Past Simple: Regular & Irregular Verbs — Pasado Simple
Verbos regulares: Verbo + ED
| Regla | Ejemplo |
|---|---|
| Verbo + ed | work → worked, play → played |
| Verb in -e + d | live → lived, dance → danced |
| Consonante + y → ied | study → studied, try → tried |
| CVC (short vowel in stressed syllable) → double consonant + ed | stop → stopped, plan → planned |
-ED pronunciation
| Sound | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /t/ | After voiceless sounds (p, k, f, s, sh, ch) | walked, stopped, watched |
| /d/ | After voiced sounds (b, g, v, z, m, n, l, r) | played, lived, cleaned |
| /ɪd/ | After t, d | wanted, needed, started |
Verbos irregulares
Irregular verbs DO NOT follow the -ed rule. You have to memorize them.
| Base | Past | Base | Past |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was/were | have | had |
| do | did | go | went |
| come | came | see | saw |
| say | said | get | got |
| make | made | take | took |
| know | knew | think | thought |
| give | gave | eat | ate |
| drink | drank | write | wrote |
| read | read (/rɛd/) | speak | spoke |
| buy | bought | bring | brought |
| find | found | run | ran |
| sleep | slept | drive | drove |
| swim | swam | fly | flew |
| begin | began | break | broke |
💡 Tip: In negatives and questions, use the BASE form of the verb: Did you work? / Did you go? (not
Did you went?).
💡 Read in the past tense is written the same but pronounced /rɛd/ (like "red").