A Better Way to Teach Past Tense Verbs

English grammar rules are hard! Past tense verbs are definitely not my favorite speech therapy goal to work on. There is not much logic and reasoning in past tense verb forms, making them difficult to both teach and learn.

I have found the best way is to teach by verb pattern, as opposed to teaching them randomly. In other words, separating them into groups where the ending of the past tense form is the same. This method makes past tense verbs much more manageable and enjoyable. Teaching in this organized manner allows students to better remember and feel confident learning a group of verbs before moving onto the next verb pattern. I also keep in mind the verbs that are most commonly used in the English language and focus on these verbs. Learning past tense verbs is lots and lots of repetition and memorization, but teaching by pattern makes the memorization easier!

REGULAR PAST TENSE VERBS

There are 3 regular past tense verb patterns. Have the student master a verb group before moving onto the next. The graphic below explains when the past tense verb ends in /d/, /t/, or /ɪd, əd/.

Download this image for free in the “SLP Handouts” PDF

Regular Past Tense Verb Examples:

/d/: closed, moved, stayed, traveled, arrived, sneezed, pulled, turned, warned, cried, glued, carried, hugged, robbed, borrowed, entered, remembered

/t/: walked, worked, dropped, finished, stopped, laughed, coughed, watched, kicked, asked, licked, looked, talked, worked, fixed, danced, passed

/ɪd/ or /əd/: waited, pretended, guarded, tested, acted, edited, ended, started, invited, expected, tasted, decided, needed, wanted, floated, painted, landed, decided

IRREGULAR PAST TENSE VERBS

Irregular past tense verbs are much more difficult and don’t have a clear explanation for their verb patterns. Below are the most common irregular verb forms. I teach them roughly in the order presented.

unchanged: cut, put, quit, burst, hit, shut, bet, hurt, let, cost, burst

-ought/-aught: taught, brought, caught, bought, fought, thought, brought

-ang/-ung: rang, sang, hang, swung

-ew: blew, grew, knew, flew, drew, threw

-t: slept, felt, left, spent, met, spent, kept,  swept

long /o/: spoke, drove, woke, broke, awoke, wrote, rode, froze

In addition to teaching in verb patterns, focus on common verbs.
Some of the most common irregular verbs are:

Thanks for reading!

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