Irregular Verbs Part I

Irregular verbs have three forms: the infinitive, the past simple and the past participle, and the last two usually do not end in -ed. For example: "go - went - gone", "eat - ate - eaten", "buy - bought - bought". Use the past simple on its own for a finished past action: "I went home at six." Use the past participle after have, has or had: "I have gone home." There is no single rule for these forms, so learn each verb as a set of three.

"Went" is the past simple of go and stands alone; "gone" is the past participle and needs have, has or had before it. Say "She went to Paris last year" and "She has gone to Paris", not "She has went to Paris" or "She gone to Paris". Many irregular verbs work the same way: "saw" and "seen", "did" and "done", "ate" and "eaten", "wrote" and "written".

No, in standard English you say "I have gone" and "I have eaten": after have, use the past participle, not the past simple. "Went" and "ate" are past simple forms and stand alone: "I went home", "I ate breakfast". After have, has or had, use the third form: "We have gone home", "She has eaten breakfast". "I have went" is heard in some informal speech, but it is not accepted in standard written English.

Many common irregular verbs do, such as "buy - bought - bought", "think - thought - thought" and "make - made - made". Others have three different forms, like "eat - ate - eaten", "see - saw - seen" and "go - went - gone", and a few repeat the infinitive instead: "come - came - come", "run - ran - run". So say "I have come", not "I have came". Learn each verb as a set of three to know which pattern it follows.

Both are correct: "gotten" is the usual past participle of get in American English, while British English uses "got". An American might say "She has gotten a new job", and a British speaker "She has got a new job". The past simple is "got" everywhere: "I got a letter yesterday." In "have got" meaning "have" or "own" ("I've got two sisters"), both British and American speakers use "got", not "gotten".