Common Irregular Verbs (go, do, have, see…) – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Your friend wants to buy a ticket to see a new movie at the cinema. However, you already watched it last night and thought it was terrible! You are warning your friend not to go so they don’t waste their money and time.
Choose the best answer (A, B, or C) to complete your warning. Pay close attention to the past tense of the irregular verbs used to describe your bad experience.
1 “Don’t buy a ticket! I _____ that movie last night, and it was terrible.”
(a) see
(b) saw
(c) seed
2 “We _____ to the cinema on Friday, and it was a complete waste of time.”
(a) went
(b) goed
(c) go
3 “I _____ the reviews on the radio this morning, and they were all bad.”
(a) heared
(b) heard
(c) hear
4 “My brother _____ $15 on his ticket, and he was very angry.”
(a) spent
(b) spended
(c) spend
5 “Did you _____ the trailer on TV? It looks good, but the real movie is boring.”
(a) saw
(b) see
(c) seed
6 “I was so bored that I _____ asleep after 20 minutes.”
(a) fell
(b) falled
(c) fall
7 “The story was so slow that we _____ the theater before the movie ended!”
(a) leave
(b) leaved
(c) left
8 “I _____ a terrible headache from the loud music in the film.”
(a) got
(b) getted
(c) get
9 “Trust me, I _____ for the VIP seats, and it wasn’t worth the money.”
(a) pay
(b) payed
(c) paid
10 “My friends _____ the same movie yesterday, and they hated it too.”
(a) see
(b) saw
(c) seed
11 “I _____ that the main actor didn’t even want to be in the movie.”
(a) heard
(b) heared
(c) hear
12 “It _____ me two hours of my life that I can’t get back.”
(a) costed
(b) costs
(c) cost
13 “Did she _____ you about the terrible ending?”
(a) told
(b) tell
(c) telled
14 “Yes, she _____ me that the ending made no sense at all.”
(a) told
(b) telled
(c) tell
15 “I _____ very disappointed when I walked out of the cinema.”
(a) feeled
(b) feel
(c) felt
16 “We _____ a taxi home early because we couldn’t watch it anymore.”
(a) took
(b) taked
(c) take
17 “I didn’t _____ the ending, but I know it is really bad.”
(a) saw
(b) seed
(c) see
18 “The director had a great story, but he _____ a really bad movie.”
(a) made
(b) maked
(c) make
19 “I didn’t buy popcorn. I _____ my money on a good dinner instead.”
(a) spent
(b) spend
(c) spended
20 “If you go, you will regret it, just like I _____.”
(a) did
(b) do
(c) doed
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b) saw
- Explanation: “Saw” is the irregular past tense of the sensory verb “see”. You use it to prove you have already experienced the movie. Option (c) is a common mistake (“seed”). Option (a) is the present tense.
2 (a) went
- Explanation: “Went” is the irregular past tense of “go”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“goed”). Option (c) is the present tense.
3 (b) heard
- Explanation: “Heard” is the irregular past tense of “hear”. You use it to show you received information in the past. Option (a) is a common spelling mistake (“heared”). Option (c) is the present tense.
4 (a) spent
- Explanation: “Spent” is the irregular past tense of “spend”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“spended”). Option (c) is the present tense.
5 (b) see
- Explanation: In a question using the auxiliary “Did”, the main verb must be in its base form (“see”). Option (a) is a double-past mistake (“Did” + “saw”). Option (c) is an invalid word.
6 (a) fell
- Explanation: “Fell” is the irregular past tense of “fall” (as in “fall asleep”). Option (b) is a common mistake (“falled”). Option (c) is the present tense.
7 (c) left
- Explanation: “Left” is the irregular past tense of “leave”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“leaved”). Option (a) is the present tense.
8 (a) got
- Explanation: “Got” is the irregular past tense of “get” (used here to mean receiving or developing a headache). Option (b) is a common mistake (“getted”). Option (c) is the present tense.
9 (c) paid
- Explanation: “Paid” is the irregular past tense of “pay”. Option (b) is a common spelling mistake (“payed” is rarely used and only in nautical contexts). Option (a) is the present tense.
10 (b) saw
- Explanation: Another affirmative sentence in the past, requiring the irregular form “saw”. Option (c) is a common mistake. Option (a) is the present tense.
11 (a) heard
- Explanation: “Heard” is the irregular past tense of “hear”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“heared”). Option (c) is the present tense.
12 (c) cost
- Explanation: “Cost” is an irregular verb that stays exactly the same in the past tense. Option (a) is a common mistake (“costed”). Option (b) is the present tense (with an ‘s’).
13 (b) tell
- Explanation: The question uses “Did she…”, so the main verb must return to the base form “tell”. Option (a) is a double-past mistake. Option (c) is an invalid word form in this context.
14 (a) told
- Explanation: “Told” is the irregular past tense of “tell”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“telled”). Option (c) is the present tense.
15 (c) felt
- Explanation: “Felt” is the irregular past tense of “feel”. Option (a) is a common mistake (“feeled”). Option (b) is the present tense.
16 (a) took
- Explanation: “Took” is the irregular past tense of “take” (used here for “take a taxi”). Option (b) is a common mistake (“taked”). Option (c) is the present tense.
17 (c) see
- Explanation: After the negative auxiliary “didn’t”, the main verb must remain in its base form (“see”). Option (a) is a double-past mistake. Option (b) is an invalid word.
18 (a) made
- Explanation: “Made” is the irregular past tense of “make”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“maked”). Option (c) is the present tense.
19 (a) spent
- Explanation: “Spent” is the irregular past tense of “spend”. Option (c) is a common mistake (“spended”). Option (b) is the present tense.
20 (a) did
- Explanation: “Did” is the irregular past tense of “do” (used here to replace the action of regretting/going in the past). Option (c) is a common mistake (“doed”). Option (b) is the present tense.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Sensory Verbs for Evidence: When you want to give advice or warn someone, the strongest way is to use your own past experiences. Verbs related to your senses and experiences are often irregular. Do not add “-ed” to them!
- see → saw (I saw it with my own eyes.)
- hear → heard (I heard it on the news.)
- feel → felt (I felt so bored.)
- leave → left (I left early.)
- spend → spent (I spent my money.)
- pay → paid (I paid for the ticket.)
- cost → cost (It doesn’t change!)
2 The “Did / Didn’t” Rule for Checking Facts: When you ask your friend what they know, or when you deny seeing something, you must use did or didn’t. Remember that the main verb then goes back to its normal Base Form.
- Question: Did you see the trailer? (Not: Did you saw)
- Negative: I didn’t see the ending. (Not: I didn’t saw)