Casa ESL · A2 Elementary · Unit 3 of 20 · Step 1

Irregular Past Verbs

Weekends & Adventures

✓Recognise and use common irregular past tense verbs
✓Tell a simple story about a past event
✓Ask Wh- questions about the past

Name

Date

Vocabulary

went

verb

Past tense of 'go'.

"We went to the beach on Sunday."

saw

verb

Past tense of 'see'.

"I saw an old friend at the market."

ate

verb

Past tense of 'eat'.

"She ate sushi for the first time."

bought

verb

Past tense of 'buy'.

"He bought two tickets for the show."

took

verb

Past tense of 'take'.

"They took a taxi to the airport."

came

verb

Past tense of 'come'.

"My cousin came to stay for a week."

drove

verb

Past tense of 'drive'.

"She drove four hours to reach the coast."

spent

verb

Past tense of 'spend' (time or money).

"We spent the afternoon in the park."

Grammar Focus

Simple past — irregular verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the -ed pattern. Each one must be memorised. The negative and question forms still use did / didn't + base form (infinitive), NOT the irregular form.

I went to a concert last Friday — it was fantastic.

She didn't eat breakfast because she was running late.

Where did you go last summer?

They spent three weeks travelling through South America.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Fill in the blank with the correct irregular past tense verb from the box: went · saw · bought · took · came.

1. He a new laptop on his lunch break.

2. We an amazing film at the cinema last night.

3. She to the gym before work on Monday.

4. My parents to visit me for my birthday.

5. I lots of photos during the trip.

Exercise 2

Match each base form verb to its simple past form.

1. gowent
2. buybought
3. drivedrove
4. spendspent
5. eatate

Reading

My Weekend in the Mountains

Last month, three friends and I drove to the mountains for a long weekend. We left early on Friday and arrived by noon. We spent Saturday hiking a trail that went through a pine forest. I took hundreds of photos because the scenery was beautiful. On Sunday, we ate a large breakfast at a small café in the village and bought local honey and cheese. The drive home took four hours but we sang along to the radio the whole way.

1. What did they do on Saturday?

2. What did the writer buy at the village café?

Speaking

Discuss these questions with a partner or your teacher.

1Tell your partner about a trip or day out you remember well. Use as many irregular past verbs as you can.
2Ask three questions to your partner about their last holiday using: Where did you go? What did you eat? How did you get there?

Writing

Write 4–6 sentences about a day or weekend you enjoyed. Try to include at least four irregular past verbs.

Example: Last summer I went to a food festival with my sister. We ate everything we could find — tacos, dumplings, and Japanese ramen. She bought a cookbook from one of the stalls. I took a lot of photos and we came home very full and happy.

Answer Key — For Teacher Use

Exercise 1

1. bought · 2. saw · 3. went · 4. came · 5. took

Exercise 2

1. go → went · 2. buy → bought · 3. drive → drove · 4. spend → spent · 5. eat → ate

Reading Comprehension

1. They hiked a trail through a pine forest. · 2. They bought local honey and cheese.

← Unit 2: Talking About the PastUnit 4: Making Plans →