Language e-Link Nineteen:
Irregular Verbs

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Verb Tense Tip:

Verbs show when something happened. They show time or tense. To show their different times or tenses—present tense, past tense, future tense, etc.—most verbs change their spelling so that each tense is a different form of the basic present tense verb.

We group these verb changes into two different types: regular and irregular.

Regular Verb Tip:

Many verbs can be changed from the present to the past tense by adding ed to the present tense form of the verb. Verbs that change tenses in consistent ways, or follow regular change patterns, are called regular verbs.

Irregular Verb Tips:

Irregular verbs are those verbs that do not follow regular change patterns. They can be tricky, but you can also watch for the irregular patterns.

In one irregular pattern, you change one vowel of the present tense verb form to make the past tense verb form.

In another pattern, you change several letters of the present tense verb form to make the past tense verb.

Directions: Study the examples below that show tense change patterns for irregular verbs.

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