Irregular Past Tense Verbs
|
simple
|
past
|
meaning / similar to
|
| be | was/were | existence |
| become | became | change / alter / grow into |
| begin | began | start / commence |
| blow | blew | move air |
| break | broke | destroy / wreck |
| build | built | create / make |
| buy | bought | purchase / pay for |
| catch | caught | get |
| come | came | arrive |
| cost | cost | the price of something –use only with things |
| cut | cut | separate / reduce |
| do | did | act / perform / work / clean / study / research |
| drink | drank | consume |
| drive | drove | operate a vehicle / travel |
| eat | ate | consume |
| feel | felt | perceive |
| find | found | obtain / get |
| fly | flew | travel by airplane or by wings (birds do this) |
| forget | forgot | opposite of remember |
| freeze | froze | go below freezing / feel cold |
| get | got | obtain / receive |
| give | gave | cause something or someone to have / present |
| go | went | travel / move |
| have | had | possess / own |
| hear | heard | to receive information through the ears |
| hit | hit | strike / hurt |
| hold | held | grasp in one’s hand |
| hurt | hurt | cause injury |
| keep | kept | continue / hold in place |
| know | knew | understand / to have knowledge |
| lay | laid | put down / create a foundation |
| lead | led | bring to a location |
| leave | left | go away from |
| lend | lent | give for a temporary time |
| let | let | allow / permit |
| lie | lied | opposite of tell the truth |
| lose | lost | fail to remember the location / opposite of win |
| make | made | create / cook / earn money / force |
| meet | met | encounter another person the first time |
| pay | paid | give money |
| put | put | install / position |
| read | read | get knowledge from written words |
| ride | rode | travel on or in a vehicle |
| ring | rang | create sound from a bell |
| run | ran | travel fast with your feet |
| say | said | make words with one’s mouth / inform |
| see | saw | get knowledge with one’s eyes / meet / understand |
| sell | sold | get money for service or a product |
| send | sent | go to another place, usually by mail or email |
| show | showed | present |
| sit | sat | on a chair / not standing or lying down |
| sleep | slept | rest, usually at night |
| speak | spoke | create words with one’s mouth |
| spend | spent | pay for something |
| stand | stood | use of one’s feet / not sitting |
| swim | swam | move in water |
| take | took | get / lead / bring |
| teach | taught | provide help in understanding and gaining knowledge |
| tell | told | give information through words |
| think | thought | use one’s mind / judge / expect / have an opinion |
| throw | threw | move through the air, usually by hand |
| understand | understood | to get knowledge / know |
| wear | wore | put on clothes |
| win | won | gain victory over someone or something |
| write | wrote | create words with a pen, pencil, or a computer |