irregular verbs sell sold sold
Irregular Verbs
Regular Verbs
Verbs in English have three tense forms: the base form (or infinitive without “to”), the past simple, and the past participle. For convenience, we can call them “verb-1”, “verb-2”, and “verb-3”.
With regular verbs, the past simple and past participles are formed by adding -d or -ed, or -ied (in place of most y endings) to the end.
Most English verbs are regular.
Irregular verbs do not follow this rule.
Irregular Verbs
One kind of irregular verb changes form, but the past tense and the past participle are the same. Examples include feed, fed, fed; and win, won, won.
See REGULAR and IRREGULAR VERBS.
Answer the following questions or respond to the statements.
Say why and give examples.
Hold Held Held
1. hold, held, held
The travelers held their purses, passports, and wallets tightly! Why?
2. keep, kept, kept
My grandparents kept a six-month supply of food in their basement. Why?
3. lead, led, led
In history, did generals lead their troops from the front or from the rear?
4. leap, leapt (leaped), leapt (leaped)
The Lone Ranger and Silver were escaping from the bandits. What did Silver do?
5. leave, left, left
Doug left the party after 30-minutes. Why did he leave early?
Mr. Tan left a $20 tip. Why?
Lend Lent Lent
6. lend, lent, lent
Ernie lent his friend, his new car. What happened? How many people would lend you money?
7. light, lit, lit
It was Vikram’s grandmother’s birthday yesterday.
8. lose, lost, lost
Their son took the famlily jewelry with him when he moved.
9. make, made, made
What do or did you make at school? What do factories, artists, and crafts workers make in your town?
10. mean, meant, meant
What is meant by the quotes “In order to have things you’ve never had, you’ve got to do things you’ve never done.” “You’ve got to stop being a wandering generality and become a meaningful specific.” And “It’s not your aptitude, but your attitude that will determine your altitude.”
Meet Met Met
11. meet, met, met
Where did you meet your wife/husband/significant other? How did your mother and father meet?
12. pay, paid, paid
Heidi went abroad on her vacation (holiday), and bought some souvenirs. Did she pay the same amount as locals do?
13. say, said, said
What did the magician say during his performance?
14. seek, sought, sought
Why did so many people migrate here (there)?
15. sell, sold, sold
Many merchants came to Venice (Constantinople, Kiev, Baghdad, Mumbai, Samarkand, Xian, Tenochtitlan, Cusco). Where do traders gather in your country?
Send Sent Sent
16. send, sent, sent
Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard sent their sons to boarding school. What are advantages and disadvantages of this?
How many emails have you sent today?
17. shoot, shot, shot
Wayne and Garth are covered with yellow and orange paint splats.
18. sit, sat, sat
In which countries have people traditionally sat on the floor (chairs)?
19. sleep, slept, slept
Mr. Winkle slept (for many years). What happened while he slept? What happened when he woke up?
20. slide, slid, slid
The company was first in sales last year; then it slid to fourth place. Why?
