Activity “Jumbled Verbs”
Instructions:
1. Write regular and irregular verbs in the simple present form on index cards.
2. Write the past tense forms of the same regular and irregular on another index
card.
3. Handout cards randomly to participants.
4. Play some music and have participants walk around asking each other who
has their present or past tense form of their verb.
5. Once they have found their partner sit down next to their partner and create a
sentence with the verb in the present and past tense.
7. Have students say there sentences in present and past tense.
8. Have students with regular verbs go on one side of the room and students with
irregular verbs on the other.
9. Students with irregular verbs will pronounce the past tense of their verb. Ask
students if they notice any differences in the pronunciation of the endings of the
verbs.
10. If yes, have them group into 3 groups. Those that have similar endings /id/,
/t/, /d/. Ask why they think regular verbs have different pronunciations for the /ed/ ending. (Explain if necessary, see explanation below)
11. If No, explain the differences between the /-ed/ endings.
12. Explanation for Differences:
a. regular verbs that ends in -t or -d always pronounce the verb with the
extra syllable -ed at the end of the word. (e.g. hand-handed /-ed/ - startstarted /-ed/)
b. regular verbs that end in a voiced consonant or vowel sound (e.g., all
vowel sounds are voiced, consonants /b/, /n/, /v/, etc., see chart, have a
/d/ sound for the –ed ending (e.g., rain-rained /d/
c. regular verbs that end in a voiceless consonant sound (e.g., /p/, /s/,
/ch/, etc., see chart, have a /t/ sound for the -ed ending (e.g., cookcooked /t/
13. Have students categorize their regular past tense verbs in 3 columns by their
end sounds. (/t/, /d/ /id/).
14. Irregular verbs do the following; change the vowel (e.g., swim – swam),
change the entire word (e.g., go – went), stay the same and change the
pronunciation (e.g., read – read) or stay the same (e.g., cut – cut).
Tip for teaching regular verb endings: Have students place two fingers on
their vocal cords and produce the sound /z/, they will notice the vibration of their
vocal cords. Explain that this is a voiced sound. Have them do the same thing
and produce the sound /s/, they will notice no vibration of their vocal cords.
Explain that this is a voiceless sound.
Name __________________________
Date ________________
Practice Past Tense of Regular & Irregular Verbs
Instructions: Write the past tense of each irregular in parenthesis. Circle all
words that indicate the past.
I love to eat fruit salad. This past winter (is) ____________ very cold. Spring
(come) _______________ and still there (is) ____________ no fruit at the
market. Finally yesterday, I (go) ______________ to the market and (buy)
________________ fruit to make a fruit salad. The month before my favorite
fruits (is) _________________ not in season, so I (can) ____________________
not make one. Now, I can make one everyday.
Practice past tense of regular verbs:
Instructions: Write the past tense for each regular verb in parenthesis. Circle all
words that indicate the past. Practice your pronunciation of -ed endings by
reading to a partner.
Last year, we (walk) _______________ to school every day in the morning and
home in the afternoon. Every afternoon, we (stop) _________________ at our
favorite store for ice cream. When we (arrive) ___________________ home, we
(work) ___________________ on our homework. Afterwards, we (play)
_________________ video games for an hour. When we (finish)
__________________ playing video games, we (wash) __________________
our hands and got ready for dinner. Then, we (watch) ___________________ TV
for a few hours, (brush) __________________ our teeth and went to bed.