Irregular Verbs in the Past Simple

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• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Irregular Verbs in the Past Simple

Open with the idea that students already know regular past simple verbs with -ed, but this lesson focuses on the common verbs that change differently.

Learning goal

I can form and use the past simple of common irregular verbs accurately in sentences.

Which irregular past simple verbs do you already know?

Use the responses to surface prior knowledge and quickly spot which common verbs students already recognise, such as went, had, did, made or saw.

What makes a verb irregular?

• Regular verbs make the past simple with -ed

• Irregular verbs do not follow that pattern

• Their past form must be learnt as a different form

• Example: walk → walked, but go → went

• You cannot usually guess the past form from the base form

Stress that irregular does not mean random in use; it means the form does not follow the normal -ed rule.

Common irregular verbs

went

had

did

made

took

go

have

do

make

take

Past simple

Base form

Model pronunciation as you present the pairs.

Common irregular verbs

Base form

come

see

get

say

write

Past simple

came

saw

got

said

wrote

Point out that some forms change completely, while others keep part of the original spelling or sound.

Meaning and form together

• Learn irregular verbs as pairs

• Match the meaning and the past form

• go → went = move to another place

• write → wrote = produce text

• This helps you recognise them quickly in sentences

Encourage students not to memorise a list only by spelling. They need the meaning and the form together for real use.

Past simple in affirmative sentences

In affirmative sentences, use the past form of the irregular verb.

• I went to school early.

• She had a great idea.

• They made dinner.

• We saw the film yesterday.

Remind students that the main verb changes in the affirmative past simple. Time words such as yesterday can support the meaning, but the verb form shows the tense.

Using irregular verbs in context

• He came late.

• I got your message.

• She said hello.

• We took the bus.

• They wrote an email.

These are short model sentences to build recognition. You can briefly draw attention to the subject + past verb pattern.

Which sentence uses an irregular past simple correctly?

A

She goed home.

B

We saw the film.

C

They writed an email.

D

I maked dinner.

Checks the core contrast from slides 2 to 7: irregular verbs do not take -ed, and students must recognise correct past forms in full sentences.

Base form and past form

Irregular verbs do not usually take -ed in the past simple. For example, yesterday I went to town and later she wrote an email. We learn these verbs as whole forms with their meaning.

-ed

went

wrote

walked

goed

write

go

The blanks focus on the load-bearing ideas from the first subtopic: no -ed, and whole past forms such as went and wrote.

Negatives with did

In negative sentences, use did not / didn't + base form.

• I didn't go home early.

• She didn't have time.

• We didn't see the match.

• They didn't write the answer.

Highlight the key rule: after did or didn't, the main verb returns to the base form, not the past form.

Questions with did

In questions, use did + subject + base form.

• Did you go out?

• Did he make that?

• Did they come on time?

• Did she say anything?

Students often over-correct to forms like 'Did you went?'. Keep returning to the pattern did + base form.

One rule across the sentence types

• Affirmative: use the irregular past form

• Negative: use didn't + base form

• Question: use did + base form

• Example:

- She went.

- She didn't go.

- Did she go?

This is the key contrast slide. It ties form to sentence function and helps prevent mixing past forms after did.

Which question is correct in the past simple?

A

Did she said hello?

B

Did she say hello?

C

Did she went home?

D

Did she had time?

Targets the key rule from slides 8 to 10: after did, students must use the base form, not the past form.

Affirmative, negative and question

Yesterday she went to the shop, but she didn't go there again later. Did she go alone?

went

didn't go

Did

go

went

didn't went

Was

gone

Reinforces the full contrast: affirmative uses the irregular past form, while negatives and questions use did/didn't plus the base form.

Why do we say 'Did she go?' but 'She went'?

Expected elements: students should explain that affirmative sentences use the irregular past form, but after did or didn't the verb returns to the base form. Good examples may include went/go, saw/see or wrote/write.

When the form changes a lot

• Some past forms look very different

• go → went

• see → saw

• write → wrote

• These forms must be recognised as whole words

Emphasise that students should not try to build these forms by rule. Recognition and repeated use are more reliable.

Common spelling challenges

• make → made

• take → took

• say → said

• write → wrote

• The spelling change is part of the verb form and must be learnt carefully

You may point out that 'said' is especially tricky because its spelling and pronunciation do not fully match what students may expect.

Common pronunciation challenges

• said sounds different from say

• went does not sound like go

• saw is very different from see

• wrote changes both sound and spelling

• Accurate use means noticing both the written and spoken form

Model these aloud. Students at B1 level benefit from hearing how far some past forms move away from the base verb.

Which past form is spelled correctly?

A

taked

B

saied

C

wrote

D

maked

Checks spelling recognition from slides 11 to 13, especially forms that change strongly and cannot be built with a simple rule.

Tricky spelling and form

Some irregular verbs change a lot. We say saw as the past of see, and said as the past of say. These forms must be recognised in both spelling and pronunciation.

saw

said

seed

sayed

seen

says

Uses two high-frequency tricky forms named on the final subtopic slides: saw and said.

What helped you understand irregular verbs best today?

Expected reflections may mention memorising pairs, using did + base form, hearing pronunciation aloud, or noticing that some forms change completely.

Which part of this lesson still feels hardest?

Invite brief self-assessment. Common answers may mention remembering past forms, spelling said/wrote, or not using past forms after did.

Glossary

base form - the main form of a verb, such as go, have or write

past simple - the verb form used for finished actions in the past

irregular verb - a verb that does not form the past simple with -ed

affirmative sentence - a sentence that states something is true

negative sentence - a sentence that uses not or didn't to say something is not true

question - a sentence that asks for information

common verb - a verb used very often in everyday English