Jillian Whetstone

ESL 501

Verb – a word that shows action

Present Tense – shows action that is happening now

Past Tense – shows action that has already happened

Irregular Verb – do not add –ed to show past action

To identify irregular verbsTo use irregular verbs in speaking and

writing

EQ: How does an irregular verb change from the present tense to the past tense?

Most verbs end in –ed to show past tenseExamples: drop – dropped, skip – skipped

An irregular verb does not end in –ed.Irregular verbs have different spellings or

different endings that need to be learned.Example: Yesterday, my mom bought me a

book about dolphins.

Present Tense Past Tense

break broke

bring brought

come came

begin began

eat ate

give gave

grow grew

know knew

make made

say said

tell told

take took

1. I (know) that my teacher took a trip this summer.

2. Our teacher (brings) photographs to show us.

3. She (tells) us all about her trip to California.

4. In Napa Valley, they (grow) their own grapes.

5. We (take) a day to tour the Redwood Forest.

6. We (leave) in time to get to the airport.

7. We (drive) to the Jelly Belly factory to take a tour.

8. My family and I (make) a plan to go again next year.

Some helping verbs include: had, have, and has

Most irregular verbs change to a different spelling when they are used with helping verbs.

Let’s look at an example sentence:Mrs. Adams has taken many classes.

Present Past Past with Helping Verb

Break Broke (has, have, had) broken

Bring Brought (has, have, had) brought

Come Came (has, have, had) come

Begin Began (has, have, had) begun

Eat Ate (has, have, had) eaten

Give Gave (has, have, had) given

Grow Grew (has, have, had) grown

Know Knew (has, have, had) known

Make Made (has, have, had) made

Say Said (has, have, had) said

Tell Told (has, have, had) told

Take Took (has, have, had) taken

1. My parents had (drive) all morning to get to the shore.

Answer: had driven2. Then, they had (ride) the ferry to get to

Ocracoke.Answer: had ridden3. We have (take) this trip before.Answer: have taken4. My brother has (tell) me where to eat there.Answer: has told

5. The school (had grown, had grew) by thirty-two students.

6. No one (has done, has did) more homework than Sarah.

7. The students (have took, have taken) thirty minutes of recess today.

One day, David was sad when he came home fromschool. His mother gave him a snack to eat. She askedif something was wrong. David told her that he didn’t go see his fatherbecause he didn’t have time. He was going to playbasketball with his friends. They wanted to practiceand get ready for Saturday’s game with the kids fromanother street. After practice, David was going tocome right home because he had a lot of homework todo tonight.

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down Activity

Excerpt From: A Father’s Garden by Ana Maria Alvarado

Irregular verbs are those that do not follow the rule of adding –ed to form the past tense.

Irregular verbs have different past tense spellings that need to be remembered, or memorized.

Sometimes when used with a helping verb, the spelling changes again

Closed – regularThought – irregular

Have taken – irregular with helping verb

EQ: How does an irregular verb change from the present tense to the past tense?

Write the irregular verb form of the verb in parentheses that belongs in each sentence.

1. Our journey__________ at 8:30 yesterday. (begin)2. My sister had__________ a map of Pennsylvania.

(bring)3. The train___________ us through the mountain.

(take)4. A conductor___________ us a receipt for the ride.

(give)

Games

1. This is a game to play on the computer where you drag the verbs into either the regular or irregular verb box. http://www.english-grammar-lessons.com/irregularverbs/exercise1.swf

2. Irregular Verbs Fun Deck – This is a game to be played on the computer through iTunes, where you choose the correct verb to complete each sentence.

Reading Activities

1. Choose a box from your book box. Get a piece of paper and fold it in half. On one half write regular and on the other half write irregular. As you are reading make a list of regular and irregular verbs you find in your book. This is an independent activity.

2. Partner read your guided reading book. As you read together, write down any irregular verbs you find.

Writing Activities

1. Take an irregular verb worksheet. Some of the examples show present tense and some show past tense. Fill in the missing tense.

2. Look back in your writing journal to a previous entry that you have made. Underline all the verbs in that entry and above each one write either R or I. R stands for regular verb and I stands for irregular. If you find any mistakes in your irregular verbs, please correct them.

http://www.thinkcentral.com/ - Houghton Mifflin Journeys

A Father’s Garden by Ana Maria Alvarado

http://www.elcerritowire.com/4/grammar.htmhttp://www.english-grammar-

lessons.com/irregularverbs/exercise1.swf