Irregular Verbs What’s an irregular verb? An irregular verb doesn’t follow the regular rules of English. It can “break” the rules in several ways. The past tense of an irregular verb does not use the ending “-ed.” Usually, regular English verbs in past tense end in “-ed.” * Ex. Want: Today, he wants an ice cream. Yesterday, he wanted a slice of cake. Irregular verbs break this rule. Their past tense forms need to be memorized. * Ex. Run: Today, she runs quickly. Last month, she ran slowly. * Ex. Win: Now she wins a lot of games. Before, she won none. * Ex. Go: I will go to the store tomorrow. I went to the store yesterday, too. Irregular verbs also break the rules for forming past participles. Usually, regular English verbs in the past participle also end in “-ed.” * Ex. Ask: He has been asked to go home. Irregular verbs in the past participle do not end in “-ed.” * Sometimes the irregular past participle form ends in “-en.” * Ex. Today I ride the horse. // Yesterday I rode the horse. // I have ridden the horse. * Sometimes the irregular past participle is the same as the verb in past tense form * Ex. Today I put that down. // Yesterday I put that down. // I have put that down. * Sometimes the irregular past participle is identical to the present tense. * Ex. Today I set the table. // Yesterday I set the table. // I have set the table. Examples of Irregular Verbs Verb Present (3rd person singular) Past Past Participle Break Breaks Broke Broke Dig Digs Dug Dug Eat Eats Ate Eaten Do Does Did Done Fall Falls Fell Fallen Feel Feels Felt Felt