Common Irregular Verbs (go, do, have, see…) – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Choose the correct option (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence.
1 My best friend ______ me a beautiful watch for my birthday last week.
(a) gave
(b) gived
(c) give
2 I ______ this amazing bag online because I really loved the color.
(a) buyed
(b) buy
(c) bought
3 My sister ______ to my house and surprised me with a big gift box.
(a) came
(b) comed
(c) come
4 I ______ a wonderful present in the mail yesterday morning.
(a) getted
(b) got
(c) get
5 My brother ______ this wooden box for me with his own hands.
(a) make
(b) maked
(c) made
6 The online store ______ the gift directly to my office.
(a) sent
(b) sended
(c) send
7 When I opened the box, I ______ a cute little teddy bear inside!
(a) see
(b) saw
(c) seed
8 I ______ my new jacket to the party last night and everyone loved it.
(a) weared
(b) wore
(c) wears
9 My mom ______ a very sweet message on the birthday card.
(a) writed
(b) write
(c) wrote
10 I didn’t know what the gift was until I ______ the note.
(a) read
(b) reads
(c) readed
11 She ______ a beautiful necklace from the jewelry store for my graduation.
(a) choosed
(b) choose
(c) chose
12 The delivery man ______ the package to my door this morning.
(a) brought
(b) bringed
(c) brings
13 Everyone ______ the gift was very expensive, but it was actually on sale!
(a) thinked
(b) thought
(c) think
14 I ______ a great place in my bedroom to put this beautiful lamp.
(a) found
(b) finded
(c) find
15 I didn’t like the size, so I ______ it back to the store to exchange it.
(a) take
(b) taked
(c) took
16 When I gave her the present, she ______ “Wow, I love it!”
(a) said
(b) sayed
(c) says
17 My husband ______ a lot of time looking for this perfect ring.
(a) spend
(b) spent
(c) spended
18 I ______ all my friends about this amazing product on my blog.
(a) told
(b) telled
(c) tell
19 I opened the box, but wait… did you ______ a gift for me too?
(a) got
(b) get
(c) getted
20 I ______ completely surprised when I opened the wrapping paper.
(a) were
(b) am
(c) was
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (a) gave
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Gave’ is the correct past simple form of ‘give’. The context is a finished action in the past (“last week”).
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Gived’ is incorrect because ‘give’ is an irregular verb. Adding ‘-ed’ is a typical mistake for beginners.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Give’ is the present simple form, which does not match the past time marker “last week”.
2 (c) bought
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (c) ‘Bought’ is the correct past simple form of ‘buy’.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Buyed’ is incorrect. Beginners often add ‘-ed’ to irregular verbs.
- Structural Error: (b) ‘Buy’ is the present tense and grammatically incorrect for describing a past event.
3 (a) came
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Came’ is the irregular past tense of ‘come’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Comed’ does not exist in English.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Come’ is the base form. Since the action happened in the past, it cannot be used here.
4 (b) got
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (b) ‘Got’ is the past simple form of ‘get’, matching the time marker “yesterday morning”.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Getted’ is an overgeneralization of the ‘-ed’ rule.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Get’ is the present tense form.
5 (c) made
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (c) ‘Made’ is the irregular past tense of ‘make’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Maked’ is grammatically incorrect.
- Structural Error: (a) ‘Make’ is the present tense form, which does not fit the context of an already finished action.
6 (a) sent
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Sent’ is the irregular past tense of ‘send’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Sended’ is a common learner error.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Send’ is the present tense, mismatching the narrative of reviewing something you already received.
7 (b) saw
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (b) ‘Saw’ is the correct past simple form of ‘see’.
- Common Mistake: (c) ‘Seed’ is incorrect (though ‘seed’ is a noun, it’s not the past tense of ‘see’).
- Structural Error: (a) ‘See’ is the present form. The sentence starts with “When I opened”, indicating the past tense is required.
8 (b) wore
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (b) ‘Wore’ is the irregular past tense of ‘wear’, fitting the phrase “last night”.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Weared’ is incorrect because ‘wear’ does not take an ‘-ed’.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Wears’ is the present simple form for third-person singular, which is wrong in both tense and subject agreement (“I”).
9 (c) wrote
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (c) ‘Wrote’ is the past simple form of ‘write’.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Writed’ is incorrect.
- Structural Error: (b) ‘Write’ is the base form and does not indicate the past event of the mother writing the card.
10 (a) read
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Read’ (pronounced /red/) is the past simple form. Its spelling is identical to the present form, making it a unique irregular verb.
- Common Mistake: (c) ‘Readed’ is incorrect.
- Structural Error: (b) ‘Reads’ is the present simple tense for third-person singular, which is wrong for the subject “I”.
11 (c) chose
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (c) ‘Chose’ is the irregular past tense of ‘choose’.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Choosed’ is an incorrect attempt to make it regular.
- Structural Error: (b) ‘Choose’ is the base form.
12 (a) brought
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Brought’ is the past simple form of ‘bring’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Bringed’ is a typical beginner mistake.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Brings’ is the present tense, contradicting “this morning” (referring to a finished past action).
13 (b) thought
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (b) ‘Thought’ is the irregular past tense of ‘think’.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Thinked’ is a common spelling/grammar error.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Think’ is the present form. The second clause uses “was”, meaning the first clause must also be in the past.
14 (a) found
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Found’ is the past tense of ‘find’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Finded’ does not exist.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Find’ is the present tense.
15 (c) took
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (c) ‘Took’ is the past simple of ‘take’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Taked’ is incorrect.
- Structural Error: (a) ‘Take’ is present tense. The first clause “I didn’t like” sets the timeline in the past.
16 (a) said
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Said’ is the irregular past form of ‘say’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Sayed’ is a common misspelling and grammar mistake.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Says’ is the present tense. The clause “When I gave her” requires a past tense verb.
17 (b) spent
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (b) ‘Spent’ is the correct past simple of ‘spend’.
- Common Mistake: (c) ‘Spended’ is an incorrect regularized form.
- Structural Error: (a) ‘Spend’ is the base form.
18 (a) told
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Told’ is the past simple of ‘tell’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Telled’ is incorrect.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Tell’ is present tense, not suited for a review of an action already done.
19 (b) get
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (b) ‘Get’. In a past simple question using the auxiliary “did”, the main verb must remain in its base form.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Got’. Learners often mistakenly use the past form even after “did”.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Getted’ is grammatically incorrect.
20 (c) was
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (c) ‘Was’ is the correct past form of the verb “to be” for the subject “I”.
- Common Mistake: (a) ‘Were’ is the past form for plural subjects or “you”, not “I”.
- Structural Error: (b) ‘Am’ is the present tense.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Irregular Verbs in Past Simple: Many common verbs do not follow the “-ed” rule. You must memorize their specific past forms (e.g., give -> gave, bring -> brought, buy -> bought). Do not add “-ed” to them (e.g., “gived” or “buyed” are always wrong).
2 Time Markers: Words like last week, yesterday, or this morning are strong signals to use the Past Simple tense because the action is completely finished.
3 Negative and Questions Rules (The Exception): When you use the auxiliary verb “did” for questions or “didn’t” for negative sentences, the main verb MUST return to its base form (e.g., Did you get…? NOT Did you got…?).
4 The Verb “To Be”: This verb is unique. It changes to “was” (for I, He, She, It) and “were” (for You, We, They) in the past tense.