With the verbs run, come, become, and overcome, the base and past participle are the same. Sometimes, the final vowel changes from i in the base to a in the past, and then to u in the past participle. Also, verbs with a base form ending in -ght never follow this pattern. Keep in mind that this pattern does not apply to all verbs ending in the letter -t-there are quite a few, such as connect, visit, and lift, that are regular verbs. The base form of these verbs almost always ends in -t (a couple of them end in -d, but that's very unusual). Baseįor some verbs, the base, past tense, and past participle are all the same. It is common to form the past participle by adding -en, -n, or -ne to the end of the base or past tense form. Use the table below to help you start recognizing all the patterns. You'll want to keep these characteristics in mind as you study irregular verbs, but don't worry about memorizing them all. This happens most often when the base ends in -ck, -g, -ght, or -ne.

Sometimes the base, past, and past participle endings are all the same. The only time the past forms end in -n or -ne is when that ending is already part of the base form ( shi ne/ sho ne/ sho ne). You will never add an -en, -n, or -ne ending to these verbs. The most common past tense and past participle endings you will add to these verbs are -t, -ght, and -d ( sweep/ swep t/ swep t catch/ cau ght/ cau ght sell/ sol d/ sol d). All the verbs in this category have at least one of the following characteristics: Sometimes the past tense and past participle are the same. Now that you have an idea of how to form the irregular past tense and irregular past participles, let's take a look at some patterns that an irregular verb may follow. *For some verbs, such as sleep, freeze, and eat, a pair of vowels changes instead of just a single vowel. Pay special attention to the vowel changes and different endings. In the table below you'll find several examples of how the irregular past tense and past participles are formed. Many irregular past participles end in -en, but, similarly to the past tense, they can also end in -t, -ck, -d, -e, -g, or -ght. For example, many irregular past participles require you to add an -en, -n, or -ne ending ( drive → drive n). However, the vowel or ending is often (but not always) different from the past tense form. Just like the irregular past tense, irregular past participles can be formed by changing a vowel, adding a new ending, or doing both. Often, when the base ends in -ck, -e, -g, -ght, or -n, the past tense will keep that final letter or set of letters. Sometimes you'll add -d ( sell → sol d) or -ght ( catch → cau ght) instead. One of the most common irregular past tense endings is -t ( sweep → swep t). Eat, for example, turns into at e in the past tense. Other verbs require you to change a vowel and add a new ending. The verb dr ive, for example, changes to dr ove in the past tense. With the irregular past tense, it is common for a vowel in the middle of the verb to change instead of the verb's ending. Let's take a closer look at how the irregular past tense and past participles are formed. You'll learn more about this concept later in this lesson. Most irregular verbs follow a specific pattern.Beg an (base form, beg in) and fr oze (base form, fr eeze) are a two good examples. It's very common for a vowel (or pair of vowels) to be different from the base form.Some examples are at e, fough t, swa m, and give n. They all have one important characteristic in common: they almost never end in -ed.Here are a few basics you'll want to remember about the irregular past tense and past participle forms. Irregular Past Tense and Past Participles

Examples of irregular past tense verbs