English

Verbs

Regular and irregular

Verbs are the action words in a sentence.

Today we are going to revisit verbs and look at regular and irregular verbs.
Let us look at the verb to look, in the different tenses:

PAST I looked through the window.
PRESENT I am looking through the window.
FUTURE  I will look though the window.

You will notice that the word look does not change we add a suffix of ing but the main verb to look is the the same. LOOK is a regular verb.

Now use the verb to buy.

PAST I went out shopping and bought a coat.
PRESENT I am trying to buy a coat.
FUTURE  Tomorrow I will be buying a coat.

You have seen that buy changes to bought in the past tense, so we say that the verb to buy is irregular.

Here are a group of sentences. Both sentences use the same verb but in different tenses.
Work out the verb in the second sentence and say if it is regular or irregular.

Example

Every night I walk over two kilometres. 

Last week I __________ over 20 kilometres.

Answer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Walked:  regular.

Now try these

Guess the past tense of the verb and work out if is regular.

    Regular Verb?
1. I am singing in school today.  Last year I ________ in the school play.   
2. My brother sells cars.  Yesterday he ______ a Ford Fiesta.   
3. I usually do my writing in the office  Last week I _____ it at home.   
4. He comes to see me every day. Yesterday he _____ at 2 0 clock.  
5. The sun rises every morning.  Yesterday it ______ at 5 am.   
6. Today I am writing to Jamie  On Monday he _______ to me.   
7. Its my birthday and I am 5  Yesterday I ____ only four.   
8. I have 2 computer games  On Wednesday I ____ only one computer game.   
9. I find this hard to complete.  I _______ the previous work easy.   
10. Today I am taking two pints of milk  Yesterday I ______ one pint.   

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How did you do?

    Regular Verb?
1. I am singing in school today.  Last year I sang in the school play.  no
2. My brother sells cars.  Yesterday he sold a Ford Fiesta.  no
3. I usually do my writing in the office. Last week I did it at home.  no
4. He comes to see me every day. Yesterday he came at 2 0'clock. no
5. The sun rises every morning.  Yesterday it rose at 5 am.  no
6. Today I am writing to Jamie  On Monday he wrote to me.  no
7. Its my birthday and I am 5. Yesterday I was only four.  no
8. I have 2 computer games. On Wednesday I had only one computer game.  no
9. I find this hard to complete.  I found the previous work easy.  no
10. Today I am taking two pints of milk. Yesterday I took one pint.  no

 

Here are some common irregular verbs that might trip you up. Try and find the present and the future tenses of them.

Present tense   
 Past tense (answer) Future tense Regular?
riding    rode will ride no
  gave   no
  ate   no
  made   no
  swam   no
  flew   no
  met   no
  thought   no
  found   no
  took   no

Answers





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
















Answers

Present tense   
 Past tense (answer) Future tense Regular?
riding    rode will ride no
giving gave will give no
eating ate will eat no
making made will make no
swimming swam will swim no
flying flew will fly no
meeting met will meet no
thinking thought will think no
finding found will find no
taking took will take no


Now you can recognise that verbs are action words and can change depending on the tense of a sentence. Some verbs are regular and others irregular.

Well done!

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