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Date ____________________

Using Irregular Verbs

The many forms of a verb are based on its three principal parts:the present, the past, and the past participle.

Example: help(present) helped(past) have helped(past participle)

Directions: Underline the correct form of the verb from those given in parentheses.

1. The judges have (chose,chosen) the finalists.

2. Amiko (chose,chosen) her library books yesterday.

3. My favorite jeans have (began,begun) to wear out.

4. Have you (bring,brought) your application with you?

5. Someone (broke,broken) that valuable Chinese vase.

6. Our mayor has not (broke,broken) any promises.

7. Soccer fans (began,begun) to fill the stands an hour before the game.

8. The team captains (chose,chosen) their players carefully.

9. Have you (chose,chosen) a topic for your report yet?

10. My grandparents have (bring,brought) their van from Montana?

Subject Verb Agreement Worksheet 1

In the following sentences, underline the verb and the subject that must agree with the verb.

Example: Either cake or cookies are fine for dessert.

1. Bob and Randy went to elementary school together.

2. Neither jogging nor swimming interests him.

3. Neither jogging nor racquet sports interest him.

4. Neither racquet sports nor jogging interests him.

5. The dog that had barked for hours was finally quiet.

6. The audience cheered the opening performance.

7. Economics is constantly faced by practical challenges.

8. Everyone is writing a take-home exam.

9. There are hungry children right here in our community.

10. The hunter as well as the hounds is following the bear.

11. The boss, together with the day shift, sent a card.

12. The team, including both pitchers, is outstanding.

13. No one who knows the children believes the story.

14. Each of us is responsible for a different task.

15. Few of the wealthy are coming tonight.

Subject / Verb Agreement Worksheet 2

Underline the correct verb in the parentheses.

1. Almost everybody (has / have) some difficulty with writing.

2. Neither the chipmunk nor the squirrels (is / are) bothering us.

3. Both of us (is / are) voting in the next election.

4. Milo, Phoebe, and I (was / were) offering our help.

5. Neither of you (jump / jumps) to conclusions.

6. Some say the Indians (has / have) been treated unfairly.

7. There (was / were) only two choices on the menu.

8. Rudy as well as his cat (like / likes) milk.

9. He (is / are) my boss and friend.

10. Sunbathing (is / are) my favorite form of exercise.

11. Neither of us (has / have) to pay the fine.

12. The twins and their parents (travel / travels) together.

13. Nobody (believe / believes) your alibi.

14. America and Russia (is / are) the most powerful nations.

15. “Safe” and “out” (is / are) two calls in baseball.

16. Neither of them (dance / dances) to disco music.

17. Each (serve / serves) a different purpose.

18. The hammer as well as the saw (make / makes) work easier.

19. Jacques (was / were) working for his uncle last year.

20. Our team (play / plays) hard every night.

21. Neither of the boys (has / have) to shave.

Subject / Verb Agreement Worksheet 3

Directions: Underline the correct verb form. If the subject is a noun rather than a pronoun, you may need to
substitute the pronoun subject in order to see if you have chosen the correct verb, i. e. use “they” in place of a
plural noun such as “people,” or a noun phrase such as “all of the children” and “he,” “she,” or “it” in place of a
singular noun. EXAMPLES: The cow and the horse (eat, eats) hay every night. “They” eat hay every night.
John (do, does) his homework after school. “He” does his homework after school.

1. The world (change, changes) so rapidly that we can hardly keep up.

2. People (is, are) often ten or twenty years behind the times in their knowledge of the world.

3. People who (live, lives) in poverty often do not even have television or newspapers.

4. He (doesn’t, don’t) want to be killed.

5. Life (is, are) very complicated

6. Traditionally, college students (has, have) been very active in politics.

7. There (is, are) both men and women at the meeting.

8. The students in my class (has, have) very poor work habits.

9. Each of you (has, have) an equal chance to make good grades.

10. All of the children (was, were) hunting Easter eggs in the garden.

11. A notebook and a pen (is, are) lying on the desk in the library.

12. My son, along with two friends, (is, are) coming for the weekend.

13. Sitting on the sofa (was, were) two students from Thailand.

14. Either the workers or the manager (is, are) coming to the conference.

15. Not only the students, but also the teacher (has, have) been unhappy.

16. Everybody (hate, hates) to take tests.

17. Knowledge gained after long study (disappear, disappears) rapidly from our minds.

18. One of my greatest worries in college (was, were) that I would study hard and still flunk important
tests.

19. Georgia Southern University (provide, provides) some scholarships for the students.

20. The news about Afghanistan (is, are) shocking, isn’t it?
Verb Forms Worksheet 1

Choose the correct form of the verb in parentheses for each sentence.

1. Our new dog has just (tear) the entire Sunday paper to shreds.

2. The judges of the class song contest haven’t (choose) a winning entry.

3. Until 1875, no one had ever successfully (swim) the English Channel.

4. The temperature has (rise) twenty-one degrees since six a.m.

5. Mother has (freeze) quarts and quarts of blueberries for the winter.

6. My new watchstrap has (break) after just four days.

7. Mattie Vernon has (steal) more bases than any other player.

8. Several English sovereigns have never actually (wear) the crown of England.

9. According to the last election returns, Mayor Smith’s lead over his opponent has (shrink) to only a few
hundred votes.

10. Tenors have almost always (sing) the heroes’ roles in opera.

11. The Tigers have (swear) revenge against the Spartans in their return match.

12. Davy Crockett (begin) his political career at the age of thirty.

13. The coach has (speak) to our parents and obtained their permission for our overnight stay in Westfield.

14. Mel has (throw) the shot more than forty feet.

15. Oh, I’ve (tear) my new skirt.

16. Caroline is the most selfish person I have ever (know).

17. At the warning bell, all the students (begin) to pick up paper scraps.

18. Has an American ever (run) the mile in less than four minutes?

19. When the bell had (ring) three times, we knew we were to be dismissed from school.

20. Our puppy has (grow) eight inches in the last two months.

21. Have you (write) the sense-impression composition for English?

22. The oriole has (steal) some string from the garden for its nest.

23. I don’t think the wind has ever (blow) harder than it did during last August’s hurricane.

24. Have you ever (wear) wool next to your skin?

25. Many cities have (arise) on the ruins of Homer’s Troy.

Verb Form Worksheet 2

In the blank, write a verb form that goes with the underlined auxiliary and makes sense in the passage.

Mary Jane has always advantage of Howie. When they are out to dinner, she skips lunch.
After she has all day without eating, she is . She has even been to order the
chateaubriand for two and eat it herself. Poor Howie has about Mary Jane’s greed.

In the blanks in the passage below, write a past-tense auxiliary verb if one is needed. If an auxiliary verb would
create a verb error, do not put anything in the blank.

As soon as Vera awoke, she reached for her eyeglasses. When she taken them off the
night before, she left them on the table beside her. They were not there. She checked the floor
beside the bed to see if they fallen off the table. Not finding them on the floor, she checked her purse.
She begun to panic when she noticed that they lying beside the book that she
been reading just before she went to sleep.
Verb Forms Worksheet 3

Revise the following paragraph to eliminate incorrect, inconsistent, or ineffective verb use. Change words and
phrases as necessary.

On January 28, 1987, Dusty, my two-year-old Doberman Pinscher, was born. Six months following his
birth, I begun to train Dusty with Mr. Wagner, a professional trainer. After two weeks of obedience training, Dusty
learned the “Heel” and “Sit” commands. We worked for four more weeks, spending thirty minutes a day on more
basic obedience commands. Dusty, of course, responds very well. Not only he learned all of the obedience
commands, but he and I had also built a strong relationship. We were best friends.
During the final week of training, Mr. Wagner says I done more and better with Dusty than he seen
anybody do with their dog since he was in the training business. He said, “I am proud of both your and Dusty’s
accomplishments.”
I felt good about what I had done with Dusty and how all of those obedience commands had been
learned by him. Dusty and I continued to work with one another for a year. During that time he starts doing
things that I had nothing to do with. For instance, he would attack anyone who threatens to harm me or anybody
in my family. If my parents or brothers hit me whenever Dusty was around, Dusty attacks them. Should
someone else hit a member of my family, Dusty attack that person. If you drove down our driveway and he didn’t
recognize your car, he run back and forth in front of it to make you slow down before to reach our yard. People
whom he was not familiar with were not allowed to take one step out of their car. Dusty become very well
mannered and protective of us.

Commonly Confused Words Worksheet 1

Identify the number of the sentence and the corrected version of the commonly confused word (write down the
number of a sentence twice if it contains two commonly confused words) :

Mistakes in each passage: 10

Passage A

1Did you know that until May 5 of every year, your not really working for yourself? 2A group in
Washington, D.C., has learned that it takes workers an average of four months and four days to earn enough to
pay there taxes. 3The group found in it’s study that taxes eat up 34 percent of all the income in the United
States. 4So, if workers used they’re entire income for taxes, they would not be threw paying them until May.
5Being that May 5 is the first day people really work for themselves, the study group has some advise. 6It would
like a bill past naming May 5 “Tax Freedom Day.” 7On that day, you would give yourself a brake, irregardless of
how hard you worked. 8For, from May 5 on, you would finally be you’re own boss.

1. _______ 2. _______ 3. _______ 4. _______

5. _______ 6. _______ 7. _______ 8. _______

Passage B

1Did you ever daydream about writing you’re life story? 2Do you think that your life is too dull, or you
can’t right? 3Anyone’s life story is filled with fascinating events, and writing them down in the best way you no
can give you a sense of accomplishment and, perhaps, leave a valuable inheritance to your family. 4The first
thing to do is to buy a lose-leaf notebook. 5Each page of the book should be titled with a significant milestone in
your life—from your first dog to your proudest moment. 6You should than jot down a few key words in the book
whenever a memory comes back to you. 7The idea is not to begin with “I was born . . .” and try to write a
chronological history of your hole life. 8Just delve into your passed at random; one memory will trigger another.
9It will become quiet easy after a while. 10Its also important to write in your own language. 11Plane, honest
writing is the goal.

1. _______ 2. _______ 3. _______ 4. _______ 5. _______

6. _______ 7. _______ 8. _______ 9. _______ 10. _______ 11. _______