Question 1

What irregular verbs should B1 learners know?

Accepted Answer

At B1 level, you should know roughly 60-70 irregular verbs, including the basic ones from A2 plus additional forms such as: forgive → forgave, lend → lent, shake → shook, steal → stole, wear → wore, hide → hid, dig → dug, bite → bit, feed → fed, and lead → led. These verbs appear in Cambridge B1 Preliminary exam texts and listening exercises. You will also encounter them in newspaper articles and everyday stories. The best way to expand your irregular verb knowledge at this level is through extensive reading — when you meet a new irregular verb in context, note it down and review it regularly. This natural exposure builds lasting memory better than studying verb tables.

Question 2

What is the difference between past simple and past participle of irregular verbs?

Accepted Answer

The past simple and past participle of irregular verbs are sometimes the same and sometimes different. For many common verbs, they match: "buy" → "bought" (past simple) → "bought" (past participle). But for others, they are different: "go" → "went" (past simple) → "gone" (past participle), "see" → "saw" → "seen," "write" → "wrote" → "written." The past simple is used on its own for finished past actions: "I wrote a letter." The past participle is used with "have" for present perfect: "I have written a letter." Knowing both forms is important from B1 level onwards, as you need them for different tenses and passive constructions.

Question 3

Why do some irregular verbs not change at all in past simple?

Accepted Answer

Some English verbs have the same form in the present and the past: "put" → "put," "cut" → "cut," "shut" → "shut," "cost" → "cost," "hit" → "hit." These are sometimes called "zero-change" irregular verbs. The only way to know the tense is from the context of the sentence: "I put my bag on the table" could be present or past, but "I put my bag on the table yesterday" is clearly past because of the time expression. These verbs are easy to use — you never need to worry about changing the form — but they can cause confusion in listening and reading when there is no time marker. There are about 20 of these verbs in English.

Past Simple Irregular Verbs Part 3

Quick Rule

All 20 questions

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Past Simple Dictation: Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs

Irregular Verbs Part 1

-ed vs -ing Adjectives

Conditionals

Present Perfect