Learning English is tough enough without irregular verbs crashing the party. These forms of irregular verbs make it easier to remember. Regular verbs play nice—just add -ed to make the past tense. But irregular verbs?
Nope! They make their own rules and expect you to just know them. Don't worry, though—I've got you covered with tips, tricks, and a little humor to make these tricky verbs stick in your students' brains.
What Are Irregular Verbs?
Let’s start simple: Irregular verbs are very different to regular verbs. They are like the rebels of the English language. They don’t follow the normal rules. For example:
- Regular verb: jump → jumped (easy, right?)
- Irregular verb: go → went (What? How does "go" turn into "went"? I know, it’s confusing!)
The best part? There's no shortcut. Learners just have to memorize these little rule-breakers. But don’t panic—I’ll help you out with making them easier.
I've used these printable irregular worksheets which have helped me show my students that these can be fun to learn too!
The Three Faces of Irregular Verbs
Every irregular verb has three forms. Think of it like a verb with multiple personalities:
-
Base Form (Who the verb is most of the time.)
Example: eat -
Past Simple (Who the verb was in the past.)
Example: ate -
Past Participle (Who the verb hangs out with in perfect
tenses.)
Example: eaten
Here’s a quick chart to help you get started:
| Base Form | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | gone |
| see | saw | seen |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| write | wrote | written |
Got it? Great! If not, don’t worry—we’re going to make this fun.
How I Survived Irregular Verbs
Other than using interactive games for irregular verbs, I used tons of ways to learn them! When I learned irregular verbs, it felt like trying to memorize the phone book (Google it, kids—it’s ancient history). But I figured out a few tricks that actually worked:
-
Group them Together
Some verbs like to hang out in groups. For example:- sing, sang, sung
- ring, rang, rung
See the pattern? It’s like they’re in a club where only "a" and "u" are allowed.
-
Turn It into a Game
I made flashcards and quizzed myself. Spoiler: I cheated by peeking at the answers, but hey, it worked! -
Use Them in Silly Sentences
The sillier the sentence, the easier it is to remember. For example:- Base: I drink coffee every morning.
- Past Simple: Yesterday, I drank three cups and couldn’t stop talking.
- Past Participle: I’ve drunk so much coffee this week, I’m basically a walking latte.
-
Sing About Them
I made up ridiculous songs like:
"Go, went, gone,
I see, saw, seen,
I drink, drank, drunk—oh no, I spilled my beans!"Okay, it’s not winning any awards, but it’s stuck in my head forever.
Fun Ways to Practice Irregular Verbs
Boring worksheets? No, thanks. Try these instead:
Use irregular verbs matching puzzles, irregular verbs game boards and more!
These printable worksheets are perfect whether you're an ESL student or an ESL teacher too:
Easy to play Irregular Verbs Games:
Verb Bingo
Write different verb forms on a bingo card. When someone calls out the base form (like write), you mark the past or past participle ( wrote or written ).-
Act It Out
Pick a verb, act it out, and make your friends guess. For example, pretend to drink something and have them shout, “You’re drinking!” or “You drank it!” -
Make a Crazy Story
Write a goofy story using as many irregular verbs as you can. Mine went something like this:
"Yesterday, I went to the park, saw a squirrel, and gave it a peanut. Then the squirrel ran away and hid in a tree." -
Fill in the Blanks
Create your own fill-in-the-blank sentences. For example: - I ______ (eat) three donuts this morning. (Answer: ate )
Irregular verbs might seem like the villains of English grammar, but you can totally make them fun for students or learners. Practice, laugh at your mistakes, and have them keep going. And remember: Even native speakers mess these up sometimes, so give yourself a break.
Now go forth and conquer teaching those verbs—because you can do it, you will do it, and soon you’ll have done it!