However, with irregular verbs it’s a different story.
What are irregular verbs?
Irregular verbs are common verbs in the English language that do not follow the simple system of adding “d” or “ed” to the end of the word to form the past tense. That means the spellings can be a little tricky. Some irregular verbs follow patterns, such as drink–drank, spring–sprang, know-knew, and blow-blew but you can’t use those patterns with predictability. Unfortunately, learning irregular verbs means memorization.
Before we move on, let’s take a moment to review three basic tenses in the English language as this may help with your understanding irregular verbs.
The present tense of a verb stands alone and shows the present tense.
Fly the kite.
I feel great right now!
The past tense is used to represent past events.
I flew the kite.
I felt great yesterday, too!
The past participle is used with the helping verbs have, has, and had to form perfect tenses.
1. Present perfect.
I have flown the kite.
I have felt great today!
2. Past perfect
I had flown the kite very well until the wind died down.
I had felt great until recently.
3. Future perfect
I will have flown the kite 5 miles by the end of the day.
I will have felt great three days in a row after tomorrow.