Past Simple: Irregular Verbs
- Use the top irregular past forms correctly: go → went, eat → ate, see → saw.
- TR: En sık kullanılan düzensiz fiillerin geçmiş hallerini doğru kullanmak.
- Success check: say went, ate, saw, bought and took without pausing.
Start the 8-question quizAdapts to your answers · every miss links back to the rule
Rule in 60 secondsThe one pattern to memorise.
- Irregular verbs do not take -ed; each has its own past form: buy → bought, drink → drank, write → wrote.
- Negative and question still use did + base verb: didn't go, Did you eat?
- Never add -ed to an irregular past form.
- TR: Düzensiz fiilin geçmiş hali ezberlenir. Olumsuz ve soruda did + yalın fiil kullanılır.
- No -ed rule: goed, eated and wented do not exist.
- Helper did: Did you go? — never Did you went?
- Memory trick: learn irregulars in small groups of five.
FormsHow it looks in sentences.
| Type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | S + irregular past | She went home. |
| Negative | S + didn't + base V | She didn't go home. |
| Question | Did + S + base V? | Did she go home? |
| Short answer | Yes, S + did / No, S + didn't | Yes, she did. |
- be → was/were; have → had; do → did; go → went; get → got
- see → saw; come → came; take → took; make → made; give → gave
- eat → ate; drink → drank; write → wrote; read → read (/red/); speak → spoke
- think → thought; buy → bought; bring → brought; find → found; lose → lost
- Note: read is spelled the same, pronounced /red/ in the past.
- TR: Önce bu 20 fiili ezberle; read yazımı aynı kalır ama /red/ okunur.
- was/were: I, he, she, it + was; you, we, they + were.
- Short answers: Yes, she did. / No, she didn't.
3 classic trapsWhere Turkish speakers slip.
- -ed on irregulars: ❌ *I goed / eated.* → ✅ *I went / ate.* (TR: Düzensiz fiile -ed gelmez.)
- Past form after did: ❌ *Did you went?* → ✅ *Did you go?* (TR: did varsa fiil yalın olur.)
- was/were confusion: ❌ *They was happy.* → ✅ *They were happy.* (TR: I/he/she/it + was; you/we/they + were.)
10 example sentencesRead aloud, twice.
- I went to Ankara last month. — Geçen ay Ankara'ya gittim.
- She ate breakfast at 7 a.m. — Sabah 7'de kahvaltı etti.
- We saw an old friend yesterday. — Dün eski bir arkadaş gördük.
- He bought a new jacket. — Yeni bir ceket aldı.
- They came home late. — Eve geç geldiler.
- I didn't take the bus. — Otobüse binmedim.
- She didn't write back. — Cevap yazmadı.
- Did you drink your coffee? — Kahveni içtin mi?
- Did he find his keys? — Anahtarlarını buldu mu?
- The children had fun and read comics. — Çocuklar eğlendi ve çizgi roman okudu.
Quick checkCover the answers, say yours first.
- Q1: Fill in: She ___ (go) to school by bus yesterday.
- Q2: Correct the error: *Did you bought milk?*
- Q3: Write the past forms: eat, see, take, think, lose.
- Q4: Choose: They ___ (was / were) at home last night.
- Q5: True or false: "I didn't saw him." is correct.
- Q6: Write the past of: go, buy, find.
<summary>Answers</summary> - A1: went - A2: Did you buy milk? - A3: ate, saw, took, thought, lost - A4: were - A5: False — "I didn't see him." - A6: went, bought, found.