Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the standard -ed rule when forming the past tense or the past participle. At the P6 level, you need to know a wider range of irregular verb forms and use them accurately in varied sentence contexts, especially for PSLE preparation.

What You'll Learn

How to recall and apply the three forms (base, past tense, past participle) of a wider range of irregular verbs
How to select the correct irregular verb form in fill-in-the-blank and word-form questions
How to spot errors involving incorrect irregular verb forms in sentences
How to use irregular past participles correctly with "have/has/had" and in passive constructions

When to Use

Narrating past events: "The vase fell off the shelf and shattered into pieces."
Using the present perfect tense: "She has written three essays this week."
Using the past perfect tense: "By the time we arrived, the concert had already begun."
Forming the passive voice: "The trophy was won by the school's debate team."
Describing experiences: "I have never ridden a horse before."

How to Form

Common Irregular Verb Patterns

Irregular verbs can be grouped by how their forms change. Recognising these patterns helps you remember them more efficiently.

Pattern 1: All three forms are different (A-B-C)

Base	Past Tense	Past Participle	Example (present perfect)
begin	began	begun	The ceremony has begun.
blow	blew	blown	The wind has blown the leaves away.
break	broke	broken	Someone has broken the window.
choose	chose	chosen	She has chosen her favourite book.
draw	drew	drawn	He has drawn a beautiful picture.
drive	drove	driven	My father has driven us to the airport.
eat	ate	eaten	The children have eaten their lunch.
fall	fell	fallen	The temperature has fallen sharply.
fly	flew	flown	The birds have flown south for the winter.
forget	forgot	forgotten	I have forgotten my umbrella.
freeze	froze	frozen	The pond has frozen overnight.
give	gave	given	She has given her old books to the library.
go	went	gone	They have gone to the hawker centre.
grow	grew	grown	The plants have grown taller.
hide	hid	hidden	The cat has hidden under the sofa.
know	knew	known	We have known each other since Primary 1.
ride	rode	ridden	She has ridden her bicycle to school.
rise	rose	risen	The sun has risen above the HDB blocks.
shake	shook	shaken	The earthquake has shaken the building.
speak	spoke	spoken	He has spoken to the principal.
steal	stole	stolen	Someone has stolen her wallet.
swear	swore	sworn	The witness has sworn to tell the truth.
swim	swam	swum	They have swum across the reservoir.
take	took	taken	She has taken her PSLE.
tear	tore	torn	He has torn his shirt.
throw	threw	thrown	The goalkeeper has thrown the ball back.
wear	wore	worn	She has worn that dress twice this month.
write	wrote	written	He has written a letter to his pen pal.

Pattern 2: Past tense and past participle are the same (A-B-B)

Base	Past Tense	Past Participle	Example (present perfect)
bend	bent	bent	The strong wind has bent the branches.
bind	bound	bound	The books have been bound together.
bleed	bled	bled	His wound has bled through the bandage.
bring	brought	brought	She has brought her lunch from home.
build	built	built	They have built a new community centre.
buy	bought	bought	My mother has bought groceries from the market.
catch	caught	caught	The fisherman has caught three large fish.
dig	dug	dug	The dog has dug a hole in the garden.
feed	fed	fed	She has fed the fish in the pond.
feel	felt	felt	He has felt unwell since yesterday.
fight	fought	fought	The two countries have fought over the border.
find	found	found	She has found her missing textbook.
hang	hung	hung	They have hung the decorations in the hall.
hear	heard	heard	I have heard the announcement.
hold	held	held	The school has held its annual sports day.
keep	kept	kept	He has kept his promise.
lay	laid	laid	The hen has laid four eggs.
lead	led	led	She has led the team to victory.
leave	left	left	The bus has left the station.
lend	lent	lent	She has lent me her dictionary.
lose	lost	lost	He has lost his MRT card again.
make	made	made	They have made plans for the school excursion.
mean	meant	meant	I have always meant to visit that museum.
meet	met	met	We have met the new form teacher.
pay	paid	paid	She has paid for the textbooks.
say	said	said	He has said everything he needed to.
seek	sought	sought	The committee has sought advice from experts.
sell	sold	sold	The stall has sold out of chicken rice.
send	sent	sent	She has sent the invitation cards.
shine	shone	shone	The sun has shone brightly all morning.
sit	sat	sat	We have sat here for an hour.
sleep	slept	slept	The baby has slept through the night.
spend	spent	spent	They have spent the whole afternoon studying.
stand	stood	stood	She has stood in line for thirty minutes.
stick	stuck	stuck	The sticker has stuck firmly to the cover.
strike	struck	struck	Lightning has struck the tree.
sweep	swept	swept	He has swept the classroom floor.
swing	swung	swung	The gate has swung open in the wind.
teach	taught	taught	She has taught at this school for ten years.
tell	told	told	He has told us the good news.
think	thought	thought	I have thought about it carefully.
understand	understood	understood	She has understood the instructions.
win	won	won	Our class has won the inter-class competition.
wind	wound	wound	He has wound the clock.

Pattern 3: All three forms are the same (A-A-A)

Base	Past Tense	Past Participle	Example (present perfect)
burst	burst	burst	The balloon has burst.
cost	cost	cost	The repairs have cost a fortune.
cut	cut	cut	She has cut the paper neatly.
hit	hit	hit	The ball has hit the wall.
hurt	hurt	hurt	He has hurt his ankle.
let	let	let	The teacher has let us go early.
put	put	put	She has put the books on the shelf.
set	set	set	They have set a new school record.
shut	shut	shut	He has shut the door quietly.
split	split	split	The team has split into two groups.
spread	spread	spread	The news has spread quickly.

Pattern 4: Base form and past participle are the same (A-B-A)

Base	Past Tense	Past Participle	Example (present perfect)
become	became	become	She has become the class president.
come	came	come	He has come home from school.
overcome	overcame	overcome	She has overcome her fear of public speaking.
run	ran	run	They have run five kilometres today.

Key Rules

Do not add -ed to irregular verbs: The most fundamental rule. Irregular verbs have unique past tense and past participle forms that must be memorised. "She went to the library" -- never "She goed."
Past tense vs past participle -- know the difference: The past tense stands alone ("She wrote a poem"). The past participle follows an auxiliary verb -- "has/have/had" for perfect tenses ("She has written a poem") or "is/was/were" for the passive voice ("The poem was written by her").
Use the base form after modals and "did": After modal verbs (can, could, should, would, will, may, might, must) and after "did" in questions or negatives, use the base form, not the past tense. "She did not go" -- never "She did not went." "He should speak up" -- never "He should spoke."
"Lay" vs "lie": "Lay" means to put something down (lay, laid, laid). "Lie" means to recline (lie, lay, lain). "She laid the book on the table" vs "He lay on the bed and rested." This pair is among the trickiest in English.
"Hang" has two forms: "Hang" meaning to suspend something uses hung/hung. "Hang" meaning to execute uses hanged/hanged. "She hung the painting on the wall" vs "The criminal was hanged."
Some verbs have both regular and irregular forms: A few verbs accept either form, though one is preferred in UK English. "Learnt" (UK) vs "learned" (US). "Dreamt" (UK) vs "dreamed" (US). "Spelt" (UK) vs "spelled" (US). In Singapore, follow UK English and use the irregular forms: learnt, dreamt, spelt, burnt, leapt, knelt.
Watch for "have" + wrong form: A very common PSLE error is using the past tense instead of the past participle after "have/has/had." "She has spoken to the teacher" -- never "She has spoke." "They had gone home" -- never "They had went."

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
She has went to the shops.	She has gone to the shops.	"Has" needs the past participle "gone", not the past tense "went"
The glass breaked when it fell.	The glass broke when it fell.	"Break" is irregular -- its past tense is "broke", not "breaked"
He has chose the blue team.	He has chosen the blue team.	"Has" needs the past participle "chosen", not the past tense "chose"
I have never ate durian before.	I have never eaten durian before.	"Have" needs the past participle "eaten", not the past tense "ate"
She did not spoke during the assembly.	She did not speak during the assembly.	After "did not", use the base form "speak", not the past tense "spoke"
The river has froze because of the cold.	The river has frozen because of the cold.	"Has" needs the past participle "frozen", not the past tense "froze"

Clue Words

Clues for past tense (use the past tense form):

yesterday, last week, last month, last year, ago, in 2019, once, the other day, that morning, when I was young

Clues for past participle (use the past participle form):

has, have, had, been, was/were + past participle (passive), already, just, yet, ever, never, since, for, by the time

Clues for base form (do NOT use past tense or past participle):

did, did not, can, could, should, would, will, may, might, must

Tip: When you see "has", "have", or "had" before a verb, you need the past participle -- not the past tense. Ask yourself: "Is it went or gone? Ate or eaten? Broke or broken?" The participle form is the one that pairs with these auxiliaries.

Practice Tips

The three-column test: For each irregular verb you encounter, write out all three forms (base, past tense, past participle). If you cannot fill in all three without hesitation, that verb needs more revision.
The auxiliary check: Before selecting a verb form, look for an auxiliary verb. If you see "has", "have", "had", "is", "was", "were", or "been" before the gap, you need the past participle. If there is no auxiliary and the sentence is about the past, you need the past tense.
Pattern grouping: Group irregular verbs by their change pattern (A-B-C, A-B-B, A-A-A, A-B-A). Verbs within the same pattern often rhyme or share spelling features -- for example, blow/blew/blown follows the same pattern as know/knew/known and grow/grew/grown.
The "did not" reset: Whenever "did" or "did not" appears, the main verb resets to its base form. "She did not take the bus" -- not "She did not took."

Quick Reference

Pattern	How It Changes	Examples
A-B-C	All three forms are different	go/went/gone, write/wrote/written, swim/swam/swum
A-B-B	Past tense = past participle	buy/bought/bought, teach/taught/taught, find/found/found
A-A-A	All three forms are the same	cut/cut/cut, put/put/put, burst/burst/burst
A-B-A	Base = past participle	come/came/come, run/ran/run, become/became/become

Auxiliary Present?	Which Form to Use	Example
No auxiliary (past time)	Past tense	She wrote a letter.
has / have / had	Past participle	She has written a letter.
was / were / been	Past participle	The letter was written.
did / did not	Base form	She did not write it.
Modal (can, should, etc.)	Base form	She should write it.

Irregular Verbs (P6) (Primary 6)