Past Simple Regular and Irregular Verbs
Practise past simple verb forms with 20 free questions: regular -ed endings and the most common irregular verbs. Instant answers and explanations. A1-A2.
How this works
English past forms split into two groups, and only one of them has a rule.
Regular verbs add -ed: work becomes worked, play becomes played, finish becomes finished. The spelling shifts a little in three predictable cases. A verb ending in e just adds d (live, lived). A verb ending in a consonant plus y changes the y to i (study, studied) - but a vowel plus y does not (play, played). And a short verb ending in one vowel plus one consonant doubles that consonant (stop, stopped; plan, planned).
Irregular verbs have no rule at all. Go becomes went, take becomes took, buy becomes bought, see becomes saw, bring becomes brought. There is no way to work these out, only to know them - but the list that matters is short. The hundred most common irregular verbs cover almost everything you will ever say, and the twenty most common cover most of a normal conversation.
One thing worth getting right early is the pronunciation of -ed, because it is three different sounds and the spelling gives no clue. After a t or d sound it is a full extra syllable: wanted, needed, decided. After a voiceless sound - p, k, s, f, sh, ch - it sounds like a t: worked, stopped, watched, finished. After everything else it sounds like a d: played, called, moved, arrived. "Worked" is one syllable. Saying it as "work-ed" is the most common pronunciation error with this tense.
Why this trips up Indian English speakers
The verb forms themselves are usually solid in Indian English - the irregular list is drilled thoroughly in school, and went, took, bought and saw come out right.
Where it slips is the -ed pronunciation. "Work-ed", "finish-ed", "stopp-ed" and "ask-ed" as two syllables are extremely common in spoken Indian English, because the spelling suggests a vowel that is not there. All four are one syllable: workt, finisht, stopt, askt. Only a verb already ending in a t or d sound - wanted, needed, started, decided - gets the extra syllable.
It is a small thing and it is very audible. In a spoken interview round it is one of the two or three features a listener notices first, alongside article errors, and unlike grammar it cannot be fixed in the writing stage.
The second, smaller pattern is the past form of "read", which is spelled identically and pronounced "red". "I read the report yesterday" and "I read the report every day" look the same on the page and sound completely different.
Say the verbs out loud as you work through this exercise. The forms are probably already right; the sound is what this one is really for.
20 questions
All 20 questions are below, with the rule explained above. Turn on JavaScript to work through them one at a time and check each answer as you go.
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She _____ (finish) the report before lunch yesterday.
A regular verb.
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We _____ (go) to Goa for a week last December.
Irregular, and very common.
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He _____ (study) engineering at a college in Pune.
A consonant before the y changes the spelling.
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They _____ (buy) a new flat two years ago.
Irregular, and the spelling changes completely.
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The bus _____ (stop) suddenly and everyone fell forward.
Short verb, one vowel, one consonant.
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I _____ (see) her at the station this morning.
Not "seen" - that is a different form.
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She _____ (live) in Chennai before moving to Mumbai.
The verb already ends in e.
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Fix this sentence: He taked the early train to reach on time.
_____
This verb has no -ed form.
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The meeting _____ (begin) an hour late because of traffic.
Irregular, and a vowel change.
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We _____ (play) cricket every evening that summer.
A vowel comes before the y.
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Which sentence is correct?
Irregular, and watch the spelling.
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He _____ (write) three emails before nine in the morning.
Not "written".
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They _____ (leave) the office just after seven.
A short irregular form.
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I _____ (want) to call you, but my phone was dead.
This -ed really is an extra syllable.
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Fix this sentence: She writed a long message and then deleted it.
_____
One of these two verbs is irregular.
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The teacher _____ (give) us extra time for the test.
Irregular, with a vowel change.
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Arrange the words into a correct sentence.
_____
Subject, verb, person, thing, time.
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We _____ (have) lunch at a small place near the station.
Very common, and irregular.
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He _____ (read) the whole file before the meeting.
The spelling does not change. The sound does.
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She _____ (ask) a good question and then _____ (sit) down.
One regular, one irregular.
Now say it out loud
Getting it right in a gap is not the same as getting it right while you are talking. That is the gap this whole site exists to close, and it takes sixty seconds.
Describe what you did yesterday in five sentences, using at least two irregular verbs and two regular ones. Say them out loud and listen to the -ed endings.
Common questions
How do I know if a verb is irregular?
There is no way to tell from the spelling - you have to know the verb. The good news is that the list is short and heavily weighted: go, have, do, say, make, take, come, see, get, know, think, give, find, tell, become, leave, feel, put, bring and begin cover most ordinary conversation.
When do I double the last letter before -ed?
When a short verb ends in one vowel plus one consonant and the stress is on that syllable: stop/stopped, plan/planned, prefer/preferred. Do not double after two vowels (rain/rained) or when the stress is earlier (visit/visited, open/opened).
Is "worked" one syllable or two?
One. It is pronounced "workt". Only verbs already ending in a t or d sound add a syllable: wanted, needed, started, decided. Worked, finished, stopped, asked, watched and helped are all single syllables, however they look.
More past simple practice
Questions and Negatives with Did
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Past Simple vs Past Continuous
Practise past simple vs past continuous with 20 free questions: interrupted actions, background description and while vs when.