Simple Past: Irregular Verbs

Simple Past: Irregular Verbs
Introduction

Although many verbs in English form their past tense with -ED, some do not. These are called irregular verbs, and they include some of the most basic verbs in English. This page will explain some of the most important patterns in forming the past tense. However, the only way to know how an irregular verb will change in the past tense is to learn all of the important verbs.
1. The three most important irregular verbs

The three most important irregular verbs are BE, HAVE, and DO. The simple past forms for BE are different depending on the subject.
Pronoun BE HAVE DO
I
was

had

did
You
were

had

did
He / she / it
was

had

did
We
were

had

did
They
were

had

did
2. Other irregular verbs

Other irregular verbs fall into three main categories:
Category Examples
Verbs which don't change cut - cut
hit - hit
fit - fit
Verbs which change their vowel get - got
sit - sat
drink - drank
Verbs which change completely catch - caught
bring - brought
teach - taught