Speech and Language Therapy Advice
IRREGULAR PAST TENSE
Some verbs do not follow the “- ed” rule when they are used in the past tense. These
are known as irregular past tense verbs. These verbs can be very hard for a child to
learn to use correctly and some need to be repeated MANY times before a child is
fluent with them, others are easier to learn because they arise naturally e.g. went, fell
down! Once a child understands that some verbs behave differently when you are
talking about what has happened then it can help to keep a list of the particular words
that they are finding hard so that you can help the child to practise them. Games
with picture cards or objects and real life activities can both be beneficial.
Important points:

It is difficult to learn irregular verbs. Do not try to work on too many at once.
Focus on one verb at a time to begin with.

When playing the games begin by playing them in a way which allows you to
model the verb for the child, eg. the child plays the instrument in the
instrument game.

Give the child plenty of opportunity to hear the irregular verb form in your own
speech, not only during the games, but also at other times if possible.
Focusing on one verb at a time will help you to remember it during the day.

It can be very confusing for a child if you muddle regular (-ed) and irregular
verbs. If possible do not do this until the child is confident in their use of the
irregular verb.

Once a child is confident then you can play games which use several verbs
and see if they can still manage to use them correctly.
The following ideas can be adapted depending on the words you need to work on.
1. Role Play. This can be a great way to model and practise verbs. Decide which
verbs you want to work on and then plan the game around them. For example:
A restaurant scene. This can be a fun way to practise “ate”, “drank”,
“chose” Look at the menu together and choose different items. Pretend to eat
or drink them and then either have a chat about what you have done, or pretend
to phone a friend or parent. If the child needs feedback and gentle help using
the correct verb form then perhaps you could pretend to be the friend on the end
of the phone. This would allow you to sound confused and directly model the
words the child is finding hard.
Shopping – Setting up a pretend shop can allow you to model and practise
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verbs such as “saw, bought, chose, found etc.
2. Drawing activities. This allows you to ask “What did you draw? … “I drew…”
3. Robber Game… Children take it in turns to be the robber or the policeman. The
robber takes some items from a pretend shop. The policeman catches him and the
robber has to reveal what s/he took “I took the watch”. The means by which the
policeman catches the robber may be varied, its up to you have exuberant you want
the children to get!
4. What’s gone? This is based on the traditional Kim’s Memory Game. 9-10 items
are placed on a tray, 2-3 items are removed secretly. The child has to identify what
was taken. “You took the ball, car and pen.”
5. Instruments. A set of instruments are placed behind a screen. The child must
listen and identify what you did no matter how quietly it was done. “You shook the
tambourine, the maracas, the bells etc.” This can then be extended. “You rang the
bell. You shook the maracas. You hit the drum. You blew the whistle.”
6. Secret changes. Put some objects in a tray and do something to one of them
without the child seeing. The child has to tell you what you have done. “You put the
pencil in the box.” “You hid the fish under the table.” “You broke the unifix”
7. Puppets and small figures. Act out a story. You can then talk about what
happened or make the characters tell each other what they have done, eg. “I fell
over. “I went down the slide” “I caught a big fish.”
8. Retelling stories. Ask the child to retell the story from their reading book.
9. Talking about what you have just done. Some activities are full of irregular verbs.
“You caught it. You tied your laces.”
10. I went shopping and I bought…. You can change the scenario depending on the
verbs you are practising, eg. I sat at the Bus Stop and I saw…. I went fishing and I
caught….. I had fun in PE and I threw…..
Some children will find it hard to remember a list of items, so make sure that you
have objects or pictures available so that they are able to focus on practising the verb
and not worrying about what they have to remember. If you want to give the child
extra practise with saying the verb, make saying the person’s name part of the game,
eg. “We went to the zoo and Mrs Brown saw an elephant, Emma saw a giraffe etc..
11. Keeping a diary. Try to write down something for each day so that the child can
talk about it with others. “I went swimming. I swam really well. I had fun”
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Some Early Irregular Verbs:
These are just some of the more common irregular verbs. When trying to decide
what to work on with a child it is important to focus on what will be meaningful and
useful to them. Think about what the child likes to talk about or what might be
coming up in school or at home. This will help them to learn and generalise their new
skill. Some words follow the same rule when being used in the past tense, eg. fly flew, blow -blew. Once the child understands that some words are different when
talking about the past, try to work on words which use the same rule at the same
time.
Verb
Begin
Read
Blow
Break
Bring
Build
Buy
Catch
Choose
Come
Cut
Dig
Do
Draw
Drink
Drive
Eat
Fall
Feed
Find
Fly
Forget
Forgive
Freeze
Get
Give
Go
Grow
Hang
Have
Hide
Hit
Hold
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Irregular Past
Began
Read
Blew
Broke
Brought
Built
Bought
Caught
Chose
Came
Cut
Dug
Did
Drew
Drank
Drove
Ate
Fell
Fed
Found
Flew
Forgot
Forgave
Froze
Got
Gave
Went
Grew
Hung
Had
Hid
Hit
Held
Verb
Is
Know
Leave
Make
Put
Ride
Run
Say
See
Shake
Shrink
Shall
Sing
Sink
Sit
Sleep
Slide
Smell
Speak
Spend
Stand
Steal
Sweep
Swim
Swing
Take
Teach
Tear
Tell
Throw
Wear
Will
Write
Page 3 of 3
Irregular Past
Was
Knew
Left
Made
Put
Rode
Run
Said
Saw
Shook
Shrank
Should
Sang
Sank
Sat
Slept
Slid
Smelt
Spoke
Spent
Stood
Stole
Swept
Swam
Swung
Took
Taught
Tore
Told
Threw
Wore
Would
Wrote