Common Irregular Verbs (go, do, have, see…) – English Grammar Exercises for A1
You lost your house keys three days ago, and you were very worried. But today, you finally found them! You are sending text messages to your family to announce the good news and explain how it happened.
Choose the best answer (A, B, or C) to complete your story. Pay close attention to the past tense of these irregular verbs, especially when you are sharing a happy surprise!
1 “Mom! Guess what? I finally _____ my missing keys!”
(a) finded
(b) found
(c) find
2 “I was so worried because I _____ them three days ago.”
(a) lose
(b) losed
(c) lost
3 “I _____ they were gone forever!”
(a) thought
(b) thinked
(c) think
4 “It turns out, I _____ them in the pocket of my old winter jacket.”
(a) leaved
(b) left
(c) leave
5 “I _____ them this morning when I was doing the laundry.”
(a) saw
(b) seed
(c) see
6 “Where exactly did you _____ them?” Mom asked.
(a) find
(b) found
(c) finded
7 “They were deep in the pocket. I didn’t _____ they were in there!”
(a) knew
(b) knowed
(c) know
8 “I immediately _____ my brother the good news because he helped me search.”
(a) telled
(b) tell
(c) told
9 “I _____ so happy and relieved when I pulled them out.”
(a) felt
(b) feeled
(c) feel
10 “Luckily, I didn’t _____ a new lock for the front door yet.”
(a) bought
(b) buy
(c) buyed
11 “I _____ to the living room to show everyone the keys.”
(a) go
(b) goed
(c) went
12 “I _____ downstairs very fast to tell Dad before he went to work.”
(a) ran
(b) runned
(c) run
13 “How did you _____ them in the first place?” Dad asked with a laugh.
(a) lost
(b) lose
(c) losed
14 “I _____ to check my old jacket pockets on Monday when it was cold.”
(a) forgot
(b) forget
(c) forgetted
15 “Mom was so happy that she _____ me a big hug.”
(a) give
(b) gived
(c) gave
16 “My sister _____ into the room to see why we were laughing.”
(a) comed
(b) came
(c) come
17 “I didn’t _____ Grandma the good news yet, but I will call her now.”
(a) told
(b) telled
(c) tell
18 “To celebrate, we _____ a small pizza party for dinner tonight.”
(a) had
(b) haved
(c) have
19 “Finding my keys really _____ my whole week much better!”
(a) maked
(b) make
(c) made
20 “It _____ me three days, but I am so glad the search is over.”
(a) took
(b) taked
(c) take
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b) found
- Why it’s right: “Found” is the irregular past tense of “find”. This is the most important word for sharing good news about a lost item!
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a common mistake (adding “-ed” to an irregular verb). (c) is the present tense.
2 (c) lost
- Why it’s right: “Lost” is the irregular past tense of “lose”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“losed”). (a) is the present tense.
3 (a) thought
- Why it’s right: “Thought” is the irregular past tense of “think”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“thinked”). (c) is the present tense.
4 (b) left
- Why it’s right: “Left” is the irregular past tense of “leave” (meaning you placed them somewhere and forgot).
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a common mistake (“leaved”). (c) is the present tense.
5 (a) saw
- Why it’s right: “Saw” is the irregular past tense of “see”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“seed”). (c) is the present tense.
6 (a) find
- Why it’s right: The question uses the auxiliary “did”, so the main verb must be in its base form (“find”).
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a double-past mistake (“did” + “found”). (c) is an invalid word.
7 (c) know
- Why it’s right: After the negative “didn’t”, the main verb must return to its base form (“know”).
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a double-past mistake (“didn’t knew”). (b) is a common mistake (“knowed”).
8 (c) told
- Why it’s right: “Told” is the irregular past tense of “tell”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a common mistake (“telled”). (b) is the present tense.
9 (a) felt
- Why it’s right: “Felt” is the irregular past tense of “feel”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“feeled”). (c) is the present tense.
10 (b) buy
- Why it’s right: Because the sentence has “didn’t”, we must use the base form “buy”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a double-past mistake (“didn’t bought”). (c) is an invalid word.
11 (c) went
- Why it’s right: “Went” is the irregular past tense of “go”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“goed”). (a) is the present tense.
12 (a) ran
- Why it’s right: “Ran” is the irregular past tense of “run”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“runned”). (c) is the present tense.
13 (b) lose
- Why it’s right: The question uses “did you…”, so the main verb must be the base form “lose”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a double-past mistake (“did you lost”). (c) is an invalid word.
14 (a) forgot
- Why it’s right: “Forgot” is the irregular past tense of “forget”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (c) is a common mistake (“forgetted”). (b) is the present tense.
15 (c) gave
- Why it’s right: “Gave” is the irregular past tense of “give” (as in giving a hug).
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“gived”). (a) is the present tense.
16 (b) came
- Why it’s right: “Came” is the irregular past tense of “come”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a common mistake (“comed”). (c) is the present tense.
17 (c) tell
- Why it’s right: After “didn’t”, use the base form “tell”.
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a double-past mistake (“didn’t told”). (b) is an invalid word.
18 (a) had
- Why it’s right: “Had” is the irregular past tense of “have” (used for having a party or meal).
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“haved”). (c) is the present tense.
19 (c) made
- Why it’s right: “Made” is the irregular past tense of “make” (it made the week better).
- Analysis of wrong options: (a) is a common mistake (“maked”). (b) is the present tense.
20 (a) took
- Why it’s right: “Took” is the irregular past tense of “take” (used here to express how much time an action required).
- Analysis of wrong options: (b) is a common mistake (“taked”). (c) is the present tense.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 The Vocabulary of Good News: When you are relieved and sharing a positive update about something you lost, you will rely heavily on these specific irregular verbs. Make sure you memorize them without adding “-ed”!
- find → found (I found my keys!)
- lose → lost (I lost them on Monday.)
- think → thought (I thought they were gone.)
- know → knew (I knew they were in the house.)
- run → ran (I ran to tell my family.)
- feel → felt (I felt so happy.)
2 The “Did / Didn’t” Golden Rule: Even when you are excited to tell a story, do not forget the most important rule of the Past Simple tense. If you ask a question or make a negative sentence, you must use did or didn’t, and the main verb immediately goes back to its normal Base Form.
- Question: Where did you find it? (Not: did you found)
- Negative: I didn’t buy a new one. (Not: I didn’t bought)