Common Irregular Verbs (go, do, have, see…) – English Grammar Exercises for A1
You are shopping with a friend, but they want to go to another store. You have to say “no” because you don’t have any more money, you lost your items, or you forgot your cards. You are explaining the past actions that caused your current problem.
Choose the best answer (a, b, or c) to complete your explanation. Pay close attention to the past tense of these irregular verbs!
1 “I can’t buy this shirt because I _____ my wallet at home.”
(a) leave
(b) leaved
(c) left
2 “I’m sorry, I can’t go to the cafe. I _____ all my money on that expensive jacket.”
(a) spended
(b) spent
(c) spend
3 “I _____ my credit card yesterday, so I need to go to the bank right now.”
(a) lost
(b) lose
(c) losed
4 “I don’t have any cash today because I _____ my last ten dollars to my brother.”
(a) give
(b) gived
(c) gave
5 “Those shoes _____ $100, so I have absolutely no money left for dinner.”
(a) cost
(b) costs
(c) costed
6 “Did you _____ your phone in the taxi? We can’t call a driver now!”
(a) left
(b) leaved
(c) leave
7 “I can’t text my mom because my phone _____ when I dropped it.”
(a) breaked
(b) broke
(c) break
8 “I _____ a lot of money for these concert tickets, so I can’t go shopping with you.”
(a) pay
(b) payed
(c) paid
9 “I didn’t _____ my purse on the bus. I left it at the coffee shop!”
(a) forgot
(b) forget
(c) forgetted
10 “I don’t have my sunglasses. I think I _____ them at the beach.”
(a) losed
(b) lose
(c) lost
11 “I _____ my shopping bag on the train, and now I have nothing.”
(a) left
(b) leaved
(c) leave
12 “How much money did you _____ at the mall today?”
(a) spended
(b) spend
(c) spent
13 “I can’t buy lunch because I _____ my money on a very expensive coffee.”
(a) spent
(b) spend
(c) spended
14 “I _____ my glasses this morning, so I can’t read the price tag on this dress.”
(a) broke
(b) break
(c) breaked
15 “I _____ the cashier my last 20 dollars, so my wallet is empty.”
(a) gived
(b) give
(c) gave
16 “I didn’t _____ my umbrella; someone took it from the restaurant!”
(a) lose
(b) lost
(c) losed
17 “I _____ my favorite watch yesterday. I am so sad I can’t wear it today.”
(a) lost
(b) losed
(c) lose
18 “Did you _____ for the movie tickets? I don’t have any cash on me.”
(a) paid
(b) pay
(c) payed
19 “I am completely broke because I _____ a new computer last week.”
(a) bought
(b) buyed
(c) buy
20 “I _____ to bring my credit card, so I can’t pay for this meal.”
(a) forgetted
(b) forget
(c) forgot
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (c) left
- Explanation: “Left” is the irregular past tense of “leave”. You use it to explain where you accidentally put your wallet. Option (b) is a common mistake (“leaved”). Option (a) is the present tense.
2 (b) spent
- Explanation: “Spent” is the irregular past tense of “spend”. Option (a) is a common mistake (“spended”). Option (c) is the present tense.
3 (a) lost
- Explanation: “Lost” is the irregular past tense of “lose”. Option (c) is a common mistake (“losed”). Option (b) is the present tense.
4 (c) gave
- Explanation: “Gave” is the irregular past tense of “give”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“gived”). Option (a) is the present tense.
5 (a) cost
- Explanation: “Cost” is an irregular verb that stays exactly the same in the past tense. Option (c) is a common mistake (“costed”). Option (b) is the present tense for third-person singular (not used for past events).
6 (c) leave
- Explanation: The question uses the auxiliary “Did”, so the main verb must return to its base form (“leave”). Option (a) is a double-past mistake (“Did” + “left”). Option (b) is an invalid word.
7 (b) broke
- Explanation: “Broke” is the irregular past tense of “break”. Option (a) is a common mistake (“breaked”). Option (c) is the present tense.
8 (c) paid
- Explanation: “Paid” is the irregular past tense of “pay”. Option (b) is a common spelling mistake (“payed”). Option (a) is the present tense.
9 (b) forget
- Explanation: After the negative auxiliary “didn’t”, the main verb must be in its base form (“forget”). Option (a) is a double-past mistake (“didn’t forgot”). Option (c) is an invalid word.
10 (c) lost
- Explanation: Another affirmative sentence in the past, requiring the irregular form “lost”. Option (a) is a common mistake. Option (b) is the present tense.
11 (a) left
- Explanation: “Left” is the irregular past tense of “leave”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“leaved”). Option (c) is the present tense.
12 (b) spend
- Explanation: In a question using the auxiliary “did”, the main verb must be in its base form (“spend”). Option (c) is a double-past mistake. Option (a) is an invalid word.
13 (a) spent
- Explanation: “Spent” is the irregular past tense of “spend”. Option (c) is a common mistake (“spended”). Option (b) is the present tense.
14 (a) broke
- Explanation: “Broke” is the irregular past tense of “break”. Option (c) is a common mistake (“breaked”). Option (b) is the present tense.
15 (c) gave
- Explanation: “Gave” is the irregular past tense of “give”. Option (a) is a common mistake (“gived”). Option (b) is the present tense.
16 (a) lose
- Explanation: After “didn’t”, use the base form “lose”. Option (b) is a double-past mistake (“didn’t lost”). Option (c) is an invalid word.
17 (a) lost
- Explanation: “Lost” is the irregular past tense of “lose”. Option (b) is a common mistake. Option (c) is the present tense.
18 (b) pay
- Explanation: The question uses “Did you…”, so the main verb must be the base form “pay”. Option (a) is a double-past mistake. Option (c) is a spelling error.
19 (a) bought
- Explanation: “Bought” is the irregular past tense of “buy”. Option (b) is a common mistake (“buyed”). Option (c) is the present tense.
20 (c) forgot
- Explanation: “Forgot” is the irregular past tense of “forget”. Option (a) is a common mistake (“forgetted”). Option (b) is the present tense.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Verbs of Loss and Spending: When you need to explain why you don’t have something right now, you usually have to talk about a mistake or an action in the past. These verbs are irregular, meaning you do not add “-ed”.
- lose → lost (I lost my wallet.)
- leave → left (I left it at home.)
- spend → spent (I spent all my cash.)
- pay → paid (I paid for the taxi.)
- give → gave (I gave him my money.)
- break → broke (I broke my phone.)
- forget → forgot (I forgot my card.)
- buy → bought (I bought a jacket.)
- cost → cost (It doesn’t change!)
2 The “Did / Didn’t” Rule (The Base Form Rule): Even with these verbs of loss, if you ask a question or make a negative sentence, you must use did or didn’t, and the main verb returns to its normal dictionary form (Base Form).
- Question: Did you lose your keys? (Not: Did you lost)
- Negative: I didn’t spend my money. (Not: I didn’t spent)