Irregular Verb Forms

A2 Eiken Pre-2 Elementary

irregular past simple verbs

Explanation

Use irregular past forms when you talk about a finished action in the past. Some verbs do not add "-ed".

For example, "I went to the library yesterday." In this sentence, "I" is the subject, "went" is the irregular past form of "go", "to the library" shows the place, and "yesterday" shows the time. Japanese often shows past time with one ending on the verb, but English changes the verb itself. So you must learn each irregular form, like "go / went", "buy / bought", and "see / saw".

Examples

  • I went to the library yesterday. 私は昨日、図書館に行きました。
  • She bought a new phone last week. 彼女は先週、新しいスマホを買いました。
  • We saw a rainbow after the rain. 私たちは雨のあとに虹を見ました。
  • Did you eat dinner yet? もう夕食を食べましたか。
  • He didn't come to the party. 彼はパーティーに来ませんでした。
  • They made coffee and sat outside. 彼らはコーヒーを入れて、外に座りました。

Common Mistakes

Japanese learners often add "-ed" to an irregular verb or keep the base form after a past-time word.

Wrong: "I goed to school yesterday."

Right: "I went to school yesterday."

Wrong: "Yesterday I go to school."

Right: "Yesterday I went to school."

Ready to practice? Try a quick fill-in-the-blank quiz on this grammar point.