When we talk about things that happened in the past, we often use past tense or past participle forms of verbs. But understanding when to use the past tense and when to use the past participle can sometimes be confusing. Let’s break it down and make it simple!

What is the Past Tense?

The past tense is used when you’re talking about something that has already happened. It is the most straightforward way to express actions that are finished or completed.

Example:

  • I played football yesterday. (This is the past tense of “play.”)
  • She walked to school. (This is the past tense of “walk.”)

What is the Past Participle?

The past participle is a form of the verb that is used with helper (auxiliary) verbs like “have,” “has,” or “had” to show that something happened before another event or to describe a completed action. It is often used in perfect tenses and passive sentences.

Example:

  • I have played football today. (This is the past participle of “play” with the helper verb “have.”)
  • She had walked to school before the bell rang. (This is the past participle of “walk” with the helper verb “had.”)

Key Differences

  • Past Tense: Describes an action that happened in the past, and it stands alone without needing any extra verbs. Example:
  • “He ran to the shop.”
  • Past Participle: Often comes with helper verbs (have, has, had) to show when something happened in relation to something else. Example:
  • “He had run to the shop before it started raining.”

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs:

For most regular verbs, the past tense and the past participle are the same. You form both by adding -ed to the base verb.

Examples:

  • Walk becomes walked (past tense) and walked (past participle).
  • Play becomes played (past tense) and played (past participle).

Irregular Verbs:

For irregular verbs, the past tense and past participle can be different, and you often just need to memorise them.

Examples:

  • Go becomes went (past tense) and gone (past participle).
  • Eat becomes ate (past tense) and eaten (past participle).
  • Write becomes wrote (past tense) and written (past participle).

Tips for Choosing Between Past Tense and Past Participle

  1. If there’s no helper verb like “have” or “had,” you are most likely using the past tense.
  • Example: “She finished her homework.”
  1. If you’re using “have,” “has,” or “had” to show when something happened, you’ll need the past participle.
  • Example: “She has finished her homework.”
  1. Past participles are also used in passive voice constructions.
  • Example: “The homework was finished by her.”
  1. For regular verbs, you won’t need to worry too much because the past tense and past participle are the same.
  • Example: “They played (past tense) football yesterday” and “They have played (past participle) football this week.”
  1. Irregular verbs are trickier, and you’ll need to learn their past tense and past participle forms.
  • Example: “She took (past tense) the bus yesterday” and “She has taken (past participle) the bus before.”

Questions

Easy Difficulty

  1. What is the past tense of “walk”?
  2. What is the past participle of “play”?
  3. What helper verb is often used with the past participle?
  4. Is the word “ate” a past tense or past participle?
  5. What is the past participle of “write”?
  6. What is the past tense of “go”?
  7. In the sentence “I have eaten breakfast,” is “eaten” a past tense or past participle?
  8. What is the past tense of “jump”?
  9. Does the past participle of “sing” use “singed” or “sung”?
  10. In the sentence “He ran to the shop,” what is the verb tense?
  11. What is the past participle of “take”?
  12. Is the word “swam” past tense or past participle?
  13. In the sentence “I have taken the bus,” is “taken” a past tense or past participle?
  14. What is the past tense of “dance”?
  15. What is the past participle of “go”?
  16. What is the past tense of “cook”?
  17. In the sentence “She has finished her work,” is “finished” a past tense or past participle?
  18. What is the past tense of “read”?
  19. What is the past participle of “eat”?
  20. What is the past tense of “run”?

Medium Difficulty

  1. What is the difference between the past tense and the past participle?
  2. Identify the past participle in this sentence: “I had walked to school.”
  3. What is the past participle of “choose”?
  4. Which verb form would you use in this sentence: “I have __ (swim) today.”
  5. What is the past tense of “drive”?
  6. In the sentence “He has written a letter,” what tense is “written”?
  7. What is the past participle of “drink”?
  8. What is the past tense of “build”?
  9. In the sentence “She has sung the song,” is “sung” past tense or past participle?
  10. Fill in the blank: “I __ (finish) my homework yesterday.”
  11. What is the past participle of “run”?
  12. Which helper verb is used with the past participle in the present perfect tense?
  13. What is the past tense of “bring”?
  14. What is the past participle of “begin”?
  15. In the sentence “She had broken the vase,” is “broken” past tense or past participle?
  16. What is the past tense of “sell”?
  17. What is the past participle of “teach”?
  18. Which tense is used in this sentence: “They ran to the park”?
  19. In the sentence “I have driven the car,” what tense is “driven”?
  20. What is the past participle of “swim”?

High Difficulty

  1. Explain how the past participle is used in the present perfect tense.
  2. Identify the past participle in this sentence: “They had eaten dinner before the movie.”
  3. What is the past participle of “give”?
  4. In what situations would you use the past participle instead of the past tense?
  5. What is the past participle of “choose”?
  6. Fill in the blank with the past participle: “She has __ (drive) the car many times.”
  7. In the sentence “I had written the essay,” what is the tense of “written”?
  8. What is the past participle of “break”?
  9. What is the past tense of “fall”?
  10. In the sentence “She had taken the test,” what form of the verb is “taken”?
  11. Fill in the blank with the past participle: “They have __ (choose) the team captain.”
  12. What is the past participle of “swim”?
  13. What is the past participle of “speak”?
  14. Identify the past participle in this sentence: “He had built the house by himself.”
  15. What is the past tense of “sing”?
  16. Fill in the blank: “I have __ (read) that book before.”
  17. What is the past participle of “fly”?
  18. In the sentence “They had seen the movie,” is “seen” past tense or past participle?
  19. What is the past tense of “grow”?
  20. How do past participles change when used in passive voice sentences?

Answers

Easy Difficulty

  1. Walked.
  2. Played.
  3. Have, has, or had.
  4. Past tense.
  5. Written.
  6. Went.
  7. Past participle.
  8. Jumped.
  9. Sung.
  10. Past tense.
  11. Taken.
  12. Past tense.
  13. Past participle.
  14. Danced.
  15. Gone.
  16. Cooked.
  17. Past participle.
  18. Read (pronounced “red”).
  19. Eaten.
  20. Ran.

Medium Difficulty

  1. Past tense stands alone; past participle is used with helper verbs.
  2. Walked.
  3. Chosen.
  4. Swum.
  5. Drove.
  6. Past participle.
  7. Drunk.
  8. Built.
  9. Past participle.
  10. Finished.
  11. Run.
  12. Have or has.
  13. Brought.
  14. Begun.
  15. Past participle.
  16. Sold.
  17. Taught.
  18. Past tense.
  19. Past participle.
  20. Swum.

High Difficulty

  1. The past participle is used with “have,” “has,” or “had” to describe an action completed before another.
  2. Eaten.
  3. Given.
  4. When using helper verbs like “have” or “had.”
  5. Chosen.
  6. Driven.
  7. Past participle.
  8. Broken.
  9. Fell.
  10. Past participle.
  11. Chosen.
  12. Swum.
  13. Spoken.
  14. Built.
  15. Sang.
  16. Read.
  17. Flown.
  18. Past participle.
  19. Grew.
  20. They often require a form of “to be” (e.g., “was built”).