English Grammar  – Irregular Verbs exercises Exercises with Answers

 

Irregular verbs Exercises – Irregular verbs are used extensively in English. Using the correct past tense and past participle forms of irregular verbs is essential for grammatically accurate sentences. 

These Irregular Verbs Exercises are specially curated to aid your learning and improve your language proficiency and fluency. So, have fun and good luck on your language learning journey!

 

 

 

What are Irregular Verbs?

An irregular verb is a verb that doesn’t follow the usual rules for forming the past tense and past participle. Unlike regular verbs, which simply add “-ed” to the base form. For example, walk → walked, talk → talked, irregular verbs change their spelling in sometimes unpredictable ways. For example, go → went, eat → ate, sleep → slept.

 

Here are some of the common characteristics of irregular verbs:

  • They have different forms for the present, past, and past participle tenses.
  • They do not follow the “-ed” rule for forming the past tense and past participle.
  • There are no set rules for how they are formed; you just have to memorize them.

 

Here is a comprehensive list of commonly used irregular verbs:

 

V1 Base Form V2  Simple Past V3 Past Participle
be was/were been
begin began begun
break broke broken
bring brought brought
build built built
buy bought bought
can could could
choose chose chosen
come came come
do did done
drink drank drunk
eat ate eaten
fall fell fallen
find found found
fly flew flown
forget forgot forgotten
give gave given
go went gone
have had had
hear heard heard
know knew known
make made made
pay paid paid
put put put
read read read
run ran run
say said said
see saw seen
speak spoke spoken
swim swam swum
take took taken
teach taught taught
tell told told
think thought thought
understand understood understood
write wrote written

 

 

Exercise 1 – Identify the incorrect verb form and write the correct one in answer. 

 

1. V1: get      V2: getted         V3: gotten

Ans. Incorrect –  V2: getted      Correct-  got

 

2. V1: begin     V2:  beginned          V3: begun

Ans. Incorrect – V2: beginned     Correct- began

 

3. V1: bite    V2: bited           V3: bitten

Ans. Incorrect – V2: bited      Correct- bit

 

4. V1: break     V2: broked        V3: broken

Ans. Incorrect – V2: broked        Correct- broke

 

5. V1: choose     V2: chose           V3: chosed

Ans. Incorrect – V3: chosed        Correct- chosen

 

6. V1: come     V2: came           V3: camed

Ans. Incorrect – V3: camed        Correct- come

 

7. V1:  do    V2: did         V3: did

Ans. Incorrect – V3: did        Correct- done

 

8. V1: draw     V2: drew            V3: drewn

Ans. Incorrect – V3: drewn        Correct- drawn

 

9. V1: drive      V2: drived            V3: driven

Ans. Incorrect – V2: drived          Correct- drove

 

10. V1: drink      V2: drank           V3: dranked

Ans. Incorrect –  V3: dranked       Correct- drunk

 

11. V1: fall    V2: fell         V3: felled

Ans. Incorrect – V3: felled        Correct- fallen

 

12. V1: fly      V2: flew          V3: flewed

Ans. Incorrect – V3: flewed       Correct- flown

 

13. V1: forget     V2: forgetted          V3: forgotten

Ans. Incorrect – V2: forgetted        Correct- forgot

 

14. V1: give      V2: gived            V3: given

Ans. Incorrect –  V2: gived       Correct- gave

 

15. V1: forgive     V2: forgived           V3: forgiven

Ans. Incorrect – V2: forgived          Correct- forgave

 

16. V1: go     V2:  god         V3: gone

Ans. Incorrect – V2: god       Correct- went

 

17. V1: freeze     V2: freezed           V3: frozen

Ans. Incorrect –  V2: freezed       Correct- froze

 

18. V1: arise      V2: arised         V3: arisen

Ans. Incorrect – V2: arised        Correct- arose

 

19. V1: awake      V2: awaked           V3: awoken

Ans. Incorrect – V2: awaked       Correct- awoke

 

20. V1: blow     V2: blew           V3: blewed

Ans. Incorrect – V3: blewed        Correct- blown

 

21. V1: choose     V2: choosed           V3: chosen

Ans. Incorrect – V2: choosed         Correct- chose

 

22. V1: forbid      V2: forbided      V3: forbidden

Ans. Incorrect – V2: forbided          Correct- forbade

 

23. V1: grow      V2: growed          V3: grown

Ans. Incorrect – V2: growed        Correct- grew

 

24. V1:hide     V2: hided          V3: hidden

Ans. Incorrect – V2: hided        Correct- hid

 

25. V1: overtake      V2: overtook        V3: overtooked

Ans. Incorrect – V3: overtooked        Correct- overtaken

 

 

Pitfalls and Common Errors

 

When it comes to irregular verbs, several common errors can trip up learners. Here are some of the most frequent pitfalls to avoid:

 

  1. Forgetting the correct form: This is the most common error, simply using the “regular” form (-ed) for irregular verbs. Examples: “bringed” instead of “brought,” “writed” instead of “wrote.”

 

  1. Mixing up tenses: Confusing past tense for past participle, or vice versa. Examples: “She has eated all the cookies” (should be “eaten”).

 

  1. Overgeneralizing patterns: Some irregular verbs share vowel changes or consonant additions, but not all. Assuming that a pattern applies universally can lead to mistakes. Examples: “sing-sang,” “ring-rang,” but “bring-brought,” not “brang.”

 

 

Exercise 2 – Fill in the blanks

 

1. I ____  soundly after a long day’s journey. (sleep)

Ans. slept

2. She ______ three languages fluently. (speak)

Ans. spoke

3. We ______ a happy birthday song for him. (sing)

Ans. sang

4. They _____ all the cookies before dinner! (eat)

Ans. ate 

5. He ______ as fast as his legs could carry him. (run)

Ans. ran

6. She _______ a beautiful poem about love. (write)

Ans. wrote

7. We ____ him a gift for his graduation. (give)

Ans. gave

8. They _______ a shooting star streak across the sky. (see)

Ans. saw 

9. He _____ a deep breath and calmed down. (take)

Ans. took

10. She ____ a delicious cake for the party. (make)

Ans. made

11. We ______ to the beach for a picnic. (go)

Ans. went

12. They ______ asleep on the couch watching TV. (fall)

Ans. fell

13. He _______ the ball before it hit the ground. (catch)

Ans. caught

14. She _____ them to the airport on time. (drive)

Ans. drove

15. We _____ a sandcastle on the beach. (build)

Ans. built

16. They ____ a hidden treasure in the attic. (find)

Ans. found

17. He _____  a book before bed every night. (read)

Ans. read

18. She _______ a new pair of shoes. (buy)

Ans. bought

19. We ____ our friends at the cafe. (meet)

Ans. met

20. They _____ their way in the forest. (lose)

Ans. lost

21. He ______ to turn off the lights. (forget)

Ans. forgot

22. She _____ her finger while cooking. (cut)

Ans. cut

23. We _____ lemonade on the porch swing. (drink)

Ans. drank

24. They _____ the match. (win)

Ans. won

25. He _____ in the pool on a hot summer day. (swam)

Ans. swam

 

Exercise 3 – Choose the most appropriate verb form to complete each sentence.

1. I ________ the movie last night, and it was hilarious!

a) saw  b) seen  c) see  d) seeing 

Answer: a) saw

 

2. Today, she ________ up early in the morning to go for a run.

a) get  b) gets  c) got  d) getting 

Answer: c) got

 

3. They ________ the ball over the fence and it landed in the neighbor’s yard.

a) throw  b) threw  c) thrown  d) throwing 

Answer: b) threw

 

4. We ________ at the beach all day and got sunburnt.

a) lay  b) laid  c) lie  d) lying 

Answer: b) laid

 

5. He ________ his homework before dinner, just like his mother had asked.

a) do  b) did  c) done  d) doing 

Answer: b) did

 

6. They ________ to go to the concert, but the tickets were sold out.

a) went  b) wented  c) go  d) gone

Answer: a) went

 

7. I ________ her a beautiful bouquet of flowers for her birthday.

a) give  b) gave  c) given  d) giving 

Answer: b) gave

 

8. We ________ pizza for dinner last night, but I would have preferred pasta.

a) eat  b) ate  c) eaten  d) eating 

Answer: b) ate

 

9. She had________ the book three times already, and she loved it every time.

a) read  b) red  c) reads  d) reading 

Answer: a) read

 

10. He ________ the door and walked out without saying goodbye.

a) shut  b) shuted  c) shuts  d) shutting 

Answer: b) shut

 

11. I ________ her a message, but I’m not sure if she ever saw it.

a) send  b) sent  c) sending  d) sended

Answer: b) sent

 

12. We ________to the museum before it closed, and it was really fascinating.

a) go  b) went  c) gone  d) going 

Answer: b) went

 

13. She ________ him a funny joke, and he couldn’t stop laughing.

a) tell  b) told  c) tells  d) telling 

Answer: b) told

 

14. She ________ him a new shirt for his birthday, and he loved it.

a) give  b) gave  c) given  d) giving

Answer: b) gave

 

15. They ________ the competition, and they were awarded a gold medal.

a) win  b) won  c) wins  d) winning 

Answer: b) won

 

16. I ________ the candle before I left the room

a) lit      b) light     c) lighted   d) lighten

Answer: a) lit

 

17. You ________ hurt her feelings with your comment.

a) may  b) mayed  c) might  d) mighted

Answer: c) might

 

18. He ________ to say “thank you,” but forgot.

a) mean  b) meant   c) meaned  d) meaning

Answer: b) meant

 

19. The children ________ early this morning to play in the snow.

a) leave  b) left  c) leaved  d) lefted

Answer: b) left

 

20. You need to ________ attention to the details if you want a good grade.

a) pay  b) paid  c) pain  d)  payed

Answer: a) pay

 

21. I have never ________ a horse before.

a) ride  b) ridden  c) rode  d) rided

Answer: b) ridden

 

22. The sun ________ brightly all day long.

a) shine  b) shined  c) shone  d) shoned

Answer: c) shone

 

23. The earthquake ________ the entire house.

a) shook  b) shake  c) shaked  d) shaken

Answer: a) shook

 

24. The dough had not yet ________ when I took it out of the oven.

a) rise  b) rose  c) risen  d) rised

Answer: c) risen

 

25. Under the harsh sunlight, the flower’s petals ______ and wilted.

a) shrink  b) shrank  c) shrunk  d) shrinked

Answer: c) shrunk

 

Exercise 4 – Complete the dialogues. 

 

1. Woman talks about her trip to Italy. 

Man: How was your summer vacation?

Woman: Great! I ____ (A- go) to Italy with my family. It was so fun there! We met lots of nice people and _____ (B- eat) really delicious food.

Man: Where did you stay?

Woman: We stayed at a hotel on the beach so we ____ (C- wake) up every day to the sunrise over the water. Each day we _______ (D- swim) in the ocean and took long walks on the beach. At night, we sat and watched the stars. We ____ (E- see) so many stars!

 

Ans-

  1. went
  2. ate
  3. woke
  4. swam
  5. saw

 

2. Sarah and David at a park bench. 

Sarah: Hey David, what ____ (A- do) you do this weekend?

David: Hi Sarah! I went to the beach with my family. We ____ (B- build) sandcastles. 

Sarah: Wow, that sounds amazing! I mostly stayed home and _______ (C-read) a book. It was a mystery novel, and it ______ (D-keep) me guessing until the very end!

David: Cool! Do you want to join me for a game of frisbee now? I just _____ (E- buy) it.

Sarah: Sure! But I must warn you, I am not very good at catching.

 

Ans. 

  1. did
  2. built
  3. read
  4. kept
  5. bought

 

3. School Library

 

Maya: Hey Alex, have you started working on our history project yet?

Alex: Hey Maya! Yeah, I _______ (A- begin) researching last night. But it’s kind of confusing – so many events happened during that period!

Maya: I know, right? I ______ (B- find) the same thing. Maybe we should split up the tasks and each focus on a specific aspect?

Alex: Excellent idea! What if I ______ (C-choose) cultural aspects and you handled the political aspects?

Maya: Sounds good! Let’s ____ (D- meet) back here tomorrow and share our findings. Then we can _____ (E-put) everything together.

 

Ans. 

  1. began
  2. found
  3. chose
  4. meet
  5. put

 

4. Homework Help

Lily: Have you ____(A-choose) a topic for your history project, John?

John: I almost did, but I am _____ (B-stuck) on a question about the Roman Empire.

Lily: Hmm, maybe I can help! What ____ (C-do) you write about?

John: I have _____ (D-write) about the rise of Julius Caesar. Here, have a look at it.

Lily: I think you have ______ (E-forget) to describe his assassination.

John: 

Ans. 

  1. chosen
  2. stuck
  3. did
  4. written
  5. forgotten

 

5. Lakeside picnic

 

Rohan: This spot is perfect! Let’s just ____ (A-lie) down on the grass and enjoy the view.

Riya: Sounds good. But shouldn’t we _____ (B-lay) out a blanket first? The grass _____ (C-may) be damp.

Rohan: Good point! Here, I’ll lay it down for us. 

Riya: Have you ever _____ (D-lie) here at night?

Rohan: Yes, I sometimes stargaze. Have you ever _____ (E-see) the Big Dipper?

Rohan: Yes, It is the easiest star pattern to locate. 

Ans. 

  1. lie
  2. lay
  3. might
  4. lain
  5. seen

 

 

Conclusion

Over 200 irregular verbs exist in English, forming a significant portion of our daily vocabulary. Don’t be discouraged by their number, but focus on learning the most commonly used ones first.Ultimately, learning irregular verbs is a journey, not a destination, so, embrace the process and be patient with yourself. Keep practicing, and soon you’ll find yourself using these verbs effortlessly!

 

Also See :


Exercises of Tenses

Exercises on Prepositions

Exercises of Articles

Exercises of Simple Present Tense

Exercise of Adjectives

Exercise of Conjunctions

Exercise of Clauses

Exercises of Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Exercises of Determiners

Exercises of Gerunds

Exercises of Direct and Indirect Speech