What are Regular Verbs? Meaning and Examples

What are Regular Verbs? Meaning and Examples
A regular verb is a verb that follows a predictable pattern when switching between tenses. In English, you can usually form the past tense of a regular verb simply by adding the suffix “-ed” or “-d” to the end of the verb. This applies to both the simple past tense and the past participle.
Regular verbs are an important part of language, and luckily, they’re relatively easy to learn. So, now we’ve seen a regular verbs definition, let’s break it down and find out the exact meaning of regular verbs and how they operate. We can also look at some regular verbs examples so you can see them in action.
Regular verbs meaning and examples

We all use regular verbs every day, but we probably don’t even notice them. In fact, there are two in that sentence - “use” and “notice” are both examples of regular verbs. This is because they can be transformed into the past tense simply by adding “-ed” or “-d” to the end of the verb, like this:

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  “I use a pencil to do my homework” becomes “I used a pencil to do my homework”.
  
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  “I notice the trees on my way home” becomes “I noticed the trees on my way home”.
  

So, a regular verb always takes this very predictable form when we’re moving it from the present into the simple past tense.
Some more regular verbs examples include:

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  walk - walked
  
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  laugh - laughed
  
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  jump - jumped
  
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  talk - talked
  
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  look - looked
  
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  agree - agreed
  
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  listen - listened
  
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  dance - danced
  
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  wonder - wondered
  
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  wish - wished
  

As you can see, each of these verbs can very easily be turned into its past-tense equivalent. This is why regular verbs are the first ones children learn - they make it as easy as possible for children to talk and write about what has happened in the past.
There are thousands of regular verbs in English! Each of them behaves the same way as the regular verb examples we’ve given here. If you want to talk about something that’s already happened, you add “-ed” or “-d” to the end of the verb.
Past participle regular verbs meaning and examples

A participle is a non-finite verb that can also be used as an adjective. For example:

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  He looked at his burned finger.
  
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  He has burned his finger.
  

In the first sentence, the word “burned” is being used as an adjective. In the second, it is used as the past participle.
The past participle of a verb is always used with the verb “to have” (“He has burned his finger”). It is most often used to form the past perfect tense, to describe an action that has already been completed.
Here are some more examples of past participle regular verbs:

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  I have completed my homework.
  
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  We had talked about it.
  
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  They had played in the garden.
  
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  I have cooked my dinner.
  
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  She has watched television.
  
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  He had shouted to his friend.
  

The great thing about regular verbs is that they don’t change their form at all between the simple past tense and the past participle. You still form them simply by adding “-ed” or “-d” to the end of the regular verb.
What’s the difference between regular and irregular verbs?

If a verb can’t be put into the past tense easily, if the verb doesn’t fit with the ending “-ed” or “-d”, or the verb needs to change its form to make sense in the past, this means it’s an irregular verb. These are more tricky to learn, because they don’t follow the regular pattern that you’d expect when you put them into the past tense. Some examples of irregular verbs include:

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  eat - ate
  
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  write - wrote
  
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  go - went
  
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  run - ran
  
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  see - saw
  

English is full of irregular verbs, and they each have to be learned on a case-by-case basis. Children are usually not taught irregular verbs until they have grasped how regular verbs work and feel confident using them.
How can I teach regular verbs and the past tense?

We hope that this regular verbs meaning and examples page is helpful when it comes to teaching children about regular verbs and how to use them in the past tense. However, children learn in all kinds of different ways, and it helps if you have plenty of engaging resources to increase their understanding of the topic. Our experienced in-house teachers have put together a wide range of materials and activities you can use to help children learn all about regular verbs:

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  This teaching pack gives you some great lesson planning materials for teaching your classes about regular verbs. It includes a PowerPoint and worksheets, so children can practise using the suffix “-ed” to put verbs into the past tense.
  
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  These Regular Past Tense Verb Jigsaws are a fun way for children to learn the basics of regular verbs. Each puzzle piece has a picture and a regular verb in either the present or past tense. The children have to match the present tense verb with its past tense equivalent, using the pictures to help them.
  
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  This Past Tense Verb Sorting Activity is ideal for getting children used to the difference between present and past tense regular verbs. They are given a selection of verbs in the present and past tense, and they have to sort them into the right columns.
  
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  And, when you’re moving on to irregular verbs, these regular and irregular verb lists are ideal for displaying in the classroom, so your classes can see the differences between the two.
  

You can also find plenty more resources to help you teach the different types of verbs and how to use them here.