Language and Accessibility Issues in Curriculum and Assessment plus workshops in Art & Design, Modern Languages, Environmental Studies
Presented in November 2005
English verb groups
Hilary McColl
(Notes to accompany MLG’s Vital Verbs Kit, showing how they might be grouped for teaching and practising English verb forms.)
Regular Verbs (Group 1) (to — / —ed / —ed)
Set a) in past tenses -ed adds sound [t] to the last syllable
Set b) in past tenses –ed adds sound [d] to the last syllable
Set c) in past tenses –ed adds an additional syllable
Set d) in past tenses – ed is added but there are spelling irregularities
| Card Set a) | infinitive | past tense | past participle |
| A13 | help | helped | helped |
| A16 | cook | cooked | cooked |
| A25 | talk | talked | talked |
| A33 | work | worked | worked |
| B3 | wash | washed | washed |
| B4 | dress | dressed | dressed |
| B13 | ask | asked | asked |
| B23 | touch | touched | touched |
| B25 | look | looked | looked |
| B31 | laugh | laughed | laughed |
| C3 | push | pushed | pushed |
| C7 | pick | picked | picked |
| C15 | finish | finished | finished |
| C18 | jump | jumped | jumped |
| B12 | dream | dreamed [dremt] | dreamed (but note irregular pronunciation)? |
| B15 | spell | spelled [spelt] | spelled? |
| B24 | smell | smelled [smelt] | smelled? |
| Card Set b) | |||
| A15 | call | called | called |
| A28 | remember | remembered | remembered |
| B14 | answer | answered | answered |
| B28 | listen | listened | listened |
| C1 | open | opened | opened |
| C4 | pull | pulled | pulled |
| C13 | clean | cleaned | cleaned |
| C20 | play | played | played |
| Card Set c) | |||
| A14 | visit | visited | visited |
| A30 | want | wanted | wanted |
| A34 | rest | rested | rested |
| B16 | count | counted | counted |
| B29 | shout | shouted | shouted |
| C11 | mend | mended | mended |
| C14 | start | started | started |
| C15 | end | ended | ended |
| C30 | wait | waited | waited |
| Card Set d) | spelling irregularities | ||
| A25 | chat | chatted (tt) | chatted (tt) |
| C17 | stop | stopped (pp) | stopped (pp) |
| C25 | travel | travelled (ll) | travelled (ll) |
| B32 | cry | cried | cried |
| C8 | carry | carried | carried |
Regular verbs (Group 2) ( — / —d / —d)
| Card set a) | past tense adds sound [d] | ||
| A5 | die | died | died |
| A6 | love | loved | loved |
| A10 | argue | argued | argued |
| A15 | phone | phoned | phoned |
| A23 | receive | received | received |
| A31 | change | changed | changed |
| C2 | close | closed | closed |
| C26 | arrive | arrived | arrived |
set b) past tense adds sound [t]
A26 dance danced danced
B34 hope hoped hoped
set c) past tense adds a syllable
A7 hate hated hated
IRREGULAR VERBS (Group 1) ( — / = / = )
A3 have had had
A23 get got got
A24 meet met met
A32 buy bought bought
B11 sleep slept slept
B33 think thought thought
C5 lose lost lost
C6 find found found
C12 build built built
C22 catch caught caught
C23 win won won
C27 leave left left
C32 stand stood stood
C33 sit sat sat
Irregular verbs ( Group 2) ( — / X / —en)
A17 eat ate eaten
A20 take took taken
A22 give gave given
C19 fall fell fallen
variations:
A21 choose chose chosen
B1 wake woke woken
B27 speak spoke spoken
C10 break broke broken
A29 forget forgot forgotten ( tt)
B19 write wrote written (tt)
B20 draw drew drawn
B21 show showed shown
C12 throw threw thrown
B26 see say seen
Irregular verbs (Group 3) (vowel change)
A18 drink drank drunk
B30 sing sang sung
C14 begin began begun
C16 run ran run
C28 come came comeIrregular verbs (Group 4) ( — / — / —
)
A19 cut cut cut
C9 put put put
B18 read read read (NB pronunciation)Irregular verbs (one offs)
B6 go went gone
B17 have to have to have to
(must)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE on tenses
(Shoebox theatre)
Make, or imagine, an old-fashioned shoebox theatre, or imagine you are
making a video.
Present simple, present continuous
There are (at least) two layers of action. One is the action being focused
on, what the actors do, ie actions which begin and end as we watch (present
simple) and the background to that (present continuous).
Describe the scene when the curtains open for our attention. The sun is
shining, the villagers are standing around in the street as if they are
waiting for something to happen. They are chatting happily to one another.
Some are wearing festive clothes, others are hurrying home to change out
of their working gear. One wee boy is playing with a spinning top.
Suddenly the music changes; the sky grows dark, the people look fearful.
Lightning flashes. A tall dark-haired man strides onto the stage. He is
wearing a heavy black cloak and is holding a large scroll in his hand.
(ie. backround information, not what he does) He pauses centre stage,
opens the scroll and begins to read from it in a load, rough voice.
“All those who are living in houses which belong to Squire Benchley
(- that’s the background to the story-) must pack up their belongings
immediately. The Squire is going to (ie has already decided this will
happen soon) knock down the old houses and (he is going to - understood)
build a fine new manor for himself.”
The villagers look shocked …Past tenses
Retell the story as if telling someone else about it later. What happens
to each of the verbs? Is there any pattern to this?