Irregular Verbs Practice: 56 Exercises with Answers (PDF)
Fifty-six gap-fill sentences in seven pattern groups, from cut–cut–cut to sing–sang–sung, each asking for the past simple or the past participle. Answers included: tap to reveal them online, or use the answer key at the back of the printable PDF.
Get the printable PDF →Most irregular verb practice is the same alphabetical table — arise, awake, be, bear — followed by a gap-fill that mixes forty verbs at random. Students end up memorising a list in an order they will never meet the verbs in. This set is organised differently: 56 sentences in seven groups, each group built around one pattern the forms follow. Cut, put and hit never change. Keep, sleep and feel share one form for the past simple and the past participle. Sing, ring and drink move their vowel the same way. Seeing the family makes the next verb in it easier to guess, and easier to check.
Every sentence asks for one form, and the label under it says which: the past simple, or the past participle in a present perfect, past perfect or passive sentence. The participle is where most intermediate students slip, so it gets roughly half the gaps. The groups run from A2 (no-change verbs, the -ought family) to B1 (vowel changes, -en participles), and the last group is a B2 mixed review with the pairs that catch even advanced classes: lie and lay, rise and arise.
Online, each answer is hidden behind a Show answer toggle with all three forms of the verb. In the printable PDF, the answers move to a key on the last page, so the sheet works as a student worksheet and the key stays with you.
56 to Use in Class
No change: cut, cut, cut (A2)
- 1
I ___ (cut) my finger while I was cooking last night.
Past simple
Show answer
cut (cut – cut – cut)
- 2
She has ___ (put) her keys somewhere and now she can't find them.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
put (put – put – put)
- 3
The ball ___ (hit) the kitchen window and broke it.
Past simple
Show answer
hit (hit – hit – hit)
- 4
That jacket ___ (cost) me forty euros last winter.
Past simple
Show answer
cost (cost – cost – cost)
- 5
Have you ___ (shut) all the windows?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
shut (shut – shut – shut)
- 6
My parents ___ (let) me stay up late on New Year's Eve.
Past simple
Show answer
let (let – let – let)
- 7
I've ___ (hurt) my back lifting boxes.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
hurt (hurt – hurt – hurt)
- 8
We ___ (set) the table before the guests arrived.
Past simple
Show answer
set (set – set – set)
Same past and participle: keep, kept, kept (A2)
- 1
I ___ (sleep) badly because of the noise from the street.
Past simple
Show answer
slept (sleep – slept – slept)
- 2
Have you ___ (meet) my brother before?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
met (meet – met – met)
- 3
She ___ (leave) the party early last night.
Past simple
Show answer
left (leave – left – left)
- 4
We've ___ (spend) all our money already.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
spent (spend – spent – spent)
- 5
He ___ (send) me a message at midnight.
Past simple
Show answer
sent (send – sent – sent)
- 6
They have ___ (build) a new school near the station.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
built (build – built – built)
- 7
I ___ (lose) my wallet on the bus yesterday.
Past simple
Show answer
lost (lose – lost – lost)
- 8
Have you ever ___ (feel) nervous before an exam?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
felt (feel – felt – felt)
-ought and -aught: buy, bought, bought (A2–B1)
- 1
I ___ (buy) this jacket in the sales.
Past simple
Show answer
bought (buy – bought – bought)
- 2
Have you ___ (bring) your dictionary today?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
brought (bring – brought – brought)
- 3
I ___ (think) the test was easier than the last one.
Past simple
Show answer
thought (think – thought – thought)
- 4
Who ___ (teach) you to swim?
Past simple
Show answer
taught (teach – taught – taught)
- 5
The goalkeeper ___ (catch) the ball with one hand.
Past simple
Show answer
caught (catch – caught – caught)
- 6
The two brothers have ___ (fight) about the same thing for years.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
fought (fight – fought – fought)
- 7
She ___ (seek) advice from her teacher before choosing a course.
Past simple
Show answer
sought (seek – sought – sought)
- 8
Have you ___ (think) about what you want to study next year?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
thought (think – thought – thought)
-ew and -own: know, knew, known (B1)
- 1
I ___ (know) the answer, but I couldn't remember the word.
Past simple
Show answer
knew (know – knew – known)
- 2
Have you ever ___ (fly) in a helicopter?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
flown (fly – flew – flown)
- 3
The children have ___ (grow) so much this year.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
grown (grow – grew – grown)
- 4
He ___ (throw) the ball over the fence.
Past simple
Show answer
threw (throw – threw – thrown)
- 5
The wind ___ (blow) my umbrella inside out.
Past simple
Show answer
blew (blow – blew – blown)
- 6
She has ___ (draw) a map of the town for us.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
drawn (draw – drew – drawn)
- 7
We ___ (fly) to Lisbon for the weekend.
Past simple
Show answer
flew (fly – flew – flown)
- 8
How long have you ___ (know) each other?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
known (know – knew – known)
Vowel change: sing, sang, sung (B1)
- 1
We ___ (sing) Happy Birthday to our teacher.
Past simple
Show answer
sang (sing – sang – sung)
- 2
Have you ever ___ (swim) in the sea in winter?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
swum (swim – swam – swum)
- 3
The lesson had already ___ (begin) when I arrived.
Past participle — past perfect
Show answer
begun (begin – began – begun)
- 4
Someone ___ (ring) the doorbell at six in the morning.
Past simple
Show answer
rang (ring – rang – rung)
- 5
I've ___ (drink) three cups of coffee today.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
drunk (drink – drank – drunk)
- 6
The ship ___ (sink) in less than an hour.
Past simple
Show answer
sank (sink – sank – sunk)
- 7
My favourite jumper has ___ (shrink) in the wash.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
shrunk (shrink – shrank – shrunk)
- 8
She ___ (swim) across the lake in twenty minutes.
Past simple
Show answer
swam (swim – swam – swum)
-en participle: take, took, taken (B1)
- 1
Who has ___ (take) my pen?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
taken (take – took – taken)
- 2
I ___ (write) three emails before breakfast.
Past simple
Show answer
wrote (write – wrote – written)
- 3
Have you ___ (speak) to the manager yet?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
spoken (speak – spoke – spoken)
- 4
He ___ (break) his leg skiing last winter.
Past simple
Show answer
broke (break – broke – broken)
- 5
Have you ___ (choose) a topic for your presentation?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
chosen (choose – chose – chosen)
- 6
She ___ (drive) all the way to Madrid in one day.
Past simple
Show answer
drove (drive – drove – driven)
- 7
Oh no, I've ___ (forget) her name again.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
forgotten (forget – forgot – forgotten)
- 8
The leaves had ___ (fall) before the end of September.
Past participle — past perfect
Show answer
fallen (fall – fell – fallen)
Mixed review: the tricky ones (B2)
- 1
Where have you ___ (be) all afternoon?
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
been (be – was/were – been)
- 2
They ___ (go) home before the end of the film.
Past simple
Show answer
went (go – went – gone)
- 3
Prices have ___ (rise) every month this year.
Past participle — present perfect
Show answer
risen (rise – rose – risen)
- 4
He ___ (lie) on the sofa all afternoon, doing nothing.
Past simple (lie = rest, not lay = put down)
Show answer
lay (lie – lay – lain)
- 5
She ___ (lay) the plates on the table before dinner.
Past simple (lay = put down)
Show answer
laid (lay – laid – laid)
- 6
The old tower was ___ (strike) by lightning in 1990.
Past participle — passive
Show answer
struck (strike – struck – struck)
- 7
A problem ___ (arise) when nobody checked the booking.
Past simple
Show answer
arose (arise – arose – arisen)
- 8
The meeting was ___ (hold) in the main hall.
Past participle — passive
Show answer
held (hold – held – held)
Step-by-Step in Class
Work one pattern group at a time
Don't hand out all 56 at once. Take one group per lesson, or two related ones (keep–kept–kept next to buy–bought–bought works well, since both share a single past form). Before the gap-fill, write the three forms of two or three verbs from the group on the board and ask the class what they have in common; students who can name the pattern will fill the rest of the group faster and remember it longer.
Say it before you write it
Read each sentence aloud with a beep for the gap and let the class call the form before anyone writes. Irregular forms have to be retrieved from memory, and a spoken first pass makes every student attempt the retrieval, not just the ones who finish writing first. Then run the written version as individual or pair work.
Mark with the key, then drill the misses
Use the answer key at the back of the PDF (or the Show answer toggles on screen) to check. For any verb a student gets wrong, have them say the full three-form sequence aloud three times straight away — the moment after a mistake is when the correct form sticks best.
Come back a week later, mixed
One pass is not enough; irregular forms fade without review. A week later, pull two sentences from each group into a mixed quiz, or run the B2 review group as a test. For a timed, competitive rematch on the same verbs, irRegular Season turns the review into a team race with points lost for wrong answers.
Want a fresh batch every time?
Irregular Verbs Practice: 56 Exercises with Answers (PDF) is a fixed set. irRegular Season generates new ones on demand, calibrated to your class's exact CEFR level — free to start, no printing required.