Why Irregular Verb Groups Work (and Save Your Sanity)
If your students are still memorizing irregular verbs one at a time, you’re working too hard. The fastest way to help learners notice patterns, build long-term memory, and actually use past tense in conversation is to teach irregular verbs in groups. When verbs are chunked by how they change (for example, ride → rode and write → wrote), the brain stores dozens of words as one meaningful pattern instead of dozens of disconnected facts. This post walks you through a teacher-tested system for grouping irregular verbs, complete with example sentences, pronunciation tips, and low-prep practice ideas. You can grab the free printable chart below.
Grab the Free Irregular Verb Grouping Chart
Post this chart on your wall, project it during mini-lessons, or print it for student binders. It’s color-coded and organized by change pattern so students can quickly find the right past tense in writing workshops, centers, or small-group intervention.
Sign up above to receive the printable in your inbox. Then use the teaching guide below to introduce each group.
How to Teach Irregular Verbs by Group
Use a 5–7 minute daily spiral: introduce one group, read the model sentences, practice with a quick call-and-response or whiteboard race, then revisit across the week. Encourage learners to say the pair aloud (present → past) and to use the past in a real sentence. Below are student-friendly explanations and ready-to-use examples for each group on the chart.
1) O Group — the vowel becomes o
Pattern: the vowel changes to o (often with final e added): ride → rode, write → wrote, speak → spoke.
- Core verbs: break → broke, freeze → froze, ride → rode, drive → drove, wear → wore, swear → swore, forget → forgot, speak → spoke, get → got, write → wrote, rise → rose, shine → shone, wake → woke, steal → stole, win → won.
- Examples: “We drove to school.” “She wore a jacket.” “He wrote the answer.” “The sun shone all day.”
- Pronunciation tip: Contrast present /aɪ/ or /eɪ/ with past /oʊ/: write → /raɪt/, wrote → /roʊt/.
2) A Group — the vowel becomes a
Pattern: the vowel changes to a: begin → began, sing → sang, run → ran.
- Core verbs: come → came, become → became, drink → drank, begin → began, swim → swam, forgive → forgave, give → gave, sing → sang, ring → rang, stink → stank, run → ran, sit → sat, sink → sank.
- Examples: “She began her project.” “They swam in the lake.” “He sat by the window.”
- Teaching move: Use hand motions: present = flat palm; past = move down while saying the a sound.
3) No-Change Group — same spelling in past
Pattern: base and past are spelled the same (note: read changes pronunciation).
- Core verbs: hit, fit, read, cut, put, burst, beat, split, set, cost, let, shut, hurt, spread.
- Examples: “They cut the paper.” “The price stayed the same; it cost $2.” “I read /rɛd/ three chapters.”
- Tip: Add a yesterday card to force past-tense speech: “Yesterday I put my lunch here.”
4) No Specific Rule (High-Frequency)
Pattern: must memorize — these are the most-used verbs in English.
- Core verbs: be → was/were, find → found, do → did, have → had, go → went, see → saw, make → made, eat → ate, hear → heard, light → lit, lie (recline) → lay.
- Examples: “We were late.” “She did her homework.” “They went home.” “He made a sandwich.”
- Intervention tip: Make a “gold list” of the top ten and require two past-tense sentences in every writing task.
5) 1E or O Group — long vowel changes to e or o
Pattern: many ee/oo verbs shorten: meet → met, shoot → shot, choose → chose.
- Core verbs: meet → met, feed → fed, speed → sped, bleed → bled, lead → led, shoot → shot, choose → chose.
- Examples: “I met my partner.” “The driver sped away.” “She chose the blue one.”
6) 1E + T Group — keep the t ending
Pattern: verbs end with t in the past: leave → left, sleep → slept, keep → kept.
- Core verbs: leave → left, sleep → slept, keep → kept, feel → felt, weep → wept, sweep → swept.
- Examples: “He slept late.” “We swept the floor.” “She felt tired.”
- Mnemonic: “When you sleep, you slept (kept the t).”
7) U Group — becomes u or adds u
- Core verbs: swing → swung, hang → hung, dig → dug, sting → stung, stick → stuck.
- Examples: “The bee stung him.” “We dug a hole.” “He hung the poster.”
8) ID Group — say/lay/pay family
- Core verbs: say → said, lay → laid, pay → paid.
- Examples: “She said hello.” “We paid the bill.” “He laid the book down.”
- Note: Contrast lie (recline → lay) vs. lay (place → laid).
9) T Group — ends in t or changes to t
- Core verbs: spend → spent, send → sent, lend → lent, build → built, burn → burnt (also burned), mean → meant, dream → dreamt (also dreamed), deal → dealt, lose → lost.
- Examples: “We spent the money.” “She built a tower.” “He lost his keys.”
10) GHT Group — add -ght
- Core verbs: seek → sought, catch → caught, think → thought, bring → brought, buy → bought, fight → fought, teach → taught.
- Examples: “They brought snacks.” “We thought about it.” “The teacher taught a new lesson.”
- Pronunciation: /ɔː/ sound in bought, taught.
11) EW Group — past has -ew
- Core verbs: fly → flew, draw → drew, throw → threw, blow → blew, grow → grew, know → knew.
- Examples: “The plane flew low.” “She knew the answer.”
- Extension: teach the participles next (flown, thrown, grown) when students are ready.
12) E Group — short & strong
- Core verbs: fall → fell, hold → held.
- Examples: “He fell off the bike.” “She held the mirror.”
13) OO Group — add under- or change inside
- Core verbs: understand → understood, stand → stood, mistake → mistook, take → took.
- Examples: “I understood the directions.” “She took the bus.”
14) No-E Group — drop the vowel to short forms
- Core verbs: hide → hid, bite → bit.
- Examples: “The cat hid under the chair.” “He bit the apple.”
15) OLD Group — change to -old
- Core verbs: sell → sold, tell → told.
- Examples: “They sold lemonade.” “She told a story.”
Keep the focus tight: present → past → your sentence. Students should say both forms before producing their own sentence: “take, took — Yesterday I took the bus.”
Three More Ways to Practice Irregular Verbs (Posters, Games & Speed Review)
1) Irregular Verb Posters & Word Wall
Visuals are powerful. Post a small, high-frequency set near your writing center and a larger reference set on your ELA/ESL board. Encourage students to stand, find their verb, and touch and tell the past tense before writing.
2) “SLAP IT!” Speed Game (Past Simple)
For a five-minute energy burst, project or place the base forms on the table. Call a past-tense verb; teams race to slap the matching present. Then switch: show the present; students shout the past. It’s fast, loud, and unforgettable—perfect for mixed-ability classes and brain breaks.
3) UNO-Style Irregular Verb Card Game
Use a familiar card-game structure to drive massive repetition with engagement. To play a card, the student must read (or hear) the present and say the correct past. Action cards (reverse, skip, draw two) keep energy high while you monitor and coach complete sentences: “Yesterday I took the bus,” not just “took.”
Quick Ways to Assess Irregular Verb Mastery
- 1-minute micro-quiz: Say five present verbs; students write the past (or vice versa). Rotate through groups weekly.
- Story audit: Ask for a 6-sentence “yesterday” journal entry. Highlight all irregular verbs in one color and check forms.
- Conversation check: Pair students for “What did you do…?” interviews. Tally correct past-tense forms as you circulate.
Related Reading for Teaching Verb Tenses
- Struggling with -ed sounds? Try these easy ways to teach past-tense -ed pronunciation (/t/, /d/, /ɪd/).
- More motivation strategies here: irregular verbs made easy—even for reluctant writers.
Bottom line: Grouping irregular verbs turns a memorization mountain into a handful of memorable patterns. With the free chart, daily mini-practice, and the poster + game ideas above, your learners will start saying and writing the past tense naturally.
Shop the Post: Irregular Verbs Teaching Resources
- FREE Irregular Verb Groups Chart (Download)
- Irregular Verb Posters • Bulletin Board / Word Wall
- SLAP IT! Irregular Verbs • Fast-Match Card Game
- Irregular Verbs Card Game • UNO-Style Practice
