Regular verbs add ed to make the past tense (work / worked) and irregular verbs change their form entirely (go / went), or they don’t change at all (put / put). The most important verb to learn first in the past tense is “be.”
Be – Past Tense
Singular
Plural
I was
We were
You were
You were
He was
They were
She was
It was
I was at school yesterday.
We were in New York last week.
It was cold this morning.
Now, watch this video:
Only the verb “be” changes its form for the singular or plural. All the other verbs, regular and irregular, use one form in the past tense, which makes the past tense a little easier to use when making statements.
More practice with this important verb (“be”) comes in Lesson 16.
Regular Verb: Learn
Subject + _____ed
Singular
Plural
I learned
We learned
You learned
You learned
He learned
They learned
She learned
It learned
To make the negative, use “did” + “not” (didn’t) + the main verb in the simple form:
Singular
Plural
I did not learn
We did not learn
You did not learn
You did not learn
He did not learn
They did not learn
She did not learn
It did not learn
Irregular Verb: Have
Subject + ________
(irregular verbs take many different forms in the past tense)
Singular
Plural
I had
We had
You had
You had
He had
They had
She had
It had
Irregular verbs must be memorized because they change their form completely. Click here for a list of commonly used irregular verbs, print it out, and commit them to memory.
Review:
The Past Tense describes the things you did yesterday, last year, back in February, in 1973, or an hour ago.
Regular verbs, such as learn, take an “ed” ending after the subject.
work—worked
,
learn—learned
,
visit—visited
Irregular verbs change their form entirely or not at all.
eat—ate
,
go—went
,
be—was/were
,
hit—hit
,
cut—cut
The form of the past tense is not dependent on the subject. See the example below:
in your notebook.
