Blog Archives
Crossword – Irregular Verbs 2 (Solution)
Posted on 2012/03/19
Crossword – Irregular Verbs 2
Posted on 2012/03/18
Here is another crossword with irregular verbs. I’ve given the present tense of the verb – you have to put the right form of the past tense or past perfect in the puzzle. Have fun!
Across
1. hit
4. light
5. blow
8. ride
9. see
10. lose
11. think
15. read
16. stand
17. become
18. is/am
19. sell
21. teach
24. forget
26. set
27. wake
28. win
Down
1. has/have
2. tear
3. wear
4. lead
5. build
6. write
7. hang
9. steal
11. throw
12. understand
13. swim
14. buy
16. sit
17. bring
20. leave
22. grow
23. fly
25. run
Grammar Basics: Unit 25 – Regular and Irregular Verbs (Solutions)
Posted on 2012/03/14
Exercises: Complete the sentences. Choose an appropriate verb from the list and put it in its correct form.
Example:
The trees (sway) in the wind. ==> The trees swayed in the wind.
1. The children played nicely together while the babysitter was watching them.
2. Have you ever seen a real live lion before?
3. We can’t watch the movie tonight – all the tickets are sold out.
4. Several large branches have broken off our tree because of the strong wind.
5. Dave left the cage door open, and now the bird has flown out.
6. How long have you known Dr. Brock?
7. Tim spoke with me the other night and told me that he had gotten engaged!
8. The children haven’t made their beds yet.
9. The pitcher threw a fast ball, and struck out the batter.
10. Mike has eaten all his vegetables, so he’ll get a special treat for dessert.
Grammar Basics: Unit 25 – Regular and Irregular Verbs
Posted on 2012/03/13
Regular Verbs
For regular verbs, the simple past and the past participle is –ed:
wash ==> washed
paint ==> painted
whistle ==> whistled
bake ==> baked
snow ==> snowed
rain ==> rained
If a verb ends in a syllable with a short vowel sound and the final consonant is one letter, that letter is doubled:
tap ==> tapped
stop ==> stopped
pat ==> patted
drip ==> dripped
For verbs that end in a consonant followed by a y, the y is changed to i before adding the –ed:
study ==> studied
tidy ==> tidied
try ==> tried
Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs do not follow this –ed pattern. They are exceptions, and must be memorized.
Sometimes, the simple past and the past participle of irregular verbs is the same:
make ==> made, made
find ==> found, found
buy ==> bought, bought
cut ==> cut, cut
think ==> thought
Sometimes, however, the simple past and the past participle are different:
write ==> wrote, written
break ==> broke, broken
eat ==> ate, eaten
sing ==> sang, sung
Here is a list of the 50 most common English irregular verbs:
say (said, said)
make (made, made)
go (went, gone)
take (took, taken)
come (came, come)
see (saw, seen)
know (knew, known)
get (got, got/gotten (US))
give (gave, given)
find (found, found)
think (thought, thought)
tell (told, told)
become (became, become)
show (showed, shown / showed)
leave (left, left)
feel (felt, felt)
put (put, put)
bring (brought, brought)
begin (began, begun)
keep (kept, kept)
hold (held, held)
write (wrote, written)
stand (stood, stood)
hear (heard, heard)
let (let, let)
mean (meant, meant)
set (set, set)
meet (met, met)
run (ran, run)
pay (paid, paid)
sit (sat, sat)
speak (spoke, spoken)
lie (lay, lain)
lead (led, led)
read (read, read)
grow (grew, grown)
lose (lost, lost)
fall (fell, fallen)
send (sent, sent)
build (built, built)
understand (understood, understood)
draw (drew, drawn)
break (broke, broken)
spend (spent, spent)
cut (cut, cut)
rise (rose, risen)
drive (drove, driven)
buy (bought, bought)
wear (wore, worn)
choose (chose, chosen)
Exercises: Complete the sentences. Choose an appropriate verb from the list and put it in its correct form.
Example:
The trees (sway) in the wind. ==> The trees swayed in the wind.
break
eat
fly
know
leave
make
play
see
sell
speak
strike
tell
throw
watch
1. The children __________ nicely together while the babysitter was watching them.
2. Have you ever __________ a real live lion before?
3. We can’t __________ the movie tonight – all the tickets are __________ out.
4. Several large branches have __________ off our tree because of the strong wind.
5. Dave __________ the cage door open, and now the bird has __________ out.
6. How long have you __________ Dr. Brock?
7. Tim __________ with me the other night and __________ me that he had gotten engaged!
8. The children haven’t __________ their beds yet.
9. The pitcher __________ a fast ball, and __________ out the batter.
10. Mike has __________ all his vegetables, so he’ll get a special treat for dessert.
Crossword: Irregular Verbs 1
Posted on 2012/01/29
For this crossword, you have to replace the verb in parentheses with the correct form. All of these verbs are irregular. Have fun!
Across
1. He (say) he was going to see a movie.
5. The children (ring) the doorbell and ran away.
6. The harder he worked, the more thirsty he (become).
7. I (be) doing my homework when the alarm went off.
9. These pants (cost) only twelve dollars.
11. The child did not tell his mother that he had (take) a cookie without permission.
12. You did not choose me, but I (choose) you.
13. The bride (wear) a beautiful white gown.
14. The teacher (bring) a rat for the science lab.
16. John was here earlier, but now he’s (go).
17. The moon (shine) bright on the newfallen snow.
18. On our vacation we (take) many pictures.
20. She (throw) away his old, worn-out shoes.
22. They (eat) cold pizza and hot dogs for breakfast.
23. I (read) all the homework that the teacher had assigned.
24. He (hang) the picture over the crack in the wall.
26. The obedient child (do) what his mother asked.
27. I (keep) my promise to take him to the zoo.
Down
1. She (shut) the door loudly and woke the baby.
2. It was so hot that we (drink) iced tea.
3. I should have (know) that you were going to come late.
4. He reluctantly (lend) out his favorite pen.
6. The dog (bite) the mailman the other day.
8. She (see) the movie after she read the book.
10. Tom was so tired he (sleep) through his English class.
11. I (think) you were going to see your aunt this weekend.
12. We have (choose) to stay home this time instead of going camping.
13. The boys’ team has not (win) a game all season.
14. The camera was (break) when he bought it.
15. I had just (get) out of bed when the phone rang.
17. We (swim) all summer long.
19. He (know) the answer to the teacher’s question.
21. I (hear) you quit your job.
23. She (run) as fast as she could, but still got fifth place.
24. The ball jumped up and (hit) him in the nose.
25. The children (get) a dog for Christmas.
Grammar Basics: Unit 11 – The Simple Past Tense (Solutions)
Posted on 2012/01/25
Exercises: Use the proper simple past tense in the sentences below.
Example:
- It _________ all day. (snow) ==> It snowed all day.
1. We watched TV for an hour.
2. The cat sat on my lap.
3. She baked a cake for Mary’s birthday.
4. I bought a pair of shoes and three pairs of socks.
5. Lisa wrote a nice thank-you note to her aunt.
6. We flew from Chicago to Seoul.
7. He took several pictures of the Grand Canyon.
8. She changed the baby’s diaper often to avoid diaper rash.
9. The mechanic repaired the car last week.
10. At the campout, we cooked hot dogs for supper.
11. It rained yesterday and ruined our picnic.
12. The teacher graded our tests and handed them back to us.
13. Tom impatiently tapped his foot.
14. Sam watered the plants every morning.
15. We relaxed and listened to music after dinner.
16. Kathleen lied to her mother, and got into trouble.
17. They went to a movie last weekend.
18. I finished reading a good book yesterday.
19. My pencil lead broke, so I sharpened it again.
20. He came late for breakfast.
Grammar Basics: Unit 11 – The Simple Past Tense
Posted on 2012/01/24
The Simple Past is formed by putting –ed at the end of the verb:
Examples:
- wash ==> washed
- walk ==> walked
- laugh ==> laughed
- comb ==> combed
- print ==> printed
- John washed the car.
- We walked to school every day.
- Everyone laughed at the clown.
- The beautician combed her client’s long hair.
- He printed a receipt for me.
Words that end in a –y that is preceded by a consonant must use change the –y to an i before putting the –ed at the end:
Examples:
- try ==> tried
- cry ==> cried
- study ==>studied
- dry ==> dried
- She tried to open the door.
- The baby cried for a whole hour.
- Steve studied all weekend for his test.
- We dried fish on wire racks.
Words whose final syllable has a short vowel followed by a single consonant double the last consonant:
Examples:
- stop ==> stopped
- ban ==> banned
- plan ==> planned
- The policeman stopped the speeding car.
- The teacher banned all cell phones from the classroom.
- We planned to go on a picnic yesterday.
As with most languages, there are exceptions. Some verbs are irregular, and do not form the simple past according to the above rules. We have no choice but to memorize these verbs and their past tense. The following list is the 50 most common irregular English verbs. These verbs are listed in order of frequency: Number 1 is the most common, Number 2 is the second most common, etc. These 50 words make up 87% of irregular verb occurrence in English. The first 11 represent half of the occurrence of irregular verbs in English.
50 Most Common Irregular English Verbs
Rank Base Form (Past Tense, Past Participle)
1. say (said, said)
2. make (made, made)
3. go (went, gone)
4. take (took, taken)
5. come (came, come)
6. see (saw, seen)
7. know (knew, known)
8. get (got, got/gotten (US))
9. give (gave, given)
10. find (found, found)
11. think (thought, thought)
12. tell (told, told)
13. become (became, become)
14. show (showed, shown / showed)
15. leave (left, left)
16. feel (felt, felt)
17. put (put, put)
18. bring (brought, brought)
19. begin (began, begun)
20. keep (kept, kept)
21. hold (held, held)
22. write (wrote, written)
23. stand (stood, stood)
24. hear (heard, heard)
25. let (let, let)
26. mean (meant, meant)
27. set (set, set)
28. meet (met, met)
29. run (ran, run)
30. pay (paid, paid)
31. sit (sat, sat)
32. speak (spoke, spoken)
33. lie (lay, lain)
34. lead (led, led)
35. read (read, read)
36. grow (grew, grown)
37. lose (lost, lost)
38. fall (fell, fallen)
39. send (sent, sent)
40. build (built, built)
41. understand (understood, understood)
42. draw (drew, drawn)
43. break (broke, broken)
44. spend (spent, spent)
45. cut (cut, cut)
46. rise (rose, risen)
47. drive (drove, driven)
48. buy (bought, bought)
49. wear (wore, worn)
50. choose (chose, chosen)
Exercises: Use the proper simple past tense in the sentences below.
Example:
- It _________ all day. (snow) ==> It snowed all day.
1. We _________ TV for an hour. (watch)
2. The cat _________ on my lap. (sit)
3. She _________ a cake for Mary’s birthday. (bake)
4. I _________ a pair of shoes and three pairs of socks. (buy)
5. Lisa _________ a nice thank-you note to her aunt. (write)
6. We _________ from Chicago to Seoul. (fly)
7. He _________ several pictures of the Grand Canyon. (take)
8. She _________ the baby’s diaper often to avoid diaper rash. (change)
9. The mechanic _________ the car last week. (repair)
10. At the campout, we _________ hot dogs for supper. (cook)
11. It _________ yesterday and _________ our picnic. (rain, ruin)
12. The teacher _________ our tests and _________ them back to us. (grade, hand)
13. Tom impatiently _________ his foot. (tap)
14. Sam _________ the plants every morning. (water)
15. We _________ and _________ to music after dinner. (relax, listen)
16. Kathleen _________ to her mother, and _________ into trouble. (lie, get)
17. They _________ to a movie last weekend. (go)
18. I _________ reading a good book yesterday. (finish)
19. My pencil lead _________, so I _________ it again. (break, sharpen)
20. He _________ late for breakfast. (come)