Sign up for freeSign up

The first drive across America: irregular verbs in the past simple

Students learn irregular verbs in the past simple in this A2 ESL lesson plan about the first car trip across America.

Grammar
Twelve irregular past forms, from drove and left to bought and found, one form for every person (They left San Francisco in May.), and regular -ed verbs for contrast.
Topic
Cars and road trips: the first drive across America by car, from San Francisco to New York in 1903, with words such as windshield, tire, engine and dirt road.
Activities
Students read a museum notice, listen to a guide at the 1903 car and to a voice message, do self-checking drills, then tell trips in a chat and open boxes.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Start your engines!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: the first car tripVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a car from 1903

    • Look at the photo: a car from 1903PictureUnlock
    • Read the museum noticeReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a dog in goggles

    • Listen to Marco and DeniseListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandpa's ChallengeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: drove, left, took, broke

    • Study the scheme: irregular verbsGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right past formChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: put the verbs in the pastFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: every day and yesterdayFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: my best trip

    • Choose the right replies: your best tripChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: tell a trip storyOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: the new wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the past forms into the correct columnsSort into columnsUnlock
    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: then and nowFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the right past form: Marco's postChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a viewer's commentDrag and dropUnlock

29 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Car vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • dirt road
  • windshield
  • tire
  • engine
  • mechanic
  • bulldog
  • dust

Grammar: irregular verbs in the past simple

Many everyday verbs don't take -ed in the past simple. Each has a past form of its own, so drive becomes drove and take becomes took. Around a car trip from 1903 and a breakdown on the road, learners meet twelve irregular past tense verbs that travel stories need, see that each has one form for every person, and set them against regular -ed verbs.

Irregular verbs: drove, left, took, broke

Some common verbs don't take -ed in the past. They have their own past form: drive → drove.

A short list of irregular verbs

The table pairs twelve base forms with their past: drive, drove; leave, left; take, took; break, broke; then get, go, come, have, see, buy, eat and find. No rule predicts these forms, so each one is learned with an example: The trip took 63 days.

Base formPastExample
drivedroveJackson drove across America.
leaveleftThey left San Francisco in May.
taketookThe trip took 63 days.
breakbrokeBig Blue broke down.
getgotThey got lost.
gowentBud went to New York.
comecameA stranger came and helped.
havehadThe car had no roof.
seesawMarco saw the old car.
buyboughtJackson bought goggles for Bud.
eatateBiscuit ate Marco's sandwich.
findfoundNora found a mechanic.

One past form for every person

An irregular past never changes with the person: I drove, you drove, she drove, they drove. Only be has two past forms, was and were. So he went takes no -s, and he goed or he wents is never right.

Whodrivegobe
II droveI wentI was
youyou droveyou wentyou were
he, she, ithe / she / it drovehe / she / it wenthe / she / it was
wewe drovewe wentwe were
theythey drovethey wentthey were

Regular or irregular?

Regular verbs add -ed: repaired, traveled, joined. Irregular verbs turn into a new word: broke, bought, went. Never add -ed to an irregular verb: it's took, not taked, and bought, not buyed.

Regular or irregular?

Regular: + -ed

  • repair → repaired
  • travel → traveled
  • join → joined

Irregular: a new word

  • break → broke
  • buy → bought
  • go → went

No -ed, no -s

An irregular verb has its own past form. Don't add -ed: took (not taked), bought (not buyed). Don't add -s: he went (not he goed or he wents). After a past time word, use the past form: Yesterday, I saw a bulldog. (Not: Yesterday, I see a bulldog.)

Past time words: 1903, 1966 and this morning

After yesterday, last night, last summer, this morning or in 1903, the verb must be past: Yesterday, I saw a bulldog, not Yesterday, I see a bulldog. The examples jump across the years, from 1903 to 1966 to this morning, and every verb stays past.

Then and now stories

  • In 1903, Jackson and Crocker left San Francisco.
  • In 1966, Grandpa drove Big Blue around America.
  • This morning, Big Blue broke down.
  • We took the bus to the museum.
  • I saw a dog in goggles!
  • Last night, Biscuit ate Marco's cookies.

Past time words

  • yesterday
  • last night
  • last week
  • last summer
  • this morning
  • in 1903
  • in 1966

Common mistakes

  • Jackson drived across America.

    Jackson drove across America.

    drive → drove: no -ed

  • He goed to New York.

    He went to New York.

    go → went, for every person

  • Big Blue breaked down.

    Big Blue broke down.

    break → broke

  • In 1903, they leave San Francisco.

    In 1903, they left San Francisco.

    a past time word: use the past form

More lessons on this grammar: Past simple lessons and exercises

Try the irregular verbs exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 16 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • tell a trip story with irregular past forms: We left at five in the morning. My dad drove for six hours!
  • use one past form for every person: I went, she went, they went
  • tell regular verbs from irregular ones: repaired and traveled, but broke and bought
  • use the past form after a past time word: Yesterday, we got lost in the city. In 1903, the trip took 63 days.

Lesson 2 of English A2.1 · Then and Now continues the unit Amazing journeys. It builds on A2.1 lesson 1, which practiced regular verbs in the past simple (traveled, stopped, carried), and adds the common verbs that break the -ed pattern; lesson 3 then makes both kinds negative with didn't. The first car trip across America runs on exactly these verbs: the team left San Francisco, got lost, and the trip took 63 days.

Spin-the-wheel questions about cars and trips start the warm-up, and ten word cards with pictures and audio follow, among them repair, coast to coast, windshield and mechanic. The reading is a museum notice about the 1903 drive from San Francisco to New York by a doctor from Vermont, a young mechanic and, from Idaho on, a bulldog in goggles. Students then hear a museum guide at the old car and a voice message about a breakdown in 1966, both AI-voiced. In the grammar chapter, the scheme comes first, then four self-checking exercises, including a gap-fill with eight irregular past forms. The chat asks students about their best trip, and open boxes prompt a trip story of their own.

For homework there are eight exercises, all checked automatically: a word match, an anagram and a gap-fill for the new words, a sort of regular and irregular past forms, a word-order drill, a then-and-now gap-fill, a channel post with past forms to choose and a viewer's comment to complete.

Grammar:
past simple · irregular verbs · drove, left, took, broke · past time words
Topic:
the first car trip across America · Horatio Nelson Jackson · Bud the bulldog · Washington, D.C. · museums · license plates · road trips

Teaching tips

  • Mine the museum notice for past forms: students find every irregular one (was, had, bought, left, took, hurt, drove, became, gave) and say its base form for a class list.
  • Turn the 1903 car into a guessing game: ask what could go wrong on a dirt road in a car with no roof and no windshield; students check their guesses in the notice and the dialogue.
  • Play base-form ping-pong: say drive, a student answers drove and throws a new verb to a classmate; an -ed on an irregular verb sends the round back to the start.
  • Pair students up after the chat: they take turns telling each other about their best trip with went, left, saw and ate, the four verbs the last open box asks for.

Liked it?

Teach the whole lesson in edio

29 exercises in 6 chapters, ready to teach. edio is an online platform for language schools and teachers: ready-made interactive lessons, live classes, homework and student progress in one place.

  1. Start a free trial

    7 days, no credit card.

  2. Open the lesson

    Find it in the library of 621 ready lessons. Teach it as it is, or copy any chapter into your own lessons.

  3. Teach it live or as homework

    Students work in their own accounts, in sync with you during the lesson, and the practice exercises check themselves.

Teach it free for 7 days

The whole course: English A2.1 · Then and Now

32 lessons for adults at A2 in simple American English, from the past simple to going to, should and might. Eight units tell stories of journeys, American firsts, food, places, sports, music, neighbors and dreams. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Amazing journeys

    the past simple, regular and irregular verbs, negatives, prepositions of movement

    1. Lesson 1Around the world in 72 daysThe past simple of regular verbs
    2. Lesson 2 · you're hereThe first drive across AmericaIrregular verbs in the past simple
    3. Lesson 3Get your kicks on Route 66Past simple negatives with didn't
    4. Lesson 4She walked 2,000 miles in sneakersPrepositions of movement

  2. Unit 2 American firsts

    was and were, past questions and short answers, ago and in, could for past ability

    1. Lesson 5The first American woman in spaceWas, were, there was and there were
    2. Lesson 6A real bug in the computerPast simple questions with did
    3. Lesson 7“Mr. Watson, come here”Wh- questions in the past simple
    4. Lesson 8Twelve seconds in the airCould and couldn't for past ability

  3. Unit 3 American food

    countable and uncountable nouns, comparatives, ordering food, a few and a little

    1. Lesson 9The first chocolate chip cookieCountable and uncountable nouns in a recipe
    2. Lesson 10Is a jalapeño hotter than a habanero?Comparatives of short adjectives
    3. Lesson 11Two eggs, sunny side up!Offers and orders with would like
    4. Lesson 12Cooking for twenty on ThanksgivingA few, a little and a lot of

  4. Unit 4 City or country?

    comparatives with more and less, superlatives, as … as, too and enough

    1. Lesson 13The island with no carsComparatives with more and less, plus better, worse and farther
    2. Lesson 14America's extremesSuperlatives with the + -est, the most and the least
    3. Lesson 15San Francisco or Yosemite? You choose!As … as for the same, not as … as for less
    4. Lesson 16A park on an old railroadToo, enough and not … enough

  5. Unit 5 Game on

    play, go and do with sports, going to, adverbs of manner, reflexive pronouns

    1. Lesson 17Basketball started with peach baskets?Play, go and do with sports
    2. Lesson 18What's going to happen at LA 2028?Be going to for plans and predictions
    3. Lesson 19Pickleball: a game from a backyardAdverbs of manner
    4. Lesson 20Be brave and tryReflexive pronouns and each other

  6. Unit 6 Music and nights out

    love, enjoy and hate + -ing, the present continuous for plans, suggestions, to for purpose

    1. Lesson 21Where jazz was bornGerunds after love, like, enjoy, hate and don't mind
    2. Lesson 22Music on every streetThe present continuous for future arrangements
    3. Lesson 23A night on BroadwaySuggestions with Let's, Why don't we and How about
    4. Lesson 24An orchestra for every kidThe infinitive of purpose and to or for

  7. Unit 7 Neighbors and community

    much and many, should, something and everyone, because and so

    1. Lesson 25Everybody cleans up!Much and many with nouns you can and can't count
    2. Lesson 26Good neighbors shovel snowShould and shouldn't + the base verb
    3. Lesson 27Take a book, leave a bookIndefinite pronouns with some-, any-, no- and every-
    4. Lesson 28A bench for making friendsBecause for reasons, so for results

  8. Unit 8 Plans and dreams

    verb + to, the present continuous vs going to, might, when, before and after

    1. Lesson 29Never give up: from farm fields to spaceVerb + to + the base form
    2. Lesson 30Across America by trainGoing to and the present continuous for the future
    3. Lesson 31Open in the year 6939Might and might not for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A college graduate at 95Time clauses with when, before and after

Questions about this lesson

What are irregular verbs?
Irregular verbs are verbs whose past simple doesn't end in -ed: drive, drove; leave, left; take, took; break, broke. Each past form has to be memorized. Many of the most common English verbs are irregular, including go, have, see and get, and like regular verbs they keep one past form for every person: I went, she went, they went.
What are the most common irregular verbs?
The most common irregular verbs are everyday ones like be, have, do, go and get: was or were, had, did, went, got. For telling a trip, a first list of irregular verbs adds drove, left, took, broke, came, saw, bought, ate and found. The A2 lesson The first drive across America on edio.ai puts twelve of them in one table, each with an example sentence.
How do you form the past tense of irregular verbs?
Irregular past tense verbs use a form of their own instead of -ed, and it stays the same for every person: I drove, she drove, they drove. Some change a vowel (drive, drove; get, got), some change more (buy, bought; go, went), and a few don't change at all (hurt, hurt). Negatives and questions use the base form again: didn't drive, Did you drive?
What is the past tense of leave?
The past tense of leave is left, never leaved. They left San Francisco on May 23. We left at five in the morning. The same word is also the opposite of right, as in Turn left, but the sentence always shows which one it is. A drill in The first drive across America, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, offers leaved as a wrong choice next to left.
What is the past tense of drive?
The past tense of drive is drove, not drived. My dad drove for six hours. In 1903, two men drove a car from San Francisco to New York. The past participle is driven, so the three forms are drive, drove, driven. After didn't, use drive again: We didn't drive on the highway.
What are past time expressions?
Past time expressions are words that place an action in finished time: yesterday, last night, last week, last summer, this morning, in 1903. They go at the start or the end of the sentence and call for a past verb: Yesterday, I saw a bulldog in the park. We took the bus to the museum this morning. Last takes no in or on: last summer, not in last summer.
What is the past tense of break?
The past tense of break is broke, and breaked is always wrong. A thing can break into pieces (The plate broke.), and a car or a machine can break down, stop working: Our car broke down near a small town. The past participle is broken. In the chat of the A2 lesson The first drive across America on edio.ai, Our car breaked down is a wrong reply.
Is it "he went" or "he goed"?
It's he went, because go has an irregular past that is the same for every person. Goed copies the -ed of regular verbs, so it's a natural slip, but it's always wrong. Don't add -s to a past form either: he wents is wrong too. A quiz in the edio.ai lesson The first drive across America, for A2, puts Yesterday, he went to the museum next to both mistakes.
What are the parts of a car called in English?
The main parts of a car are the engine, the tires, the windshield and the hood: the engine makes the car go, the tires are the black rubber rings on the wheels, the windshield is the big front window, and the hood covers the engine. Windshield and hood are American words; British English says windscreen and bonnet. A person whose job is fixing cars is a mechanic.
How do I teach irregular verbs to A2 students?
Teach a small set of verbs through one story, not a long list: about a dozen past forms that fit a trip, such as drove, left, took and broke. Put each in a sentence, contrast them with regular -ed verbs, and recycle them in speaking until they come without thinking. The first drive across America, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, does this with twelve verbs and a museum notice about a car trip in 1903.
What's a good game for practicing irregular verbs?
A chain trip story is a good game for irregular verbs: each player adds one sentence with a new irregular past form, as in We left at six. Our car broke down. A mechanic came. A repeated verb or an -ed on an irregular one ends the turn. This lesson's open boxes give prompts for it (Say what you bought on the trip), and its homework sorts past forms into regular and irregular.
Are there interactive exercises for irregular verbs?
Yes: drills that check each past form instantly help irregular verbs stick. This page lets anyone try four parts of The first drive across America, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, with no account: a museum notice about the 1903 trip, a dialogue with a museum guide, a gap-fill of eight irregular verbs (got, came, bought, saw) and a chat about your best trip. The rest stays locked.
Unlock full lesson

Teach this lesson with your students

Book a demoStart free trial

No credit card required