Lesson 17- Regular and Irregular Verbs

(17) REGULAR and IRREGULAR VERBS

There are two groups of verbs, termed regular or irregular, and are identified by how their simple past and past participle are formed.

     Regular verbs – in this group of verbs, the simple past tense and past participle end in –d or –ed.

Example: simple past – touched; killed; passed.

past participle – touched; killed; passed.

Irregular verbs – a verb that does not follow the usual pattern of grammar. If a verb is irregular, the simple past tense and past participle do not end in –d or –ed. They vary as follow:

• Where all three forms of a irregular verb are the     same.

 Example: present simple – cost; hurt; put; read; shut.

past simple – cost; hurt; put; read; shut.

past participle – cost; hurt; put; read; shut.

• Where only the simple past tense and past participle are the same.

 Example: present simple – carry; die; fit; jump.

    past simple – carried; died; fitted; jumped.

past participle – carried; died; fitted; jumped.

• Where all three forms are different.

 Example: present simple – begin; choose; do; go.

past simple – began; chose; did; went.

past participle – begun; chosen; done; gone.

 
There are verbs which can be regular or irregular as follow:

Ø     present tense – burn; dream; spell.

Ø     past simple – burned/burnt; dreamed/dreamt; spelled/spelt.

Ø     past participle – burned/burnt; dreamed/dreamt; spelled/spelt.