A1 · BeginnerEnglish

Past Simple (Irregular verbs)

By the flumi team About 4 min read 30 vocabulary wordsPractice exercises
Past Simple – irregular verbs

Some verbs do not add -ed in the past. These are called irregular verbs. You need to learn their past forms individually.

1. What are irregular verbs?

Irregular verbs change form in the past.

  • go → went
  • eat → ate

There is no single rule for their past forms.

2. Common irregular verbs

Here are some common irregular verbs:

Very common:

  • be → was / were
    • ⚠️ be is special: I/he/she/it → was; you/we/they → were.
  • have → had
  • do → did
  • go → went
  • get → got
  • make → made
  • see → saw
  • come → came

⚠️ 'be' is different in negatives and questions — do NOT use 'did'.

Positive Negative Question
I / he / she / it was was not (wasn't) Was I/he/she/it…?
you / we / they were were not (weren't) Were you/we/they…?

She was tired. → She was not tired. → Was she tired?

Common daily verbs:

  • eat → ate
  • drink → drank
  • take → took
  • give → gave
  • say → said
  • sit → sat

There are many more irregular verbs. You will learn them gradually.

💡 Tip: Try to learn 3–4 new irregular verbs each day. Practise them in short sentences: I went, I ate, I saw.

3. Positive sentences (irregular verbs)

Structure:

Subject + past verb (irregular form)

  • I went home.
  • He/She/It went home.
  • You/We/They went home.
  • I ate lunch.
  • He/She/It ate lunch.
  • You/We/They ate lunch.

For most verbs, the irregular past form is the same for all subjects (I went, she went, they went).

4. Negative sentences (irregular verbs)

Exception: for be, use was not / were not (not did not). See Section 2.

For all verbs except be, we use did not (didn’t) + base verb.

Irregular verbs (and regular verbs too):

Subject + did not (didn't) + base verb

This rule is the same for all verbs except be. See the note in Section 2.

Important rule:

❗ Even with irregular verbs, the verb goes back to the base form.

Correct: I did not go.
Incorrect: I did not went.

  • I did not go out.
  • He/She/It did not go out.
  • You/We/They did not go out.

5. Yes/No questions (irregular verbs)

Exception: for be, use Was…? / Were…? (not Did…?). See Section 2.

For most regular and irregular verbs: Did + subject + base verb? (Did you go?)

  • Did you go to school?
  • Did she eat breakfast?
  • Did they see the teacher?

Short answers:

  • Yes, I did.
  • Yes, she did.
  • No, they didn’t.

6. Wh- questions (irregular verbs)

Wh-word + did + subject + base verb?

  • Where did you go yesterday?
  • What did she eat?
  • When did they come home?

7. Time words for the past simple

These words often tell us that something happened in the past.

  • yesterday
  • last night
  • last weekend
  • two days ago
  • in 2022
  • I went out last night.
  • She saw him yesterday.

8. Quick reminder

Step 1: Did this happen in the past (yesterday / last week / ago)? Is it finished?
→ Yes → Use past simple.

Step 2: Is the verb regular or irregular?
Positive sentence: use the past form (go → went)
Negative or question: use did / didn't + base verb (didn't go / Did you go?)
Exception — 'be': use was/were, wasn't/weren't, Was…? / Were…?

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Past Simple – irregular verbs

A1

Past Simple (Irregular verbs)

30 words

Last updated July 15, 2026

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