Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought – irregular verbs exercises for A2 students

Q: What are irregular verbs in the past simple?

Irregular verbs are verbs that don't add -ed in the past simple ; each has a past form of its own: go → went , see → saw , buy → bought . Regular verbs such as walk → walked follow the -ed rule, so only the irregular ones need learning one by one. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought , an A2 drill lesson on edio.ai, practices 48 of them.

Q: How do you use irregular verbs in the past simple?

Put the past form straight after the subject, with no was before it and no -s after it : My parents bought a new car last year. She went home. Past time words like yesterday , last night or two days ago go at the start or the end, never between the verb and what follows it. The scheme in Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai sets out each step.

Q: What are some common irregular verbs?

Go → went , have → had , make → made , see → saw and take → took are five everyday ones. Many more fall into groups: buy → bought , think → thought ; drink → drank , swim → swam ; write → wrote , drive → drove ; sleep → slept , leave → left . A few keep the same form : put , cut and read , said like “red.” Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai lists 48 in its scheme.

Q: What's the difference between regular and irregular verbs?

A regular verb makes its past with -ed ( walk → walked , study → studied , stop → stopped ), but an irregular verb changes in its own way ( go → went , think → thought ). Some pairs look alike and aren't: play → played is regular, while pay → paid is irregular. Chapter 4 of Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai is all about telling the two kinds apart.

Q: Is it “buyed” or “bought”?

It's bought : buy is irregular, so its past form never takes -ed . The same goes for thought (not thinked ), caught (not catched ) and taught (not teached ). Keep bought apart from brought , the past of bring : We bought new shoes at the mall. My aunt brought a big salad to the picnic. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought drills the pair.

Q: Are there interactive irregular verbs exercises?

Yes. This page plays five parts of Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought , an A2 drill lesson on edio.ai, with no account: a sort of base and past forms; a gap-fill with the past simple; a choice between -ought and -aught ; a match of sentence beginnings and endings; and a chat with Ava after a school trip. The other 40 exercises open with an account.

Q: How do I teach irregular verbs to A2 students?

Introduce a few groups at a time , so the pattern helps memory: -ought verbs one day, i → a verbs the next. Students use each new verb about their own life ( Last summer I swam… ) and then meet regular verbs in the same drill, so they decide each time. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai runs in that order, from common verbs to more groups to regular or irregular.

Q: What's a good game for practicing irregular verbs?

Verb tennis is quick and loud: one student says a base form, such as fly , and a partner answers flew before the count of three, then serves the next verb. A memory game of base and past forms works well too. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai has one in class and one for homework, plus two sets of anagrams.

Q: What's good homework for irregular verbs?

Good homework puts the verbs into new sentences and short texts , not only lists to copy. In Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai, the homework covers a day at a lake, a birthday party, a to-do list turned into the past, usually …, but yesterday … sentences, a grandfather's email and a news story, and no task waits for the teacher to mark it.

Q: How do you practice irregular verbs one-to-one?

Trade three-sentence stories about last weekend : the student tells one with irregular verbs ( I went… , I saw… , I bought… ), the teacher tells one back with a wrong form hidden in it, and the student spots it. The chat in Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai needs no partner: Ava asks about a school trip, and the student picks We ate pizza over We eated pizza .

This A2 drill lesson gives irregular verbs exercises in the past simple: 48 everyday verbs in groups, from go → went to put → put, beside regular -ed verbs.

Grammar: One past form for every person (she went), verbs grouped by how they change (buy → bought), no goed or I was go, and time words such as last week.
Topic: An invented school's class trip to Washington, D.C.: Maya's diary, her teacher's email to parents, Zoe's postcard and Ethan's post about his lost phone.
Activities: Sorting, gap-fills, choices, drag-and-drop, word order, quizzes, a memory game, anagrams, matching, tables and Ava's chat, all checking themselves.

What's inside

Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: irregular verbs in the past simpleGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the words: base form or past form?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose the past formChoose the optionUnlock
- Write the past formFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2Common verbs
- Fill in the gaps with the past simpleFill in the gapsTry it
- Choose the right past formChoose the optionUnlock
- Drag the past forms into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
- Read Sam's message and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 3More verbs
- Sort the verbs: how does the past form change?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: verb and past formMemory gameUnlock
- Unscramble the past formsAnagramUnlock
- Choose the right word: -ought or -aught?Choose the optionTry it
- Fill in the gaps with the past simple: more verbsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: every Sunday and last SundayFill in the tableUnlock
- Read Priya's story and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 4Regular or irregular?
- Sort the past forms: regular or irregular?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Choose the right form: regular or irregular verb?Choose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: regular and irregular verbsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: regular and irregularUnjumbleUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endingsMatchTry it
- Read Lily's story and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: The school trip
- Read Maya's trip diaryReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the diary again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read Ms. Rivera's email and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Zoe's postcard and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Read Ethan's post and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Ava texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the past form: a day at the lakeChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with the past simple: a birthday partyFill in the gapsUnlock
- Unscramble the past forms: eight more verbsAnagramUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: more verbs and past formsMemory gameUnlock
- Sort the verbs: regular or irregular past?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Fill in the table: Ana's to-do listFill in the tableUnlock
- Drag the past forms into the sentencesDrag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: what happened?UnjumbleUnlock
- Match the two parts: what happened next?MatchUnlock
- Find the mistake: choose the right correctionQuizUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: usually …, but yesterday …Fill in the gapsUnlock
- Which sentence is correct? Choose the right oneQuizUnlock
- Read Grandpa's email and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the news story and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Read the sentences and mark them: true if correct, false if wrongTrue or falseUnlock

Grammar: the past simple of irregular verbs

Irregular verbs don't add -ed in the past simple: each has a past form of its own, as in go → went, see → saw and buy → bought. The good news is that the past form is the same for every person. The scheme lists 48 common verbs in groups that change the same way, sets them beside regular verbs and names the usual mistakes.

Past simple: irregular verbs

Many common verbs don't add -ed in the past. Each one has its own past form: go → went, see → saw.

Subject + past form, for everybody

The sentence is the subject, the past form and the rest: Maya saw a dinosaur at the museum. I, you, we and they take the same went, ate and bought, and he, she and it get no -s: she went, never she wents.

subject + past form

subjectpast form (went, saw, bought…)the rest

We went to the beach last Sunday.

Maya saw a dinosaur at the museum.

My parents bought a new car last year.

One form for every person

Who	go	eat	buy
I	I went	I ate	I bought
you	you went	you ate	you bought
he	he went	he ate	he bought
she	she went	she ate	she bought
it	it went	it ate	it bought
we	we went	we ate	we bought
they	they went	they ate	they bought

Learn the verbs in groups

Verbs that change the same way stick together: buy, bring, think, catch and teach end in -ought or -aught; begin, drink and swim turn i into a; sleep, feel and leave end in -t. Put, cut and read don't change, though past read sounds like “red.”

How it changes	Base form → past form
a new word	go → went · be → was / were · do → did · eat → ate · see → saw
-ought / -aught	buy → bought · bring → brought · think → thought · catch → caught · teach → taught
i → a	begin → began · drink → drank · swim → swam · sit → sat · sing → sang · give → gave
o, u → a	come → came · become → became · run → ran
→ o	write → wrote · drive → drove · ride → rode · speak → spoke · break → broke · wear → wore
e → o	get → got · forget → forgot
-ew	fly → flew · know → knew
ends in -t	sleep → slept · feel → felt · leave → left · meet → met · lose → lost · send → sent
ends in -d	have → had · make → made · say → said · pay → paid · tell → told · hear → heard
other changes	take → took · find → found · win → won · fall → fell
no change	put → put · cut → cut · read → read (say: "red")

Regular or irregular?

Regular verbs add -ed, with a few spelling changes: walked, lived, studied, stopped. Irregular verbs never do, so goed, buyed and thinked are wrong. Watch the look-alikes: play → played is regular, but pay → paid is not.

Regular verbs: + -ed

walk → walked · play → played
live → lived · study → studied · stop → stopped
We visited our cousins in May.

Irregular verbs: a new form

go → went · buy → bought · think → thought
No -ed: not goed, buyed, thinked
I took a lot of photos in Rome.

Time words and common mistakes

Yesterday, last night and two days ago go first or last: We went to the lake last week, not We went last week to the lake. Don't add was to a past simple verb: I went to the park, not I was go. And bought isn't brought.

Past time words

yesterday
yesterday morning
last night
last week
last summer
two days ago
a year ago
in 2020
when I was ten

Common mistakes

We goed to the zoo.
We went to the zoo.
go → went: no -ed on irregular verbs
My mom buyed a new phone.
My mom bought a new phone.
buy → bought
I was go to the park yesterday.
I went to the park yesterday.
no was before the verb
He thinked it was easy.
He thought it was easy.
think → thought

Watch out!

One form for everybody: I went, she went, they went (not: she wents). Time words go at the end or at the start: We went to the lake last week. Last week we went to the lake. (Not: We went last week to the lake.) Similar words: buy → bought, bring → brought · think → thought, teach → taught.

Examples

I got up at six yesterday.get → got
Grandma made a cake for my birthday last week.make → made
We flew to Chicago two years ago.fly → flew
My sister read three books last month.read → read (say: "red")
Tom put his keys on the table.put → put (no change)
Dad thought the movie was boring.think → thought

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.

What's in the lesson

38 auto-checked exercises
7 games
1 real-life document
1 grammar scheme
1 picture

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

use one past form for every person: I went, he went, they went, never she wents
remember past forms in groups: bring → brought, swim → swam, drive → drove, leave → left, cut → cut
avoid the two big slips: My mom bought a new phone, not buyed; I went to the park, not I was go
tell regular and irregular past forms apart: played but paid, studied but taught
put the time word first or last: Last week we went to the lake. We went to the lake last week.

Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought is lesson 2 of 28 in English Grammar Practice · A2, listed on the past simple page. Lesson 1, Past simple with -ed: moving day!, comes first, and lesson 3, Past simple negatives and questions: where did the cake go?, adds didn't and Did…? next. The lesson brings no new vocabulary, so it can follow any course book as extra practice.

The rule chapter has the scheme, a true-or-false check, a sort of base and past forms and two short drills. Common verbs works on went, had, made and took through gap-fills, drag-and-drop, word order and a find-the-mistake quiz, ending with Sam's message from a farm. More verbs groups the rest, with a memory game and anagrams of past forms, and Regular or irregular? sets played against paid. In Real life: The school trip, students read Maya's diary, fill in her teacher's email, Zoe's postcard and Ethan's post, reply to Ava and take a 12-question test.

Each of the 15 homework tasks checks itself and uses new sentences: a day at a lake, a birthday party, more anagrams and pairs, Ana's to-do list, usually …, but yesterday … gaps, two quizzes, Grandpa's email from a fishing trip in Canada and a news story about a dog that finds a ring.

Grammar:: past simple · irregular verbs · regular vs irregular verbs · past time words
Topic:: grammar practice · school trip · travel · Washington, D.C.

Teaching tips

Teach the verbs group by group: chant buy, bought; bring, brought; think, thought, let students add catch and teach, and only then open the sort in More verbs.
Ask about last weekend first: each student says three things they did, and the class fixes any goed or I was go together before the scheme goes up.
Keep a list of the class's own slips, like buyed, thinked and catched, on the board. Before the homework, students write the right past form beside each one.
Hunt for past forms in Maya's diary: students underline every verb, mark it regular or irregular and find its group in the scheme before the true-or-false questions.

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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · A2

English Grammar Practice · A2 has 28 drill lessons, one grammar point each: the past simple and continuous, used to, comparatives, going to and will, the present perfect, modals, the zero and first conditionals and questions. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course

Questions about this lesson

What are irregular verbs in the past simple?

Irregular verbs are verbs that don't add -ed in the past simple; each has a past form of its own: go → went, see → saw, buy → bought. Regular verbs such as walk → walked follow the -ed rule, so only the irregular ones need learning one by one. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought, an A2 drill lesson on edio.ai, practices 48 of them.

How do you use irregular verbs in the past simple?

Put the past form straight after the subject, with no was before it and no -s after it: My parents bought a new car last year. She went home. Past time words like yesterday, last night or two days ago go at the start or the end, never between the verb and what follows it. The scheme in Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai sets out each step.

What are some common irregular verbs?

Go → went, have → had, make → made, see → saw and take → took are five everyday ones. Many more fall into groups: buy → bought, think → thought; drink → drank, swim → swam; write → wrote, drive → drove; sleep → slept, leave → left. A few keep the same form: put, cut and read, said like “red.” Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai lists 48 in its scheme.

What's the difference between regular and irregular verbs?

A regular verb makes its past with -ed (walk → walked, study → studied, stop → stopped), but an irregular verb changes in its own way (go → went, think → thought). Some pairs look alike and aren't: play → played is regular, while pay → paid is irregular. Chapter 4 of Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai is all about telling the two kinds apart.

Is it “buyed” or “bought”?

It's bought: buy is irregular, so its past form never takes -ed. The same goes for thought (not thinked), caught (not catched) and taught (not teached). Keep bought apart from brought, the past of bring: We bought new shoes at the mall. My aunt brought a big salad to the picnic. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought drills the pair.

Are there interactive irregular verbs exercises?

Yes. This page plays five parts of Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought, an A2 drill lesson on edio.ai, with no account: a sort of base and past forms; a gap-fill with the past simple; a choice between -ought and -aught; a match of sentence beginnings and endings; and a chat with Ava after a school trip. The other 40 exercises open with an account.

How do I teach irregular verbs to A2 students?

Introduce a few groups at a time, so the pattern helps memory: -ought verbs one day, i → a verbs the next. Students use each new verb about their own life (Last summer I swam…) and then meet regular verbs in the same drill, so they decide each time. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai runs in that order, from common verbs to more groups to regular or irregular.

What's a good game for practicing irregular verbs?

Verb tennis is quick and loud: one student says a base form, such as fly, and a partner answers flew before the count of three, then serves the next verb. A memory game of base and past forms works well too. Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai has one in class and one for homework, plus two sets of anagrams.

What's good homework for irregular verbs?

Good homework puts the verbs into new sentences and short texts, not only lists to copy. In Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai, the homework covers a day at a lake, a birthday party, a to-do list turned into the past, usually …, but yesterday … sentences, a grandfather's email and a news story, and no task waits for the teacher to mark it.

How do you practice irregular verbs one-to-one?

Trade three-sentence stories about last weekend: the student tells one with irregular verbs (I went…, I saw…, I bought…), the teacher tells one back with a wrong form hidden in it, and the student spots it. The chat in Past simple irregular verbs: we went, we saw, we bought on edio.ai needs no partner: Ava asks about a school trip, and the student picks We ate pizza over We eated pizza.

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