Regular verbs follow simple, predictable rules for their past tense and past participle forms.
Rules
Regular verbs add -ed to the base form:
- Most verbs: add -ed (e.g., walk → walked).
- Verbs ending in -e: add -d (e.g., like → liked).
- Verbs ending in consonant + y: change y to i and add -ed (e.g., study → studied).
Examples
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| walk | walked | walked | I walked to school. |
| like | liked | liked | She liked the movie. |
| study | studied | studied | They studied English. |
| jump | jumped | jumped | We jumped high. |
| call | called | called | He called his friend. |
Regular verbs use -ed, -d, or changed y + -ed for past forms.
Usage
- Simple Past: Describes completed actions (e.g., I cleaned my room.)
- Present Perfect: Describes actions with relevance to now (e.g., She has finished her homework.)
- Past Perfect: Describes actions completed before another past event (e.g., They had started dinner when I arrived.)
Spelling Rules
- Add -ed: Most verbs (clean → cleaned).
- Add -d: Verbs ending in -e (bake → baked).
- Change y to i + ed: Consonant + y (try → tried).
- Double final consonant: Consonant-vowel-consonant, 1 syllable, stressed final syllable (stop → stopped).
Common Mistakes
- Forget doubling consonant: e.g., stop → stopped (not stoped).
- Incorrect y rule: try → tried (not tryed).
- Adding only -d to all: like → liked is correct, but play → played (not playd).
- Confusing irregular verbs: e.g., go → went (not goed).
Summary
Regular verbs follow straightforward rules for past tense and participles:
- Add -ed (walk → walked).
- Add -d if verb ends in -e (like → liked).
- Change y to i and add -ed (study → studied).
- Double final consonant for some (stop → stopped).
Irregular verbs do not follow these patterns and must be memorized separately.
Last updated: Wed Jun 18, 2025
