Regular verbs form the Past Simple and the Past Participle by adding -ed to the base form. Both forms are identical (worked – worked), which makes regular verbs much easier than irregular ones. There are only a few spelling rules and three ways to pronounce the ending.
Spelling rules
| Rule | Base form | Past form |
|---|---|---|
| Most verbs: add -ed | work, play, walk, visit | worked, played, walked, visited |
| Verbs ending in -e: add only -d | like, live, love, arrive | liked, lived, loved, arrived |
| Consonant + y: change y to -ied | study, try, carry, cry | studied, tried, carried, cried |
| Vowel + y: add -ed (y stays) | play, enjoy, stay, obey | played, enjoyed, stayed, obeyed |
| One short stressed vowel + one consonant: double the consonant | stop, plan, drop, admit | stopped, planned, dropped, admitted |
| Words ending in -w, -x, -y: no doubling | show, fix, play | showed, fixed, played |
How to pronounce -ed
| Sound | After | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /t/ | voiceless sounds: /p/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/ | walked, helped, laughed, missed, washed, watched |
| /d/ | voiced sounds and vowels: /b/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /m/, /n/, /l/, /r/, vowels | played, cleaned, loved, called, opened, stayed |
| /ɪd/ | the sounds /t/ and /d/ | wanted, needed, visited, decided, started |
The pronunciation of -ed depends on the last sound, not the last letter: laughed ends in /t/ because laugh ends in /f/.
Regular verbs used in the app
| V1 | V2 | V3 |
|---|---|---|
| admit | admitted | admitted |
| agree | agreed | agreed |
| apply | applied | applied |
| argue | argued | argued |
| arrive | arrived | arrived |
| ask | asked | asked |
| believe | believed | believed |
| call | called | called |
| carry | carried | carried |
| change | changed | changed |
| clean | cleaned | cleaned |
| close | closed | closed |
| continue | continued | continued |
| cook | cooked | cooked |
| copy | copied | copied |
| cry | cried | cried |
| dance | danced | danced |
| decide | decided | decided |
| deny | denied | denied |
| destroy | destroyed | destroyed |
| drop | dropped | dropped |
| employ | employed | employed |
| enjoy | enjoyed | enjoyed |
| equip | equipped | equipped |
| finish | finished | finished |
| fix | fixed | fixed |
| happen | happened | happened |
| help | helped | helped |
| hurry | hurried | hurried |
| invite | invited | invited |
| jog | jogged | jogged |
| like | liked | liked |
| listen | listened | listened |
| live | lived | lived |
| look | looked | looked |
| love | loved | loved |
| marry | married | married |
| miss | missed | missed |
| move | moved | moved |
| need | needed | needed |
| occur | occurred | occurred |
| open | opened | opened |
| pass | passed | passed |
| plan | planned | planned |
| play | played | played |
| prefer | preferred | preferred |
| pull | pulled | pulled |
| push | pushed | pushed |
| rain | rained | rained |
| refer | referred | referred |
| regret | regretted | regretted |
| rely | relied | relied |
| remember | remembered | remembered |
| satisfy | satisfied | satisfied |
| shop | shopped | shopped |
| smile | smiled | smiled |
| start | started | started |
| stir | stirred | stirred |
| stop | stopped | stopped |
| study | studied | studied |
| submit | submitted | submitted |
| talk | talked | talked |
| travel | travelled / traveled | travelled / traveled |
| try | tried | tried |
| turn | turned | turned |
| use | used | used |
| visit | visited | visited |
| wait | waited | waited |
| walk | walked | walked |
| want | wanted | wanted |
| wash | washed | washed |
| watch | watched | watched |
| work | worked | worked |
| worry | worried | worried |
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a verb is regular?
If its past form ends in -ed and the Past Simple and Past Participle are the same, it is regular. New verbs (google, text, stream) are always regular.
Does the -ed rule work for the Past Participle too?
Yes. Regular verbs use the same form for both: I worked (Past Simple), I have worked (Present Perfect).