Irregular Verbs – English Grammar Exercises for A2
Group’s Choice (Opening a group presentation and explaining the background of how the team made decisions).
Choose the best option (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence. Read the context carefully to see that the decision-making process happened in the past.
1 Good morning, everyone. Today, our group is presenting our final project. We ______ this topic because it is very important for the environment.
(A) choosed
(B) chose
(C) choose
2 When the teacher first gave us the assignment last month, we ______ about it for a long time.
(A) thought
(B) thinked
(C) think
3 Last week, our whole group ______ in the school library to discuss all the different options.
(A) meeted
(B) meet
(C) met
4 We ______ to several other students to get their opinions before making a final decision.
(A) spoke
(B) speaked
(C) spoken
5 During our initial research online, we ______ some very interesting facts about plastic waste.
(A) finded
(B) found
(C) find
6 At first, we wanted to write about air pollution, but finally, we ______ to focus on recycling.
(A) chose
(B) choose
(C) choosed
7 To prepare for this presentation, everyone in the group ______ three different articles on the subject.
(A) readed
(B) reads
(C) read
8 We quickly realized that we ______ very little about how recycling actually works.
(A) knowed
(B) knew
(C) known
9 Our team leader, John, ______ it would be a great idea to interview our science teacher.
(A) thinked
(B) thought
(C) think
10 So, Sarah sat down and ______ a long list of questions for the interview.
(A) writed
(B) wrote
(C) written
11 The interview with the teacher ______ about thirty minutes, and it was very helpful.
(A) took
(B) taked
(C) taken
12 After that, we ______ a detailed plan for our PowerPoint slides together.
(A) maked
(B) made
(C) make
13 If you look at the screen, you will see some photos. We ______ these specific pictures because they show the problem clearly.
(A) choose
(B) choosed
(C) chose
14 Working as a team, we ______ a strong argument for our main conclusion.
(A) builded
(B) build
(C) built
15 Initially, some group members ______ this topic was too difficult for us to explain.
(A) thought
(B) thinked
(C) think
16 However, after reading the teacher’s notes, we ______ the main concepts very easily.
(A) understanded
(B) understood
(C) understand
17 Looking back, I am very glad we ______ to work on this specific environmental issue.
(A) choosed
(B) chose
(C) choose
18 For slide number five, Mary ______ a beautiful chart to show the statistics clearly.
(A) drawed
(B) drew
(C) drawn
19 We wanted to select a topic that ______ something special to all of us.
(A) meaned
(B) meant
(C) mean
20 We hope you enjoy our presentation today. We really ______ carefully about how to make it interesting for you.
(A) thought
(B) think
(C) thinked
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) chose
Why it’s correct: The group made their decision in the past. “Chose” is the correct V2 (Past Simple) form of “choose”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a very common mistake (adding -d to an irregular verb). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
2 (A) thought
Why it’s correct: “Last month” indicates the past. “Thought” is the correct V2 form of “think”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a very common mistake (“thinked” does not exist). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
3 (C) met
Why it’s correct: “Last week” requires the past tense. “Met” is the correct V2 form of “meet”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“meeted”). (B) is the present simple V1 form.
4 (A) spoke
Why it’s correct: “Spoke” is the correct V2 form of “speak”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“speaked”). (C) is the V3 past participle, which cannot be used alone for past simple.
5 (B) found
Why it’s correct: “Found” is the correct V2 form of “find”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“finded”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
6 (A) chose
Why it’s correct: The decision (“finally”) was made in the past. “Chose” is the correct V2 form.
Error Analysis: (C) is a common mistake (“choosed”). (B) is the present simple V1 form.
7 (C) read
Why it’s correct: “Read” is irregular; its past tense is spelled the exact same way as the present tense, but pronounced like the color “red”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“readed”). (B) is the present simple with an “s”.
8 (B) knew
Why it’s correct: “Knew” is the correct V2 form of “know”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“knowed”). (C) is the V3 past participle.
9 (B) thought
Why it’s correct: John had this idea in the past. “Thought” is the correct V2 form of “think”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“thinked”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
10 (B) wrote
Why it’s correct: “Wrote” is the correct V2 form of “write”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“writed”). (C) is the V3 past participle.
11 (A) took
Why it’s correct: “Took” is the correct V2 form of “take”.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“taked”). (C) is the V3 past participle.
12 (B) made
Why it’s correct: “Made” is the correct V2 form of “make”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“maked”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
13 (C) chose
Why it’s correct: The group selected the pictures before the presentation. “Chose” is the correct V2 form.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“choosed”). (A) is the present simple V1 form.
14 (C) built
Why it’s correct: “Built” is the correct V2 form of “build”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“builded”). (B) is the present simple V1 form.
15 (A) thought
Why it’s correct: “Initially” (at the beginning) indicates the past. “Thought” is the correct V2 form.
Error Analysis: (B) is a common mistake (“thinked”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
16 (B) understood
Why it’s correct: “Understood” is the correct V2 form of “understand”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“understanded”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
17 (B) chose
Why it’s correct: The choice is a finished action in the past. “Chose” is the correct V2 form.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“choosed”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
18 (B) drew
Why it’s correct: “Drew” is the correct V2 form of “draw”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“drawed”). (C) is the V3 past participle.
19 (B) meant
Why it’s correct: “Meant” is the correct V2 form of “mean”.
Error Analysis: (A) is a common mistake (“meaned”). (C) is the present simple V1 form.
20 (A) thought
Why it’s correct: The preparation and thinking happened before standing up to speak. “Thought” is the correct V2 form.
Error Analysis: (C) is a common mistake (“thinked”). (B) is the present simple V1 form.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- “Choose” vs. “Chose”:
Many students struggle with the verb choose because they try to apply the regular “-ed” rule. - Present (V1): Choose (Double “o” – sounds like “ooz”)
- Past (V2): Chose (Single “o” – sounds like “ohz”)
- Wrong: “We choosed this topic.”
- Right: “We chose this topic.”
- The “Thought” Spelling:
The past tense of think is highly irregular. It does not become thinked. It changes completely to thought (T-H-O-U-G-H-T). This is the exact same spelling as the noun for “an idea” (e.g., I have a thought). - Setting the Context in Presentations:
When you stand in front of an audience to present a project, the work is already done. Therefore, when explaining why you are talking about a subject, how you found the information, or who you interviewed, you must almost always use the Past Simple (V2) tense.