Past Simple - Regular and irregular verbs activity - Free Printable

Let's solve this step-by-step.

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Part A: Put the verbs in the correct column

We are given a list of verbs and need to classify them as regular or irregular in the past simple tense.

#### 🔹 Regular Verbs:
These form the past tense by adding -ed (e.g., *walk → walked*).

From the list:
- paint → painted ✔
- listen → listened ✔
- watch → watched ✔
- send → sent ✘ (irregular)
- clean → cleaned ✔
- go → went ✘ (irregular)
- write → wrote ✘ (irregular)
- play → played ✔
- be → was/were ✘ (irregular)
- study → studied ✔
- do → did ✘ (irregular)
- smile → smiled ✔
- visit → visited ✔
- eat → ate ✘ (irregular)
- have → had ✘ (irregular)
- like → liked ✔
- see → saw ✘ (irregular)
- break → broke ✘ (irregular)

So, let’s separate:

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✔ Regular Verbs:

- paint
- listen
- watch
- clean
- play
- study
- smile
- visit
- like

> These all add -ed in the past tense.

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✘ Irregular Verbs:

- send → sent
- go → went
- write → wrote
- be → was/were
- do → did
- eat → ate
- have → had
- see → saw
- break → broke

> These don’t follow the regular -ed pattern.

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✔ Part A Answer:

| Regular verbs | Irregular verbs |
|---------------------------|----------------------------|
| paint | send |
| listen | go |
| watch | write |
| clean | be |
| play | do |
| study | eat |
| smile | have |
| visit | see |
| like | break |

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Part B: Complete the sentences with past form of the verbs

Now use the correct past simple form of the verbs from Part A.

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1. (+) Yesterday I played football in the park.
→ "play" is regular → played

2. (+) My mother read a book last year. It's very interesting.
→ "read" is irregular (present: read, past: read – pronounced differently). But note: read is not in our original list! Wait — we don't have “read” listed. Let's check the verbs again.

Wait — the verb "read" isn't among the ones provided. So we must use only the verbs from the list.

But look at sentence 2: "My mother ________ a book last year."
The verb that fits here is "read", but it's not in the list.

Wait — perhaps there’s a mistake? Or maybe the intended verb is "study" or "write"?

But "study" doesn't fit well with "a book". "Write" could work: "My mother wrote a book..."

Yes! That makes sense.

So likely, the intended verb is "write" → wrote

✔ Sentence 2: My mother wrote a book last year.

3. (-) Peter didn’t like this colour when he was younger.
→ "like" is regular → past = liked
→ negative: didn’t like

4. (?) Did you send a letter to your grandma?
→ "send" → irregular → past = sent
→ question: Did you send...?

5. (-) We didn’t watch TV last weekend.
→ "watch" → regular → watched
→ negative: didn’t watch

6. (+) I had a pet rabbit when I was a child.
→ "have" → irregular → had

7. (?) Did she clean her room? It was very dirty yesterday!
→ "clean" → regular → cleaned
→ question: Did she clean...?

8. (+) Sarah ate two sandwiches yesterday.
→ "eat" → irregular → ate

9. (-) The children didn’t break the window – it was the dog.
→ "break" → irregular → broke
→ negative: didn’t break

10. (+) I studied for the test last night. I'm not nervous.
→ "study" → regular → studied

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✔ Final Answers for Part B:

1. played
2. wrote
3. didn’t like
4. Did, send
5. didn’t watch
6. had
7. Did, clean
8. ate
9. didn’t break
10. studied

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📝 Summary:

#### Part A: Classification

| Regular Verbs | Irregular Verbs |
|----------------------|---------------------|
| paint | send |
| listen | go |
| watch | write |
| clean | be |
| play | do |
| study | eat |
| smile | have |
| visit | see |
| like | break |

> Note: "read" is not in the list, so we used "write" instead in sentence 2.

#### Part B: Completed Sentences

1. Yesterday I played football in the park.
2. My mother wrote a book last year. It's very interesting.
3. Peter didn’t like this colour when he was younger.
4. Did you send a letter to your grandma?
5. We didn’t watch TV last weekend.
6. I had a pet rabbit when I was a child.
7. Did she clean her room? It was very dirty yesterday!
8. Sarah ate two sandwiches yesterday.
9. The children didn’t break the window – it was the dog.
10. I studied for the test last night. I'm not nervous.

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✔ All answers are based on correct grammar and the verbs provided.

Let me know if you'd like this formatted as a printable worksheet!