Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the usual -ed pattern when forming the past tense and past participle. You have already learnt many irregular past tense forms. Now you will learn the three forms of each irregular verb -- the base form, the past tense, and the past participle -- and how to use them correctly.

What You'll Learn

The difference between the past tense and the past participle of irregular verbs
How to form and use the past participle with helping verbs like "has", "have", and "had"
How to identify common errors involving irregular verb forms in sentences
A wide range of irregular verbs grouped by pattern to help you remember them

When to Use

Writing about what happened in the past: "She broke the school record during Sports Day." (past tense)
Describing something that has already happened: "The vase has broken into tiny pieces." (past participle with "has")
Talking about experiences up to now: "I have gone to that hawker centre many times." (past participle with "have")
Explaining what had happened before another past event: "By the time we arrived, the bus had already gone." (past participle with "had")
Forming the passive voice: "The window was broken by the strong wind." (past participle with "was")

How to Form

The Three Forms of a Verb

Every verb has three key forms. For regular verbs, the past tense and past participle are the same (e.g., walked/walked). For irregular verbs, the past tense and past participle are often different.

Form	What It Is Called	How It Is Used	Example with "go"
Base form	V1	Present tense, after "to", after modals	go
Past tense	V2	Simple past -- used on its own	went
Past participle	V3	Used with has/have/had, and in passive voice	gone

Pattern 1: All Three Forms Are Different

These verbs change completely across V1, V2, and V3.

Base (V1)	Past Tense (V2)	Past Participle (V3)	Example (V3)
go	went	gone	She has gone to the library.
break	broke	broken	The plate has broken into pieces.
take	took	taken	Someone has taken my pencil case.
give	gave	given	The prizes have been given out.
write	wrote	written	He has written a letter to his pen pal.
speak	spoke	spoken	Have you spoken to the teacher yet?
eat	ate	eaten	We have eaten all the kueh.
see	saw	seen	I have never seen such a large durian.
drive	drove	driven	Dad has driven us to school every day.
choose	chose	chosen	She has chosen the blue team.
ride	rode	ridden	They have ridden the cable car before.
fall	fell	fallen	The leaves have fallen off the tree.
grow	grew	grown	The plant has grown very tall this month.
throw	threw	thrown	He has thrown the ball over the fence.
draw	drew	drawn	She has drawn a picture of Merlion.
fly	flew	flown	The birds have flown south for winter.
know	knew	known	I have known her since Primary 1.
blow	blew	blown	The wind has blown the tent away.

Pattern 2: Past Tense and Past Participle Are the Same

For these verbs, V2 and V3 are identical -- but they are still different from the base form.

Base (V1)	Past Tense (V2)	Past Participle (V3)	Example (V3)
buy	bought	bought	She has bought a new notebook.
bring	brought	brought	He has brought his lunch from home.
think	thought	thought	We have thought about it carefully.
catch	caught	caught	The goalkeeper has caught every ball today.
teach	taught	taught	Mrs Lee has taught us well this term.
sit	sat	sat	I have sat here for an hour.
win	won	won	Our school has won the debate competition.
find	found	found	She has found the missing library book.
build	built	built	They have built a new playground near my HDB.
sell	sold	sold	The aunty has sold all the curry puffs.
make	made	made	He has made a model of the Esplanade.
tell	told	told	I have told you the answer already.
keep	kept	kept	She has kept every letter from her friend.
leave	left	left	The train has left the station.
hold	held	held	He has held the record since last year.
stand	stood	stood	We have stood in line for twenty minutes.

Pattern 3: All Three Forms Are the Same

These verbs do not change at all.

Base (V1)	Past Tense (V2)	Past Participle (V3)	Example (V3)
cut	cut	cut	She has cut the ribbon for the ceremony.
put	put	put	He has put the books back on the shelf.
shut	shut	shut	They have shut all the windows.
let	let	let	The teacher has let us leave early today.
set	set	set	Dad has set the table for dinner.

Key Rules

The past participle (V3) always needs a helping verb: You cannot use V3 on its own as the main verb. Write "She has gone", not "She gone". Write "It was broken", not "It broken by the wind."
Do not swap V2 and V3: The past tense (V2) is used alone; the past participle (V3) is used with "has", "have", "had", or "was/were". "She went home" (V2 alone). "She has gone home" (V3 with "has"). Never write "She has went" or "She gone home."
Use V3 after "has", "have", or "had": Whenever you see one of these helping verbs, the next main verb must be in the past participle form. "He has eaten." "They have taken." "We had spoken."
Use V3 in the passive voice: After "was", "were", "is", or "are" in a passive sentence, use the past participle. "The homework was given by the teacher." "The rules are written on the board."
Watch out for verbs where V2 and V3 look similar but are different: "Broke" is V2 but "broken" is V3. "Went" is V2 but "gone" is V3. "Ate" is V2 but "eaten" is V3. Always check whether the sentence has a helping verb to decide which form to use.
Do not add -ed to irregular verbs: Just as you learnt in earlier years, irregular verbs have their own special forms. Never write "breaked", "goed", "eated", or "taked".

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
She has went to the bookshop.	She has gone to the bookshop.	After "has", use the past participle (V3). "Gone" is V3; "went" is V2.
The glass was broke by accident.	The glass was broken by accident.	In passive voice, use V3. "Broken" is V3; "broke" is V2.
He has ate all the chicken rice.	He has eaten all the chicken rice.	After "has", use V3. "Eaten" is V3; "ate" is V2.
I have wrote a story for English.	I have written a story for English.	After "have", use V3. "Written" is V3; "wrote" is V2.
They have taked the wrong bus.	They have taken the wrong bus.	"Take" is irregular. The past participle is "taken", not "taked".
The wind has blowed the door open.	The wind has blown the door open.	"Blow" is irregular. The past participle is "blown", not "blowed".

Clue Words

Helping verbs that signal you need V3 (past participle):

has, have, had

Passive voice signals that also need V3:

was, were, is, are, been

Common pairings to watch for:

has gone (not has went), has taken (not has took), has eaten (not has ate), has broken (not has broke), has written (not has wrote), has spoken (not has spoke), has seen (not has saw), has given (not has gave), has chosen (not has chose), has driven (not has drove)

Tip: After "has", "have", or "had", always ask: "Is this the V3 form?" A quick test -- say "It was ___." If the word fits (e.g., "It was broken", "It was taken"), you have the right past participle.

Practice Tips

The "has/have" test: Whenever you write a verb after "has", "have", or "had", pause and check: are you using V3? Say the sentence aloud with "has" -- "She has gone" sounds right; "She has went" sounds wrong. Trust your ear, then verify.
Make a three-column chart: List irregular verbs in three columns (V1, V2, V3). Cover one column and test yourself. Focus on the verbs where V2 and V3 are different, as those are the trickiest.
Spot the helping verb first: When you see a sentence in a test, find the helping verb ("has", "have", "had", "was", "were") before choosing the verb form. If a helping verb is present, you need V3. If there is no helping verb, you need V2 for past tense.
Group by pattern: Review the three patterns regularly -- (1) all different, (2) V2 = V3, (3) all the same. The first group needs the most practice because mixing up V2 and V3 is the most common error.

Quick Reference

Which Form to Use?

Situation	Form Needed	Example
Simple past (no helping verb)	V2 (past tense)	She broke the vase.
After has / have / had	V3 (past participle)	She has broken the vase.
Passive voice (was / were / is / are)	V3 (past participle)	The vase was broken by the cat.

Most Commonly Confused Pairs (V2 vs V3)

Base (V1)	Past Tense (V2)	Past Participle (V3)	Common Error
go	went	gone	has went (wrong)
break	broke	broken	was broke (wrong)
eat	ate	eaten	has ate (wrong)
take	took	taken	has took (wrong)
write	wrote	written	has wrote (wrong)
see	saw	seen	has saw (wrong)
give	gave	given	was gave (wrong)
speak	spoke	spoken	has spoke (wrong)
choose	chose	chosen	has chose (wrong)
drive	drove	driven	has drove (wrong)

Irregular Verbs (P5) (Primary 5)