ESL Lesson: Irregular Verbs

In contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur. The idea of an irregular verb is important in second language acquisition, where the verb paradigms of a foreign language are learned systematically, and exceptions listed and carefully noted. Thus for example a school French textbook may have a section at the back listing the French irregular verbs in tables. Irregular verbs are often the most commonly used verbs in the language.

In linguistic analysis, the concept of an irregular verb is most likely to be used in psycholinguistics, and in first-language acquisition studies, where the aim is to establish how the human brain processes its native language. One debate among 20th-century linguists revolved around the question of whether small children learn all verb forms as separate pieces of vocabulary or whether they deduce froms by the application of rules. Since a child can hear a verb for the first time and immediately reuse it correctly in a different tense which he or she has never heard, it is clear that the brain does work with rules, but irregular verbs must be processed differently.

Historical linguists rarely use the category irregular verb. Since most irregularities can be explained historically, these verbs are only irregular when viewed synchronically, not when seen in their historical context.

When languages are being compared informally, one of the few quantitative statistics which are sometimes cited is the number of irregular verbs. These counts are not particularly accurate for a wide variety of reasons, and academic linguists are reluctant to cite them. But it does seem that some languages have a greater tolerance for paradigm irregularity than others.

Irregular Verbs 1

Fill in the missing forms of the irregular verbs below. The first one has been done for you.

1. go went gone
2. _______________ saw _______________
3. _______________ _______________ had
4. break _______________ _______________
5. _______________ sang _______________
6. fly _______________ _______________
7. _______________ did _______________
8. become _______________ _______________
9. _______________ _______________ won
10. _______________ threw _______________
11. tell _______________ _______________
12. _______________ _______________ rung
13. _______________ _______________ made
14. quit _______________ _______________
15. _______________ heard _______________
16. _______________ _______________ paid
17. run _______________ _______________
18. _______________ _______________ worn
19. put _______________ _______________
20. _______________ sold _______________
21. _______________ thought _______________
22. _______________ _______________ begun
23. read _______________ _______________
24. _______________ _______________ met
25. _______________ _______________ left

Irregular Verbs 2

Fill in the missing forms of the irregular verbs below. The first one has been done for you.

1. dig dug dug
2. withdraw _______________ _______________
3. _______________ _______________ lain
4. shake _______________ _______________
5. _______________ _______________ frozen
6. bet _______________ _______________
7. mistake _______________ _______________
8. sting _______________ _______________
9. _______________ forgave _______________
10. _______________ _______________ swung
11. tear _______________ _______________
12. draw _______________ _______________
13. spin _______________ _______________
14. _______________ _______________ bled
15. _______________ swore _______________
16. _______________ meant _______________
17. stick _______________ _______________
18. _______________ _______________ lent
19. shoot _______________ _______________
20. _______________ built _______________
21. _______________ _______________ cost
22. lead _______________ _______________
23. _______________ slept _______________
24. forget _______________ _______________
25. _______________ slid _______________

Irregular Verbs 1 Answers

1. go went gone
2. see saw seen
3. have had had
4. break broke broken
5. sing sang sung
6. fly flew flown
7. do did done
8. become became become
9. win won won
10. throw threw thrown
11. tell told told
12. ring rang rung
13. make made made
14. quit quit quit
15. hear heard heard
16. pay paid paid
17. run ran run
18. wear wore worn
19. put put put
20. sell sold sold
21. think thought thought
22. begin began begun
23. read read read
24. meet met met
25. leave left left

1. dig dug dug
2. withdraw withdrew withdrawn
3. lie lay lain
4. shake shook shaken
5. freeze froze frozen
6. bet bet bet
7. mistake mistook mistaken
8. sting stung stung
9. forgive forgave forgiven
10. swing swung swung
11. tear tore torn
12. draw drew drawn
13. spin spun spun
14. bleed bled bled
15. swear swore sworn
16. mean meant meant
17. stick stuck stuck
18. lend lent lent
19. shoot shot shot
20. build built built
21. cost cost cost
22. lead led led
23. sleep slept slept
24. forget forgot forgotten
25. slide slid slid

ESL Lesson: A day in my life. - Adverbs of Frequency

by Ajarn Charlie
Exercise 1. Read the following magazine article about Tanya Philips, who is a presenter on breakfast television in Britain. What time do you think her day starts and finishes?

My Working Day

My working day starts very early. From Monday to Friday I get up at half past three and I have a shower and a cup of coffee. I usually leave the house at ten past four because the car always arrives a few minutes early. I get to the studio at about five o'clock and start work. Good Morning Britain starts at seven o'clock and finishes at nine o'clock. Then I leave the studio at a quarter past ten. After that, I get home at three o'clock. A woman helps me with the housework and the ironing. I read the newspaper and do some work. Then my husband gets home at half past five in the afternoon and I cook dinner. We stay at home in the evening. We don't go out because I go to bed very early. We usually watch television and then I go to bed at half past eight. I'm usually asleep by nine o'clock. At weekends, I don't get up until ten o'clock. In the evening, we often see some friends or go to the cinema. But I'm always up early again on Monday morning.

Exercise 2. Decide where these sentences go in the article.

1. After the programme we always have breakfast and relax.
2. I often go shopping and have lunch with friends.
3. We usually have dinner quite early, at seven o'clock.

Exercise 3. Ask the questions you think the journalist asked the presenter.

example: What time do you get up?

Grammar Help Box

Present Simple : saying how often you do things You use the present simple and the following adverbs of frequency to say how often you do things. 100% sure_______ always usually often sometimes never________________0% sure. You usually put the adverb before the verb. I always get up at seven o'clock. - I often have a drink with my friends. - I never do the laundry. Prepositions of time at: at seven o'clock at half past eight at the weekend on: on Sunday on Tuesday on Monday morning from...to: from Monday to Friday - from seven to nine

Exercise 4. Look at the verbs in the article again. How many have -s endings?

Exercise 5. Put the adverbs in brackets in the correct position.

1. I get up at seven o'clock (usually).
2. I do the ironing. (never)
3. She has a drink with her friends. (often)
4. He goes to bed at eleven o'clock. (sometimes)
5. I'm asleep at midnight. (usually)
6. I'm up at five o'clock in the morning. (never)

Exercise 6. Complete the sentences with a preposition of time.

1. We work _______ Monday ______ Friday.
2. The film starts _______ eight o'clock.
3. He leaves home ______ eight o'clock.
4. I do the housework _________ the evening.
5. She does the ironing __________ Monday.
6. We usually go out ___________ Friday evening.

Exercise 7. Fill in the blanks using the following adverbs of frequency:
***** always never often sometimes *****

1. I ______________ go to work by car. I can't drive.
2. I ______________ go on vacation in July and I _______________ go in August. It depends.
3. I _____________ answer the phone. I'm the only person in the office.
4. Joe Louis has customers in over thirty countries. He ____________ travels on business.
5. Roger is always on time. He's __________ late.
6. I _____________ have lunch in a restaurant, but not very _____________.

Exercise 8. Match the pairs.

1. Do you ever do overtime?	A. No, never. I do it at the airport.
2. Do you often visit customers.	B. Yes, I'm her assistant.
3. Do you normally drive to work?	C. Yes, I often work long hours.
4. Do you always change your money in a bank?	D. Yes, I get up early every morning.
5. Do you always go to bed before ten?	E. No, never. I always walk.
6. Do you often travel by plane?	F. Yes, often. I'm a salesperson.
7. Do you ever speak Spanish at work?	G. Yes, I fly every week.
8. Do you often speak to the president?	H. Sometimes. We have customers in Mexico.

Exercise 9. Make complete sentences.

1. Peter uses the computer. (often) ____________________________________
2. Does your boss visit customers? (sometimes)____________________________________
3. I have a short lunch break. (normally) ____________________________________
4. It's difficult to organize meetings. (sometimes)___________________________________
5. That train is late. (often) ____________________________________
6. I drink white wine for breakfast. (never) ____________________________________
7. He finishes his reports on time. (always) ____________________________________
8. Which hotel do you stay in? (usually) ____________________________________

Exercise 10. Answer the following questions.

1. Do you like your job? _______________________________________________________
2. Who makes a lot of photocopies in your office? __________________________________
3. Who's the boss in your department? ___________________________________________
4. When do you do most of your paperwork? ______________________________________
5. Do you usually answer the phone for your office? ________________________________
6. What do you do in your office? _______________________________________________

Exercise 11. - Answer the questions for you.

1. Do you work full-time or part-time? _____________________________________________
2. How many hours a week do you work? __________________________________________
3. Do you ever travel on business? ________________________________________________
4. Do you like paperwork? _______________________________________________________
5. Do you often write reports? ____________________________________________________
6. Do you ever drive a truck? ____________________________________________________
7. What do you do when you get to the office in the morning? ____________________________________________________
8. Who answers the phone in your office? ___________________________________________
9. Do you ever work on Saturdays? ________________________________________________
10. What time do you normally finish work? __________________________________________

Helpful Hint: Many English speakers, (especially Americans) use less precise words than many Germans when describing events and times. Below is a "scale" of their use from very strong to very weak.

always frequently often normally usually sometimes seldom rarely never