Using Irregular Past Tense
What to Say
Go through the word list at the bottom. Mark any that your child has
difficulty with and teach them the correct term to use. E.g. Dig a hole
together and talk about how you are ‘digging’ a hole. Then stop digging
and talk about how you ‘dug’ a hole.
If you hear your child use a word incorrectly repeat the sentence back to
them, placing emphasis on the word in error. E.g. Child: “I catched it!”.
Parent: “Yay! You caught it. You caught the big ball!”.
Activity Ideas
Craft/Cooking
Do an activity with your child, e.g. making a balloon animal, then get your
child to tell someone else how they made it. Encourage them to use the
correct past tense. E.g. Child: “We blowed up the balloon, and then we
sticked some eyes on it”. Adult: “Yes, we blew up the balloon, and stuck
the eyes on”
Simon Says
Give your child an instruction using one of the past tense words below.
Then ask your child what they did. E.g. Adult: “Simon Says run to the door
and then throw me the ball”. Child does so. Adult: “What did you do?”
Child: “I ran to the door and threw you the ball”.
Stories
Look at books with your child and take turns telling each page in the story.
On your turn emphasise any irregular past tense words. On your child’s
turn encourage them to use the correct past tense. E.g. Child: “He gived it to
her”. Adult: “Yes, he gave it to her”.
Types of Words
ran
fell
fought
gave
broke
knew
bought
saw
ate
found
took
came
kept
sat
threw
bit
chose
drove
fed
flew
wore
brought
wrote
blew
read
rode
stuck
sunk
drank
drew
dug
hid
rang
slept
swam
caught
hung
left
slid
built
got
shook
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