Grammar rule and drill

Irregular verbs: the past participle

The third form of an irregular verb, the jobs it does after have, has, had and be, and the mistakes it causes.

CEFR B120 questionsUpdated 5 October 2026

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Every irregular verb has three forms: the base form (write), the past simple (wrote) and the past participle (written). The past participle is the third form, and it does a different job from the past simple.

After have, has and had, English uses the past participle: "I have written the report." After be in the passive voice, the past participle appears again: "The report was written in a hurry." The past simple never goes in those two places.

This page shows what the third form does, groups irregular verbs by how their participle is made, and drills the contrast between "I wrote" and "I have written" in 20 sentences.

The rule

What the third form is

Base form: write. Past simple: wrote. Past participle: written.
After have, has and had, use the participle: have written, has taken, had gone.
After be in the passive, use the participle: was written, is broken, were sent.
The participle is not a tense. It cannot stand alone as the only verb: "I written" is wrong.
After get meaning "become", the participle often appears: get lost, get married, get stuck.

Group A: the past form and the participle are the same

buy, bought, bought; bring, brought, brought; think, thought, thought.
teach, taught, taught; catch, caught, caught; send, sent, sent.
keep, kept, kept; feel, felt, felt; sleep, slept, slept; meet, met, met.
Once you know the past simple, you already know the participle.

Group B: three different forms

go, went, gone; do, did, done; see, saw, seen.
write, wrote, written; take, took, taken; give, gave, given.
speak, spoke, spoken; break, broke, broken; choose, chose, chosen.
These verbs cause the classic error "I have went". Learn them inside a phrase: "have gone", "have seen", "have taken".

Group C: participles ending in -en or -n

eat, ate, eaten; fall, fell, fallen; drive, drove, driven; ride, rode, ridden; rise, rose, risen.
The -en or -n ending is a useful signal. If you hear it, you know the form is the participle, not the past simple.
Some participles end in -wn: know, knew, known; grow, grew, grown; throw, threw, thrown.
A few end in -ne: do, did, done; go, went, gone; see, saw, seen.

The participle in the passive and as an adjective

Passive: "The window was broken", "The letters were sent", "The song was sung twice".
Adjective: a written test, a broken cup, frozen food, a well-known writer.
The participle can describe a state or a feeling: I am interested, she was tired, they were surprised.
Do not confuse the participle with the -ing form. A broken window is the window that someone broke; a boring film makes you bored.

Examples

Write, wrote, written. She wrote a letter, and she has written three letters this week.The past simple is for the finished action; the participle follows has.
Go, went, gone. He went home, and now he has gone home for good.Never say "has went".
See, saw, seen. I saw the film on Friday, and I have never seen anything like it.Seen is the participle after have.
Eat, ate, eaten. We ate early, and the children have eaten already.Eaten appears after have.
Take, took, taken. Someone took my umbrella, and my umbrella has been taken.The passive also needs the participle.
Break, broke, broken. The storm broke the window, and the window was broken all night.Broken works in the passive.
Teach, taught, taught. She taught us last year, and she has taught here for ten years.Taught covers both past jobs.
Choose, chose, chosen. He chose the blue one, and he has chosen the cheaper model.Chosen is the third form.
Know, knew, known. I knew her at school, and I have known her for years.Known follows have.
Give, gave, given. They gave us a map, and we have given it back.Given is the participle.

Common mistakes

Wrong: I have went to the market. Right: I have gone to the market.: After have or has, use the past participle gone, not the past simple went.
Wrong: She has wrote three emails. Right: She has written three emails.: The participle of write is written.
Wrong: He was took to hospital. Right: He was taken to hospital.: The passive uses the participle taken after be.
Wrong: I have ate already. Right: I have eaten already.: The participle of eat is eaten. Ate is only the past simple.
Wrong: They had drank all the water. Right: They had drunk all the water.: After had, use the participle drunk. Drink, drank, drunk.

Questions learners ask

What is the difference between the past simple and the past participle?

The past simple is a complete verb for a finished action: "I wrote the letter." The past participle is a form that needs a helper: "I have written the letter", "The letter was written." Both describe the past, but only the participle can follow have, has, had or be.

How many irregular past participles should I learn?

Start with the thirty most common verbs: be, have, do, go, say, get, make, take, come, see, know, give, find, think, tell, put, read, write, eat, drink, break, choose, speak, drive, fall, forget, begin, buy, bring and hear. They cover most everyday sentences.

Why do some participles look like the past simple?

English verbs took different paths over the centuries. In one large group the middle and third forms merged (buy, bought, bought). In another group all three forms are different (take, took, taken). The pattern, not logic, decides the form, so the reliable way is to learn the three forms together.