ESL	Past Tense
	Blues	Irregular Verbs

---

IRREGULAR VERB FORMS a-b   c-e   f-g   h-m   p-se   sh-sp   st-w   rules
Base form	Past Tense	Past Participle
arise	arose	arisen
awake	awoke	awoken
be	was, were	been
bear	bore	borne
beat	beat	beaten
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
bend	bent	bent
bet	bet	bet
bind	bound	bound
bite	bit	bitten
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
build	built	built
buy	bought	bought
Back to top
cast	cast	cast
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
cut	cut	cut
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
dive	dived, dove	dived
do	did	done
drag	dragged	dragged
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamed, dreamt	dreamed, dreamt
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
drown	drowned	drowned
Back to top
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forbid	forbade	forbidden
forget	forgot	forgotten, forgot
forgive	forgave	forgiven
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	gotten, got
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grind	ground	ground
grow	grew	grown
Back to top
(suspend)	hung	hung
have	had	had
hang (execute)	hanged	hanged
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	hidden
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
keep	kept	kept
know	knew	known
lay (put)	laid	laid
lead	led	led
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let (allow)	let	let
lie (recline)	lay	lain
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
Back to top
pay	paid	paid
prove	proved	proved, proven
put	put	put
quit	quit	quit
read	read	read
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise (get up)	rose	risen
run	ran	run
saw	sawed	sawn
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
seek	sought	sought
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
set	set	set
Back to top
shake	shook	shaken
shed	shed	shed
shine	shone	shone
shoe	shod	shod
shoot	shot	shot
show	showed	shown
shrink	shrank	shrunk, shrunken
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk
sit (be seated)	sat	sat
slay	slew	slain
sleep	slept	slept
slide	slid	slid
sling	slung	slung
speak	spoke	spoken
spend	spent	spent
spin	spun	spun
spread	spread	spread
spring	sprang	sprung
Back to top
stand	stood	stood
steal	stole	stolen
stick	stuck	stuck
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank	stunk
strike	struck	struck, striken
string	strung	strung
strive	strove	striven
swear	swore	sworn
sweep	swept	swept
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
throw	threw	thrown
tread	trod	trodden
wake	woke, waked	waked. woken
wear	wore	worn
understand	understood	understood
win	won	won
wind	wound	wound
wring	wrung	wrung
write	wrote	written
Back to top

Use the past tense form of the verb

• in affirmative statements:
  • She saw the movie and she liked it.
• in questions when the question word (who, what, how much/many, which) is the subject:
  • Who saw the accident? What happened exactly? How many people went to hospital?
• in all cases (affirmative, negative, interrogative) with the verb "TO BE"
  • -- Were you and Bob at the party?
    -- I was there, but bob wasn't.

Back to top

Use the base form of the verb (the infinitive without "to)

• to form the present tense of most verbs (see quizzes on Present Tense)
• when you use the auxiliary verbs 'do,' 'does,' 'did' to form questions and negatives in the past and present tenses:
  • She has a cat but she doesn't have a dog
  • -- Did you have fun?
    -- Yes, I had a lot of fun.
  • -- No, I didn't have fun.

Use the past participle to form the present perfect tense ( I have seen, done, taken, etc.) and passives ( It was seen, done, taken, etc.)
(See quizzes on Present Perfect and Passives)

---