Bryan Feldman - Irregular Verbs: The Ultimate Guide

Copyright Bryan Feldman 2019

Irregular Verbs: The Ultimate Guide

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INTRODUCTION

Irregular Verbs: The Ultimate Guide is for students of English who need to learn and practise the most commonly used irregular verbs. It was written as a self-study material, but teachers will find it suitable for use in class. Both students and teachers of English will also find the book useful for revision and consolidation.

The irregular verbs are arranged in alphabetical order and there are 18 units in the book. All irregular verbs approached are classified as very frequent words in the sixth edition of the renowned Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English . The first unit focuses exclusively on the verb to be . Because of its uncommon conjugation, it was approached separately. Each following unit consists of a group of five verbs. The Pay Attention section presents five example sentences in the past simple tense and five example sentences in the present perfect simple tense. The Practice Makes Perfect section brings exercises about such verb tenses. Its worth mentioning that the past participle forms are used to make the perfect tenses and all the passive forms. The Additional Exercises section (pages 197-205) provides more activities to practise the past simple and past participle forms of the main irregular verbs in English. Students may check their answers by looking at the Key to Exercises at the back of the book.

Irregular verbs play a vital role in the English language. They make up only 3.6% of the verbs, but they outnumber the frequency of regular verbs in spoken and written English. Its also important to point out that the ten most commonly used verbs in English are irregular. The list includes be , come , do , have , get , go , know , make , see and take . The mastery of irregular verbs is crucial for those students who intend to achieve a high level of proficiency in English.

Remember! Regular verbs end with -ed in the past simple and past participle forms. Ask becomes asked , paint becomes painted , love becomes loved , talk becomes talked , etc. However the past simple and past participle of irregular verbs dont follow the -ed pattern:

Past Simple Tense

MAIN IDEA : Completed actions and events in the past time.

FORM : Regular Verbs = Verb + -ed / Irregular Verbs = Verb + Irregular Verb Forms.

We use the past simple tense:

PAST SIMPLE KEY WORDS

Yesterday/ yesterday morning,

last Sunday/ last week/last month,

on Monday/on Thursday,

in January/ in March/in June,

a few minutes ago/ some days ago/two months ago,

from 1888 to 1897, from 1957 to 1971/from 1997 to 2009,

in 1504/ in 1722/ in 1912/ in 2003,

at 5 oclock, at 9.45, etc.

Present Perfect Simple Tense

MAIN IDEA : Connects the past with the present.

FORM : Have / Has + Past Participle.

We use the Present Perfect Simple:

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE KEY WORDS

Just, already, yet, still, ever, never, for three days/ for two months/ for five years/

since Wednesday/ since 11 oclock/ since 1997/ since she was a teenager/

so far, recently, lately

How long...+ Present Perfect Simple (How long have they been here?)

Once/twice/ three times,

This week, this month, etc.

NOTE

The following verbs can be regular or irregular and were not included in the book:

burn / burned or burnt

dream / dreamed or dreamt

learn / learned or learnt

smell / smelled or smelt

1. BE WAS/WERE BEEN

It was your great chance to win the game.

The accident wasnt near downtown.

Those machines werent broken two days ago.

Was she sick last week?

My parents were in New Zealand in 1996.

We have been to Spain twice.

How long have you been here?

I have been too busy since I started working as a salesperson.

It hasnt been cold in some parts of the country.

My colleagues havent been very helpful.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

1.1 Complete the sentences using the past simple of the verb To Be .