Verbs
Regular and irregular
Verbs are the action words in a sentence.
Today we are going to revisit verbs and look at regular and irregular verbs.
Let us look at the verb to look, in the different tenses:
PAST | I looked through the window. |
PRESENT | I am looking through the window. |
FUTURE | I will look though the window. |
You will notice that the word look does not change we add a suffix of ing but the main verb to look is the the same. LOOK is a regular verb.
Now use the verb to buy.
PAST | I went out shopping and bought a coat. |
PRESENT | I am trying to buy a coat. |
FUTURE | Tomorrow I will be buying a coat. |
You have seen that buy changes to bought in the past tense, so we say that the verb to buy is irregular.
Here are a group of sentences. Both sentences use the same verb but in different tenses.
Work out the verb in the second sentence and say if it is regular or irregular.
Example
Every night I walk over two kilometres.
Last week I __________ over 20 kilometres.
Now try these
Guess the past tense of the verb and work out if is regular.
Regular Verb? | ||
1. I am singing in school today. | Last year I ________ in the school play. | |
2. My brother sells cars. | Yesterday he ______ a Ford Fiesta. | |
3. I usually do my writing in the office | Last week I _____ it at home. | |
4. He comes to see me every day. | Yesterday he _____ at 2 0 clock. | |
5. The sun rises every morning. | Yesterday it ______ at 5 am. | |
6. Today I am writing to Jamie | On Monday he _______ to me. | |
7. Its my birthday and I am 5 | Yesterday I ____ only four. | |
8. I have 2 computer games | On Wednesday I ____ only one computer game. | |
9. I find this hard to complete. | I _______ the previous work easy. | |
10. Today I am taking two pints of milk | Yesterday I ______ one pint. |
Regular Verb? | ||
1. I am singing in school today. | Last year I sang in the school play. | no |
2. My brother sells cars. | Yesterday he sold a Ford Fiesta. | no |
3. I usually do my writing in the office. | Last week I did it at home. | no |
4. He comes to see me every day. | Yesterday he came at 2 0'clock. | no |
5. The sun rises every morning. | Yesterday it rose at 5 am. | no |
6. Today I am writing to Jamie | On Monday he wrote to me. | no |
7. Its my birthday and I am 5. | Yesterday I was only four. | no |
8. I have 2 computer games. | On Wednesday I had only one computer game. | no |
9. I find this hard to complete. | I found the previous work easy. | no |
10. Today I am taking two pints of milk. | Yesterday I took one pint. | no |
Here are some common irregular verbs that might trip you up. Try and find the present and the future tenses of them.
Present tense |
Past tense (answer) | Future tense | Regular? |
riding | rode | will ride | no |
gave | no | ||
ate | no | ||
made | no | ||
swam | no | ||
flew | no | ||
met | no | ||
thought | no | ||
found | no | ||
took | no |
Present tense |
Past tense (answer) | Future tense | Regular? |
riding | rode | will ride | no |
giving | gave | will give | no |
eating | ate | will eat | no |
making | made | will make | no |
swimming | swam | will swim | no |
flying | flew | will fly | no |
meeting | met | will meet | no |
thinking | thought | will think | no |
finding | found | will find | no |
taking | took | will take | no |
Now you can recognise that verbs are action words and can change depending on the tense of a sentence. Some verbs are regular and others irregular.
Well done!
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