Regular Verbs

What Are Regular Verbs?

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A regular verb is one that forms its simple past tense and its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form of the verb. For example:

Base Form	Simple Past Test	Past Participle
clean	cleaned	has cleaned
close	closed	closed

Remember that the simple past tense describes a completed activity that happened in the past. For example:

John cleaned the table.
Anne closed the door.

The past participle is the form that can be used with "have" to form a specific verb tense or as an adjective. For example:

I have cleaned the table already.
The prize is behind the closed door.

Table of Contents

Find the Regular Verb Test
Spell the Regular Verbs Test
Creating the Past Forms of Regular Verbs
Comparing Regular Verbs to Irregular Verbs
The Most Common Regular Verbs
Why Regular Verbs Are Important
Test Time!

Find the Regular Verb Test

It's your go! Select the regular verb.
(Hint: Find the verb whose past forms end "-ed" or "-d.")

Spell the Regular Verbs Test

Click on the green letters to spell the past tense and then the past participle of the regular verb shown.

Regular Verb

Past Tense	Past Participle

Creating the Past Forms of Regular Verbs

For regular verbs, the "simple past tense" and "past particle" are formed like this:

Add "ed" to most verbs:

jump > jumped
paint > painted

If a verb of one syllable ends [consonant-vowel-consonant], double the final consonant and add "ed":

chat > chatted
stop > stopped

If the final consonant is "w," "x," or "y," don't double it:

sew > sewed
play > played
fix > fixed

If the last syllable of a longer verb is stressed and ends [consonant-vowel-consonant], double the last consonant and add "ed":

incur > incurred
prefer > preferred

If the first syllable of a longer verb is stressed and the verb ends [consonant-vowel-consonant], just add "ed":

open > opened
enter > entered
swallow > swallowed

If the verb ends "e," just add "d":

thrive > thrived
guzzle > guzzled

If the verb ends [consonant + "y"], change the "y" to an "i" and add "ed":

cry > cried
fry > fried

Comparing Regular Verbs to Irregular Verbs

Regular verbs contrast with irregular verbs, which form their simple past tenses and past participles in a variety of ways.

With a regular verb, the simple past tense and the past participle are the same. For example:

Regular Verb	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle
cook	cooked	has cooked
play	played	has played
dance	danced	has danced

With irregular verbs, however, the past forms can be same or different. For example:

Irregular Verb	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle
begin	began	has begun
break	broke	has broken
buy	bought	has bought

The Most Common Regular Verbs

Oddly, the most common verbs in English are all irregular. More specifically, the most common verbs in English are be, have, and do.

The ten most common regular verbs are

want, look, use, work, start, try, ask, need, talk, and help.

Regular Verbs Are Weak Verbs

A regular verb is a type of weak verb.

The terms "regular verb" and "weak verb" are not synonyms (i.e., they do not mean the same). Similarly, the terms "irregular verb" and "strong verb" are not synonyms.

Here is an infographic explaining how verbs are classified: strong, weak, regular, irregular verbs

Why Regular Verbs Are Important

Somewhat counter-intuitively, the most common verbs in English are the irregular verbs. They are a pain, but if you're learning or teaching English, you must embrace them. That said, there are some extremely useful regular verbs.

When learning or teaching English, it is a good practice to start with the regular verbs to understand the concept of tense and the role of participles. You can tackle those ghastly irregular verbs, once you've cracked how the tenses work.

Good luck!