Past simple verb forms: regular, irregular, and spelling exceptions

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

A1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the complete sentence and notice the subject, verb form, time reference and word order before answering.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   CLEAN

   1. cleaned
   2. cleant
   3. clean
   4. cleaning
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   cleaned

   The regular past simple form of “clean” is “cleaned.”

   clean → cleaned

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   GO

   1. goed
   2. went
   3. gone
   4. goes
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   went

   The irregular past simple form of “go” is “went.”

   go → went

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   STUDY

   1. studied
   2. studyed
   3. studys
   4. studying
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   studied

   For a regular verb ending in consonant + y, change y to i and add -ed: “studied.”

   study → studied

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   HAVE

   1. haved
   2. has
   3. had
   4. having
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   had

   The irregular past simple form of “have” is “had.”

   have → had

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   LIVE

   1. lived
   2. liveed
   3. livt
   4. living
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   lived

   The regular past simple form of “live” is “lived.” The final e stays and -d is added.

   live → lived

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   MAKE

   1. maked
   2. made
   3. makeed
   4. makes
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   made

   The irregular past simple form of “make” is “made.”

   make → made

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   STOP

   1. stoped
   2. stopped
   3. stoppt
   4. stops
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   stopped

   For a one-syllable regular verb ending consonant-vowel-consonant, double the final consonant before -ed: “stopped.”

   stop → stopped

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   PUT

   1. put
   2. putted
   3. puted
   4. puts
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   put

   “Put” is an irregular verb with the same form in the present and past simple: “put.”

   put → put

9. Question 9 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   CARRY

   1. carryed
   2. carried
   3. carryd
   4. carries
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   carried

   For a regular verb ending consonant + y, change y to i and add -ed: “carried.”

   carry → carried

10. Question 10 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    TAKE

    1. taked
    2. took
    3. taken
    4. takes
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    took

    The irregular past simple form of “take” is “took.”

    take → took

What to review next

After checking an answer, explain the rule in your own words and write a new sentence using the same pattern. Revisit any rules you could not explain.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Describe a finished past event.

They visited the museum yesterday.

Visited is the past form of visit. Yesterday places the event in a finished past time.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.