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2.1.2: Regular and Irregular Verbs in the Simple Past

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    266216
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    Two Types of Past Tense Verbs: Regular and Irregular

    1. Regular verbs are verbs that end in ed in the past tense affirmative.

    Examples: open/opened, start/started, wait/waited, memorize/memorized

    2. Irregular Verbs are verbs that change form in the past and past participle form.

    Examples: go/went, strike/struck, fly/flew, write/wrote, put/put, forget/forgot

    The same rules for the negative and question form apply to both types of verbs.

    Sample Sentences:

    We stayed home last night and ate dinner together.
    My father drove a taxi and worked in a factory for many years.
    My brother broke the chair and then tried to fix it.
    I enjoyed living with my family, but I left home at 22 years old.
    We saw a man who needed to buy some medicine.

    Forming the Negative: Comparing Present and Past Tenses

    Present Tense Negative Past Tense Negative

    I I
    You play. You play.
    We don’t go. We didn’t go.
    They wash. They wash.

    He play. He play.
    She doesn’t go. She didn’t go.
    It wash. It wash.

    After the helping verbs don’t, doesn’t, and didn’t ALWAYS use the base form of the verb in the present tense and in the past tense.

    Use the S Form of the Verb only in the present tense for he, she, and it. Never use the S Form in the past tense.

    Notice that in the present tense and in the past tense that the verb always goes back to the base form after don’t, doesn’t, and didn’t.

    When you change the verb to be from the present tense to the past tense, you use the words was and were. When you want to make the past continuous tense, then the main verb always uses ing.

    Exercise 4: Change the following sentences to the Past Tense Negative.

    1. We planned to buy a new stove last week.

    2. He ate a bowl of soup for lunch.

    3. My sister allowed my sons to stay up past their bed time.

    4. He remembered to take his wife downtown.

    5. She lent $100 to her friend.

    6. The police arrested the robber last night.

    7. I forgot to get the bread on my way home.

    8. Friday morning was the last day for class.

    9. Tom brought his friend to the class.

    10. He helped his son fix the car.

    Exercise 5: Change the following sentences to the past tense yes/no questions.

    1. We intended to buy a new lawnmower last week.

    Did you intend to buy a new lawnmower next week?

    2. He made a Vietnamese sandwich for lunch.

    3. My friend let his sons sleep late yesterday.

    4. Hamid forgot to take his wife to the market.

    5. Nguyen gave $100 to her boyfriend for his birthday.

    6. The FBI arrested the bank robber last night.

    7. I remembered to buy milk on my way home.

    8. The teacher corrected the students’ compositions.

    9. Tom brought his lunch to work.

    10. He told his friend to fix the broken window.


    This page titled 2.1.2: Regular and Irregular Verbs in the Simple Past is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Allyson Marceau.

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