블로그 / Goed, Eated, Runned: 20 Real Irregular Verb Mistakes

Goed, Eated, Runned: 20 Real Irregular Verb Mistakes

Regular verbs form the past tense by adding -ed: walk → walked. About 200 common English verbs do not follow this pattern, and because they are common, the mistakes are common too. The examples below are real sentences that people sent to Proofread Bot.

The corrections are written in formal, academic English, so contractions are spelled out in full. Where a contracted or colloquial form is common in everyday writing, it is shown underneath as the informal version.

1. Adding -ed to an irregular verb

✗ I goed to town at five o'clock to go shopping.
✓ I went to town at five o'clock to go shopping.

✗ The girl eated 3 pieces of cake.
✓ The girl ate three pieces of cake.

✗ I ated all of the pizza.
✓ I ate all of the pizza.

✗ She runned faster to the store.
✓ She ran faster to the store.

✗ Nathan teached me math.
✓ Nathan taught me mathematics.

✗ I've knowed how to fold clothes since I was 8.
✓ I have known how to fold clothes since I was eight.
Informal: I've known how to fold clothes since I was eight.

✗ I sawed you put that paper away yesterday.
✓ I saw you put that paper away yesterday.

✗ He draws that and you write what you think he drawed.
✓ He draws that, and you write what you think he drew.

✗ The fly flyd down the line.
✓ The fly flew down the line.

Children learning English go through exactly this stage: they learn the rule "add -ed" and then apply it everywhere. Adults writing quickly make the same slip.

2. Past tense or past participle?

Many irregular verbs have two different past forms. The simple past stands alone ("I saw"). The past participle needs a helping verb such as have, has, had, or was ("I have seen").

✗ I seen that the bridge broke.
✓ I saw that the bridge broke.

✗ I done this correctly.
✓ I did this correctly.

✗ She begun to paint pretty flowers.
✓ She began to paint pretty flowers.

✗ Gavin had began to open the package.
✓ Gavin had begun to open the package.

✗ Bob had eat a banana.
✓ Bob had eaten a banana.

✗ The old woman did not know how her son had grow so old.
✓ The old woman did not know how her son had grown so old.

✗ Yesterday, she lead an army of people towards the cafeteria.
✓ Yesterday, she led an army of people towards the cafeteria.

"I seen" and "I done" are features of some spoken dialects, but in standard written English they are errors: write "I saw" or "I have seen," and "I did" or "I have done." The past of lead is spelled led; "lead" pronounced the same way is the metal.

3. The base form after "did," "to," and modal verbs

✗ Strangely, I did not saw it.
✓ Strangely, I did not see it.

✗ i cannot saw the movie.
✓ I cannot see the film.

✗ I like to ate bread.
✓ I like to eat bread.

✗ They will went to the store.
✓ They will go to the store.

After did, to, will, can, and must, the verb stays in its base form. The helping verb already carries the tense, so the main verb does not need to change.

Quick reference

go, went, gone
eat, ate, eaten
run, ran, run
see, saw, seen
do, did, done
begin, began, begun
teach, taught, taught
know, knew, known
draw, drew, drawn
fly, flew, flown
grow, grew, grown
lead, led, led

Proofread Bot recognizes all common irregular verbs and flags invented forms like "goed" and mismatches like "had began." For tense errors in general, see verb tense mistakes.

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