Past Simple: Irregular Verbs Practice Tests with A1 Grammar Rules & Examples

Past Simple: Irregular Verbs

In English, we use the past simple to talk about things that happened in the past — things that are finished. For example, what you did yesterday, last week, or when you were a child.

Most verbs in the past simple end in -ed. For example: walk → walked, play → played. These are called regular verbs.

But many very common English verbs do not follow this rule. They change in a completely different way. We call these irregular verbs.

For example:

• go → went (not goed)
• eat → ate (not eated)
• see → saw (not seed)

The good news is that irregular verbs are the same for every person (I, you, he, she, it, we, they). You just need to learn and remember them!

In this lesson, we will look at the most important irregular verbs for beginners and learn how to use them in sentences.

What Is an Irregular Verb?

Let's start with a small story:

Yesterday, Tom went to school. He had lunch at 12 o'clock. After school, he saw his friend. They ate pizza and drank orange juice. Tom came home at 6 o'clock. He slept well.

Every verb in bold is an irregular past simple verb. None of them end in -ed. They each have a special past simple form that you need to learn.

A verb is an action word — something you do, feel, or are. For example: go, eat, sleep, see.

The past simple is the form of the verb we use to talk about the past.

An irregular verb is a verb that does NOT add -ed in the past simple. It has its own special past form.

Rule Breakdown: How to Form the Past Simple with Irregular Verbs

With irregular verbs, the rule is simple: replace the base verb with its special past simple form.

The structure of a positive (affirmative) sentence is:

Subject + irregular past simple verb + rest of the sentence

For example:

• I go to school every day. (present simple)
• I went to school yesterday. (past simple — irregular)

Notice that the past simple form went is the same for all subjects:

• I went
• You went
• He / She / It went
• We went
• They went

This is true for all irregular verbs. The past simple form never changes — it is the same for every person. This makes it easier!

Common Irregular Verbs: Base Form and Past Simple

Here are the most important irregular verbs for A1 level. Study the table carefully. The left column shows the base form (the verb you find in the dictionary). The right column shows the past simple form.

* read and put look the same in the base form and the past simple, but the pronunciation of read changes: base form = /riːd/ ("reed"), past simple = /rɛd/ ("red").

Irregular Verbs in Sentences: Positive, Negative, and Question Forms

Positive Sentences

To make a positive sentence in the past simple with an irregular verb, use the past simple form of the verb:

Subject + past simple verb + rest of sentence

• I went to the supermarket yesterday.
• She ate pizza for dinner.
• They saw a great film last night.

Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence in the past simple, we use did not (or the short form didn't) + the base form of the verb (NOT the past simple form).

Subject + did not / didn't + base form of verb + rest of sentence

Important: When you use did not / didn't, the main verb goes back to the base form. Do NOT use the past simple form.

• I didn't go to school yesterday. (NOT: I didn't went)
• She didn't eat lunch. (NOT: She didn't ate)
• They didn't see the film. (NOT: They didn't saw)

Questions

To make a question in the past simple, we use Did + subject + the base form of the verb.

Did + subject + base form of verb + rest of sentence?

• Did you go to the party? (NOT: Did you went?)
• Did she eat breakfast? (NOT: Did she ate?)
• Did they see the dog? (NOT: Did they saw?)

Short Answers to Questions

We answer past simple questions with Yes, I did or No, I didn't:

• Did you go to the park? — Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.
• Did she eat the cake? — Yes, she did. / No, she didn't.

Past Simple Irregular Verbs: Full Summary Table

Special Case: Was and Were

The verb be (am, is, are) is very special. It has two past simple forms: was and were. You need to choose the correct one depending on the subject.

Negative forms: was not = wasn't | were not = weren't

• I wasn't at school yesterday.
• They weren't hungry.

Question forms:

• Was she happy? — Yes, she was. / No, she wasn't.
• Were they at home? — Yes, they were. / No, they weren't.

Time Expressions Used with the Past Simple

We often use special time words with the past simple to show that something happened in the past. These words are called time expressions. Here are the most common ones for A1 level:

• yesterday — I went to the shop yesterday.
• last night — She slept well last night.
• last week — We saw a great film last week.
• last year — They went to Spain last year.
• ago — He came home two hours ago.
• this morning — I ate eggs this morning.
• in 2020 — She got a new job in 2020.

Important Differences and Special Cases

Do Not Add -ed to Irregular Verbs

This is the most important rule to remember. Irregular verbs do not end in -ed in the past simple. They have their own special forms.

• Regular verb: walk → walked
• Irregular verb: go → went (NOT goed)

Base Form After Did / Didn't

When you use did or didn't in a negative sentence or question, the main verb always returns to the base form — even if it is an irregular verb.

• Positive: She ate breakfast. (past simple form)
• Negative: She didn't eat breakfast. (base form after didn't)
• Question: Did she eat breakfast? (base form after did)

Read and Put Look the Same — But Watch the Pronunciation!

Two important irregular verbs look the same in the base form and the past simple:

• put → put — She put the book on the shelf. (same spelling, same pronunciation)
• read → read — She read a story. (same spelling, but different pronunciation: past = /rɛd/ like the colour "red")

Common Mistakes

❌ I goed to the park yesterday.
✅ I went to the park yesterday.

❌ She eated a sandwich.
✅ She ate a sandwich.

❌ They didn't went to school.
✅ They didn't go to school.

❌ Did he came home?
✅ Did he come home?

❌ He buyed a new phone.
✅ He bought a new phone.

❌ We sawed a great film last night.
✅ We saw a great film last night.

❌ I thinked it was funny.
✅ I thought it was funny.

❌ She were happy.
✅ She was happy.

❌ I was at the party. They was there too.
✅ I was at the party. They were there too.

Past Simple: Irregular Verbs — Quick Summary

What are irregular verbs?
Irregular verbs do not add -ed in the past simple. They have their own special past simple forms that you need to learn and remember.

Key rules:

• Use the irregular past simple form in positive sentences: I went, she ate, they saw.
• Use didn't + base form in negative sentences: I didn't go, she didn't eat.
• Use Did + subject + base form in questions: Did you go? Did she eat?
• The irregular past simple form is the same for all subjects (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).
• The verb be is special: use was for I / he / she / it and were for you / we / they.

The most important irregular verbs to remember:

• go → went
• have → had
• eat → ate
• drink → drank
• see → saw
• come → came
• get → got
• buy → bought
• make → made
• say → said

Now practise past simple irregular verbs in the exercises below.