Irregular Verbs – English Grammar Exercises for A2
Payment Explanation (Explaining expenses and confirming transactions to the class treasurer or accounting department).
Choose the best option (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence. Read the context carefully to see that these are finished actions in the past.
1 Hi Sarah, I am writing to explain the budget. Yesterday, I ______ all the decorations for our class party.
(A) buyed
(B) bought
(C) buy
2 I ______ for everything using the cash from the class fund.
(A) paid
(B) payed
(C) pay
3 The balloons and banners ______ exactly 25 dollars.
(A) costed
(B) costs
(C) cost
4 After that, I ______ 15 dollars on snacks and drinks at the supermarket.
(A) spent
(B) spended
(C) spend
5 I didn’t have small change, so I ______ the cashier a fifty-dollar bill.
(A) gived
(B) gave
(C) given
6 The cashier ______ me the exact change and the receipt.
(A) gived
(B) give
(C) gave
7 I ______ the receipt safely in my wallet so I could show it to you today.
(A) kept
(B) keeped
(C) keep
8 Because the boxes were very heavy, we ______ a taxi back to the school.
(A) taked
(B) took
(C) taken
9 I ______ the taxi driver 10 dollars for the ride.
(A) payed
(B) pay
(C) paid
10 I ______ you a picture of the final invoice this morning. Did you receive it?
(A) sent
(B) sended
(C) send
11 We ______ a small discount at the bakery because we ordered so many cakes.
(A) getted
(B) got
(C) gotten
12 I ______ the remaining change to the classroom today. It is on your desk.
(A) brought
(B) bringed
(C) brang
13 I briefly ______ my wallet in the store, but luckily, a staff member found it.
(A) losed
(B) lost
(C) loose
14 I also ______ cheaper paper cups at a different store, which saved us some money.
(A) finded
(B) find
(C) found
15 I ______ the heavy bags of ice in the school cafeteria freezer yesterday afternoon.
(A) left
(B) leaved
(C) leave
16 The delivery guy ______ the pizzas to the front gate at exactly 6 PM.
(A) bringed
(B) broughten
(C) brought
17 I ______ some extra napkins just in case we needed them.
(A) buy
(B) bought
(C) buyed
18 The delivery fee ______ more than we expected, so I had to use 5 dollars of my own money.
(A) cost
(B) costed
(C) costs
19 I ______ the rest of the budget on a small gift for our teacher.
(A) spended
(B) spend
(C) spent
20 Everything is settled now. I ______ the final deposit to the restaurant last night.
(A) payed
(B) paid
(C) pay
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) bought
Why it’s correct: “Bought” is the correct V2 (Past Simple) form of “buy”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (adding -ed to an irregular verb). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
2 (A) paid
Why it’s correct: “Paid” is the correct V2 form of “pay”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common spelling mistake. “Payed” is only used in a very specific nautical context (letting out a rope), not for money. (C) is the present simple V1 form.
3 (C) cost
Why it’s correct: “Cost” is an irregular verb that does not change its form in the past tense (cost – cost – cost).
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“costed” is rarely used except in specific business accounting contexts regarding estimating, not for general past purchases). (B) is the present simple with an “s”.
4 (A) spent
Why it’s correct: “Spent” is the correct V2 form of “spend”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“spended”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
5 (B) gave
Why it’s correct: “Gave” is the correct V2 form of “give”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“gived”). (C) is the V3 past participle, which cannot be used alone for the past simple.
6 (C) gave
Why it’s correct: “Gave” is the correct V2 form of “give”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“gived”). (B) is the present simple V1 form.
7 (A) kept
Why it’s correct: “Kept” is the correct V2 form of “keep”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“keeped”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
8 (B) took
Why it’s correct: “Took” is the correct V2 form of “take”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“taked”). (C) is the V3 past participle.
9 (C) paid
Why it’s correct: “Paid” is the correct V2 form of “pay”.
Error Analysis: (A) is the common incorrect spelling for financial transactions. (B) is the present simple V1 form.
10 (A) sent
Why it’s correct: “Sent” is the correct V2 form of “send”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“sended”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
11 (B) got
Why it’s correct: “Got” is the correct V2 form of “get”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“getted”). (C) is the V3 past participle (in American English).
12 (A) brought
Why it’s correct: “Brought” is the correct V2 form of “bring”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“bringed”). (C) is incorrect grammar (brang is non-standard/dialectal).
13 (B) lost
Why it’s correct: “Lost” is the correct V2 form of “lose”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“losed”). (C) is a different word entirely (loose is an adjective meaning “not tight”).
14 (C) found
Why it’s correct: “Found” is the correct V2 form of “find”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“finded”). (B) is the present simple V1 form.
15 (A) left
Why it’s correct: “Left” is the correct V2 form of “leave”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“leaved”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
16 (C) brought
Why it’s correct: “Brought” is the correct V2 form of “bring”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“bringed”). (B) is a structural error (“broughten” is non-standard/dialectal).
17 (B) bought
Why it’s correct: “Bought” is the correct V2 form of “buy”.
Error Analysis: (C) is a common mistake (“buyed”). (A) is the present simple V1 form.
18 (A) cost
Why it’s correct: “Cost” remains “cost” in the past tense.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“costed”). (C) is the present simple with an “s”.
19 (C) spent
Why it’s correct: “Spent” is the correct V2 form of “spend”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“spended”). (B) is the present simple V1 form.
20 (B) paid
Why it’s correct: “Paid” is the correct V2 form of “pay”.
Error Analysis: (A) is the common incorrect spelling. (C) is the present simple V1 form.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The “Pay” Spelling Rule: When you talk about money, the past tense of “pay” is paid. A very frequent mistake is writing payed. In English, payed is only used by sailors when talking about ropes on a ship! For shopping and expenses, always use paid.
- The “D to T” Change: Many irregular verbs related to money and actions change their ending from “-d” to “-t” in the past tense. Memorize these pairs:
- Spend → Spent
- Send → Sent
- “Bought” vs. “Brought”: These two look very similar but mean different things.
- Buy → Bought (Purchasing something with money)
- Bring → Brought (Carrying something to a place)
Never add “-ed” to these verbs (e.g., buyed or bringed are completely incorrect). - Verbs That Do Not Change: The verb cost is the same in the present, past, and past participle (cost – cost – cost). If you say “It costed 10 dollars,” it is grammatically incorrect in standard everyday English. Just say: “It cost 10 dollars.”