	found	encontrar
fly	flew	flown	volar
forget	forgot	forgotten	olvidar
forgive	forgave	forgiven	perdonar
get	got	got	obtener, alcanzar
give	gave	given	dar
go	went	gone	ir
grow	grew	grown	crecer
have	had	had	tener
hear	heard	heard	oír
hide	hid	hidden	esconderse
hit	hit	hit	golpear
hurt	hurt	hurt	herir, doler
keep	kept	kept	mantener, guardar
know	knew	known	saber
learn	learnt/learned	learnt/learned	aprender
leave	left	left	dejar
lend	lent	lent	prestar
lie	lay	lain	mentir
lose	lost	lost	perder
make	made	made	hacer
mean	meant	meant	significar
meet	met	met	conocer, encontrar
pay	paid	paid	pagar
put	put	put	poner
read	read	read	leer
ride	rode	ridden	andar
ring	rang	rung	sonar
rise	rose	risen	elevar
run	ran	run	correr
say	said	said	decir
see	saw	seen	ver
sell	sold	sold	vender
send	sent	sent	enviar
set	set	set	establecer
shoot	shot	shot	disparar
show	showed	shown/showed	mostrar
shut	shut	shut	cerrar
sing	sang	sung	cantar
sit	sat	sat	sentarse
sleep	slept	slept	dormir
speak	spoke	spoken	hablar
spend	spent	spent	gastar
spill	spilt/spilled	spilt/spilled	derramar
stand	stood	stood	levantarse
steal	stole	stolen	robar
strike	struck	struck	golpear
swear	swore	sworn	jurar
swim	swam	swum	nadar
take	took	taken	tomar
teach	taught	taught	enseñar
tear	tore	torn	rasgar
tell	told	told	decir, contar
think	thought	thought	pensar
throw	threw	thrown	lanzar
wake	woke	woken	despertarse
wear	wore	worn	usar
write	wrote	written	escribir