Past Simple Tense (Irregular Verbs)

1. Forms of the Past Simple Tense

Although irregular verbs do not follow a uniform rule, we can still describe their forms in three categories: affirmative, negative, and interrogative.

A. Affirmative Form

Structure: Subject + Irregular Past Verb

• 🚶 I went to the store yesterday. (go → went)
• 🌳 You had a great time at the park. (have → had)
• 📚 He bought a new book last week. (buy → bought)
• 🎉 She came to the party last night. (come → came)
• 💔 It broke during the show. (break → broke)
• 🚗 We drove to the beach last summer. (drive → drove)
• 🎆 You saw the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. (see → saw)
• 📸 They took many photos during their trip. (take → took)

B. Negative Form

Structure: Subject + did not (didn’t) + Base Verb

• 🚶 I didn’t go to the store yesterday.
• 🌳 You didn’t have a great time at the park.
• 📚 He didn’t buy a new book last week.
• 🎉 She didn’t come to the party last night.
• 💔 It didn’t break during the show.
• 🚗 We didn’t drive to the beach last summer.
• 🎆 You didn’t see the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
• 📸 They didn’t take many photos during their trip.

C. Interrogative Form

Structure: Did + Subject + Base Verb?

• 🚶 Did I go to the store yesterday?
• 🌳 Did you have a great time at the park?
• 📚 Did he buy a new book last week?
• 🎉 Did she come to the party last night?
• 💔 Did it break during the show?
• 🚗 Did we drive to the beach last summer?
• 🎆 Did you see the fireworks on New Year’s Eve?
• 📸 Did they take many photos during their trip?

2. Irregular Verb Forms

Unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs do not follow a fixed pattern when forming the past simple tense. Their past forms must be memorized as they are. For instance:

• go → went (e.g., Yesterday, I went home early.) 🚶‍♂️
• have → had (e.g., I had a great time at the party.) 🎉
• buy → bought (e.g., She bought a new dress last week.) 👗
• come → came (e.g., He came to the meeting on time.) ⏰
• see → saw (e.g., We saw a beautiful movie last night.) 🎬
• run → ran (e.g., They ran fast in the race.) 🏃‍♀️
• take → took (e.g., I took a picture of the sunset.) 📸
• eat → ate (e.g., She ate an apple for lunch.) 🍎
• drink → drank (e.g., He drank a cup of coffee.) ☕
• write → wrote (e.g., I wrote a letter to my friend.) ✉️

3. Usages of the Past Simple Tense (Irregular Verbs)

The Past Simple Tense is used to describe various types of actions and states in the past. Below are four common usages with 10 examples each using irregular verbs.

A. Completed Actions

• 🚶 I went to the park yesterday.
• 📚 She read an interesting book last week. 📖
• ✈️ We flew to London last summer. 🇬🇧
• 🍽️ They ate dinner at a new restaurant. 🍲
• 📝 I wrote a letter to my friend last night.
• 👀 She saw a shooting star last evening. 🌠

B. Past Habits

• 📚 I read a book every night when I was young. 📖
• 🍳 She ate breakfast at 7 AM every day. ⏰
• 🚶 He went for a walk after dinner. 🌆
• 🚌 We took the bus to school every day. 🏫
• ✈️ I flew to visit my grandparents every summer. 👴👵
• 📸 She took photos during every trip. 🌄

C. Past States and Facts

• 👨‍🎓 I was a student at that school. 🎒
• 😊 She was very kind to everyone. 💖
• ✈️ We were excited about the trip. 🌍
• 😃 They were happy with the results. 🎉
• 😴 He was tired after a long day. 🛌
• 🏆 I was proud of my achievement. 🏅
• 😬 She was nervous before the test. 📉
• 😞 We were disappointed by the news. 💔
• 🚀 They were eager to start the project. 💪
• 💡 He was confident in his ideas. 🔥

4. Common Irregular Verbs in the Past Simple

Below is a comprehensive list of 113 frequently used irregular verbs in the past simple tense. Each verb is followed by a simple example sentence and a relevant emoji.

1. arise → arose: A problem arose during the meeting. 💼
2. be → was/were: Yesterday, I was happy and they were excited. 😊
3. bear → bore: She bore the pain bravely. 💪
4. beat → beat: He beat his opponent in the game. 🏆
5. become → became: The sky became dark at dusk. 🌆
6. begin → began: The show began on time. 🎭
7. bend → bent: He bent the metal rod with ease. 🔧
8. bet → bet: She bet all her money on the race. 🎰
9. bid → bid: He bid farewell to his friends. 👋
10. bite → bit: The dog bit the mailman. 🐕
11. bleed → bled: He bled a little after the fall. 🤕
12. blow → blew: The wind blew strongly last night. 🌬️
13. break → broke: She broke the vase accidentally. 🏺
14. bring → brought: I brought my favorite book to class. 📚
15. build → built: They built a new house in the village. 🏡
16. buy → bought: I bought a new pair of shoes. 👟
17. catch → caught: He caught the ball during the game. ⚾
18. choose → chose: She chose a red dress for the party. 👗
19. come → came: They came to the concert last night. 🎤
20. cost → cost: The new phone cost a lot of money. 📱
21. cut → cut: I cut the paper with scissors. ✂️
22. deal → dealt: He dealt with the problem quickly. ⚖️
23. dig → dug: We dug a hole in the garden. ⛏️
24. do → did: I did my homework yesterday. 📝
25. draw → drew: She drew a beautiful picture. 🎨
26. drink → drank: He drank a glass of water. 💧
27. drive → drove: I drove to work this morning. 🚗
28. eat → ate: We ate dinner together. 🍽️
29. fall → fell: The leaves fell from the tree. 🍂
30. feed → fed: She fed the cat before leaving. 🐱
31. feel → felt: I felt happy about the news. 😊
32. fight → fought: They fought bravely in the battle. ⚔️
33. find → found: I found my lost keys. 🔑
34. fly → flew: He flew to New York last week. 🗽
35. forget → forgot: I forgot my umbrella at home. ☔
36. forgive → forgave: She forgave him for his mistake. 💞
37. freeze → froze: The water froze overnight. ❄️
38. get → got: I got a new phone yesterday. 📱
39. give → gave: He gave her a birthday gift. 🎁
40. go → went: Yesterday, I went home early. 🚶‍♂️
41. grow → grew: The plant grew quickly. 🌱
42. hang → hung: She hung her coat on the hook. 🧥
43. have → had: We had a wonderful time at the park. 🏞️
44. hear → heard: I heard a strange noise last night. 👂
45. hide → hid: The cat hid under the bed. 🐱
46. hit → hit: He hit the ball hard. ⚾
47. hold → held: She held the baby gently. 👶
48. hurt → hurt: I hurt my knee during the game. 🤕
49. keep → kept: They kept the secret safe. 🤫
50. know → knew: I knew the answer to the question. 🧠
51. lay → laid: He laid the book on the table. 📖
52. lead → led: She led the team to victory. 🏆
53. learn → learnt: I learnt a lot at the workshop. 📚
54. leave → left: They left the party early. 👋
55. lend → lent: I lent my pen to a friend. ✏️
56. let → let: She let him borrow her bike. 🚲
57. lie (recline) → lay: He lay on the sofa all afternoon. 🛋️
58. lose → lost: I lost my wallet yesterday. 💸
59. make → made: She made a cake for the party. 🎂
60. mean → meant: I meant to call you earlier. 📞
61. meet → met: We met at the coffee shop. ☕
62. pay → paid: He paid the bill promptly. 💳
63. put → put: I put the keys on the table. 🔑
64. read → read: She read the article quickly. 📖
65. ride → rode: He rode his bike to work. 🚴‍♂️
66. ring → rang: The phone rang loudly. 📞
67. rise → rose: The sun rose at 6 AM. 🌅
68. run → ran: I ran to catch the bus. 🏃‍♀️
69. say → said: She said hello to everyone. 👋
70. see → saw: I saw a rainbow after the rain. 🌈
71. sell → sold: He sold his old car. 🚙
72. send → sent: I sent a postcard from Paris. 🏙️
73. set → set: They set the table for dinner. 🍽️
74. shake → shook: He shook hands with the guest. 🤝
75. shine → shone: The sun shone brightly all day. ☀️
76. shoot → shot: She shot a basket in the game. 🏀
77. shut → shut: I shut the door behind me. 🚪
78. sing → sang: They sang a song at the concert. 🎤
79. sit → sat: I sat on the bench at the park. 🪑
80. sleep → slept: He slept for eight hours last night. 😴
81. speak → spoke: She spoke softly during the presentation. 🗣️
82. spend → spent: We spent the day at the beach. 🏖️
83. stand → stood: He stood by the door waiting. 🚪
84. steal → stole: Someone stole my bag at the mall. 👜
85. swim → swam: They swam in the lake last summer. 🏊‍♂️
86. take → took: I took an umbrella with me. ☔
87. teach → taught: She taught me how to cook. 🍳
88. tear → tore: He tore the paper into pieces. ✂️
89. tell → told: I told him a funny story. 😂
90. think → thought: She thought about the problem carefully. 🤔
91. throw → threw: He threw the ball to his friend. ⚽
92. understand → understood: I understood the lesson completely. 📚
93. wake → woke: I woke up early this morning. ⏰
94. wear → wore: She wore a red dress to the party. 👗
95. win → won: They won the championship last year. 🏆
96. write → wrote: I wrote a letter to my pen pal. ✍️

5. Common Mistakes and Tips

• Memorize the irregular past forms as they do not follow a fixed pattern.
• Use the base form after “did not” or in questions with “did”.
• Practice by converting present tense sentences into the past simple using irregular verbs.
• Pay attention to pronunciation differences between the base and past forms.
• Review your work and compare with correct examples to avoid mixing up forms.