Past Tense Verbs
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Basics on the topic Past Tense Verbs
Past Tense Verbs – Introduction
Verbs are words in a sentence that tell you what someone or something is doing. Let’s review the definitions for verbs and their past forms:
Verbs are action words in the English language. They describe what something or someone is doing. Some examples of verbs are: open, want, run, forget, climb.
When we describe an action in the past, we need to use the past tense form of the verbs. Here are some examples of past tense verbs: opened, wanted, ran, forgot, put, climbed.
Past Tense Verbs – Regular Verbs
When we form regular past tense verbs, we usually add the letters -ed at the end of a root verb. For example:
| Root Verb | Past Tense Verb |
|---|---|
| jump collect paint look |
jumped collected painted looked |
You can turn a sentence about the present action into a sentence about action in the past, by following three steps:
- First, identify the verb in the sentence.
- Then, identify the root verb.
- Finally, add the letters -ed at the end of the verb.
Let’s practise and turn the sentence He opens a window. into a sentence about the action in the past. First, we find a verb - opens. Then, we need to identify the root verb, which means the verb with no changes. The root verb is open. Now we can add the letters -ed. The sentence in the past is: He opened a window.
Past Tense Verbs – Irregular Verbs
But not all past tense verbs follow the rule of adding the letters -ed at the end. Some of them change in a different way. They are called irregular verbs. Some examples of irregular verbs are: make, be, do, stand, forget, buy.
When we want to use irregular verbs in the past tense, we sometimes have to change the whole word. For example, to use the verb make in the past, we need to change the consonant k to d. It means that make becomes made in the past tense.
Some past tense action verbs don’t change at all! For example, verbs like cut, hit, put, quit stay exactly the same in the past.
To learn common English irregular verbs and spell them correctly, check out our past tense verbs list for irregular verbs:
| Root Form | Past Form | Root Form | Past Form | Root Form | Past Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| be | was / were | fall | fell | see | saw |
| become | became | feel | felt | sleep | slept |
| begin | began | get | got | speak | spoke |
| break | broke | go | went | stand | stood |
| bring | brought | have | had | swim | swam |
| buy | bought | know | knew | take | took |
| come | came | leave | left | teach | taught |
| cost | cost | make | made | tell | told |
| cut | cut | meet | met | think | thought |
| do | did | put | put | understand | understood |
| drink | drank | read | read | win | won |
| eat | ate | run | ran | write | wrote |
If you would like to learn more about irregular verbs, check out the video on irregular verbs in their past form.
Past Tense Verbs – Summary
Let’s review what we have learnt about past tense verbs.
- Verbs are action words that describe what something or someone is doing.
- We add the letters ed to regular verbs, when we use them in the past.
- Some verbs break this rule and change completely. They are called irregular verbs.
Now you know how to use verbs in the past correctly. For more practice, watch the video, download the past tense verbs worksheet and check out the activities!
Frequently Asked Questions about Past Tense Verbs
Transcript Past Tense Verbs
"Alright, Kala, everything is ready for this year's hot air balloon ride!" "Wait a second, Dee, the ropes aren't tied to the basket!" "But why are there words written on the ropes?" Dee and Kala need to match the words on the rope with the letters written on the basket. Let's help our friends solve this puzzle by learning about past tense verbs. Have you ever needed to describe an action in the past? You can describe that action using a verb in the past tense. You might already know about verbs, or action words that tell us what something or someone is doing. How do verbs change in the past tense? Let's take a look at the first verb on Dee and Kala's rope to start. First, identify the verb that you want to put in the past tense, here it's walk. To put verbs in the past tense, we usually put the letters e and d on the end. That turns our verb, walk, into walked! "Great job, Kala!" "Thank you, but what do we do with the word run?" Whilst most verbs follow the rule of adding ed on the end, there are some that don't. Instead of adding ed to the end, the entire word changes! To put the verb run into the past tense, we need to change the vowel u to a. What happens to the verb run when we change the vowel? Run becomes ran in the past tense! "Phew, that one was hard!" "Well, I think this one might be even harder, what is hit in the past tense?" We can help our friends one last time by creating past tense verbs! Hit is also a rule breaker, it does not follow the ed rule and it also does not change to become a different word like when run becomes ran. How do you think we say hit in the past tense? The verb hit does not change at all! Hit in the past tense is hit! "We did it, Dee!" "We're ready to go!" Whilst our friends start their ride, let's remember. Today we learnt about past tense verbs. Remember, verbs are action words that describe what someone or something is doing. We learnt about a rule that most verbs follow in the past tense by adding the letters e and d to the end. We also learnt about some verbs that break this rule and change completely and some verbs that don't change at all! Now, let's see how Dee and Kala's ride turned out. "Wow, this is the best view yet!" "It's beautiful!"
Past Tense Verbs exercise
-
What are past tense verbs?
HintsJump, run and write are verbs. Are these actions?
The boy walked to school.
This is a sentence in the past tense. Is it something that has already happened or something that is happening now?
SolutionVerbs are action words.
The past tense is something that has already happened.
-
Which ones are past tense verbs?
HintsRegular past tense verbs end with ed.
Can you put the word into a sentence? Has the action already happened?
For example,
Yesterday, Sally made a model.
This sentence is in the past tense.
SolutionThe past tense verbs are:
- made
- helped
- wrote
- opened
-
Help Kala find the pairs.
HintsThe teacher taught us about history.
Use this sentence to help you find a pair.
The toy cost three pounds.
Use this sentence to help you find a pair.
SolutionAbove we can see the matching pairs.
- Walk follows the rule of adding ed at the end.
- Eat, take and teach change their form in the past tense.
- Cost and cut keep their same form in the past tense.
-
Which rule does each verb follow in the past tense?
HintsHe just put the cup on the shelf.
What is the past tense form of put?
Yesterday, my friend came round.
What is the past tense form of come?
There are two words for each group.
SolutionHere are the correct answers.
-
Can you put this sentence into the past tense?
HintsHike is a regular verb.
For regular verbs that end with e, remove the e and add ed.
SolutionDee and Kala hiked.
The past tense of hike is hiked.
-
What are the missing past tense forms of the verbs?
HintsTank swam in the sea.
This sentence uses the past tense form of swim.
Tom hurt his leg.
This sentence uses the past tense form if hurt.
SolutionYou can describe an action in the past by using a verb in past tense.
