Irregular Verbs Exercise 9 — Advanced English Questions with Deep Grammar Explanation & Verb Forms
This Irregular Verb Exercise helps you master English verb forms (V1, V2, V3) through real grammar situations including passive voice, causatives, modals, future forms, conditional sentences, infinitives, –ing forms, perfect tenses, and more.
Each question leaves one irregular verb missing, and you must choose the correct form based on context.
Every question includes:
- The verb + POS
- Base, past, past participle forms
- Easy meanings
- Deep explanations for why the correct answer works
- And why each wrong answer is incorrect
Perfect for exam prep, speaking improvement, grammar mastery, and vocabulary building.
What are Irregular Verbs?
- Form: Verb 1st / 2nd / 3rd From.
- Definition: Irregular verbs are verbs that do NOT follow the regular -ed pattern in their past and past participle forms.
- Example:
- go → went → gone
- take → took → taken
- They must be memorized because their forms change unpredictably.
- When to use: when the action or object is more important than the actor, or actor unknown/irrelevant.
- Conversion tip: Irregular verbs appear across all English grammar structures, including perfect tenses, passive voice, modals, infinitives, participles, and causatives.
- To learn more about it – Visit Here
Quiz Instructions
- Read each question and choose the best answer out of given options.
- On top, header section of the quiz, you will see the “title of the quiz,’ ‘spending-time,’ ‘value of question in points,’ and ‘number of questions.”
- Below on footer, you will see Full Screen mode. As the name suggests, it covers the whole screen. It will save a lot of your time attempting the quiz.
- You can zoom the images given in the questions.
- After submitting the quiz, you can see your score and compare with other users.
- The Full Leaderboard link will take you to a page, where you can see all users attempts.
- Below the quiz box, there are explanation of each options. You can study and try again.
- Best of Luck!
Quiz Question, Answer and Explanation
Note: Do remember in the quiz box above, the questions and options will shuffle, so they won’t have the same sequence like 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C as below.
1. After the error was discovered, they had to __ the changes by hand.
A) undo B) undid C) undone D) undoe
Verb (forms & meaning): undo — V1 undo, V2 undid, V3 undone. To reverse an action or restore to a previous state.
Correct: A) undo. Because the sentence uses the modal construction “had to __,” it requires the base form after “to” (infinitive). “Had to undo the changes” means they were obliged to reverse what had been done.
Why B) undid is wrong: “Undid” is the simple past; it cannot follow “to” which needs the base/infinite form in this context.
Why C) undone is wrong: “Undone” is the past participle and would be used with auxiliaries (e.g., “had undone”), not directly after “to.”
Why D) undoe is wrong: Misspelling and invalid form.
2. The professor __ algebra to a generation of students before retiring.
A) taught B) teach C) teached D) teaching
Verb (forms & meaning): teach — V1 teach, V2 taught, V3 taught. To instruct or give knowledge.
Correct: A) taught. The sentence describes a past career span, so the simple past taught correctly places the teaching activity in the past and indicates completion.
Why B) teach is wrong: The base form is not used to narrate past completed careers without auxiliary context.
Why C) teached is wrong: Incorrect regularized form; the correct irregular past is taught.
Why D) teaching is wrong: Present participle/gerund which would change construction and not fit the simple past narrative.
3. The freighter had slowly __ beneath the waves before any rescue team could reach it.
A) sunk B) sank C) sink D) sunked
Verb (forms & meaning): sink — V1 sink, V2 sank, V3 sunk. To descend below the surface of a liquid.
Correct: A) sunk. After “had” we need the past participle, which for sink is sunk; “had sunk” indicates the ship went under prior to the arrival of rescuers. This distinguishes the sinking as completed earlier.
Why B) sank is wrong: “Sank” is simple past and cannot follow “had”; the past perfect requires the participle.
Why C) sink is wrong: Base form is not grammatical here.
Why D) sunked is wrong: Nonexistent form; sink is irregular and does not take -ed.
4. He __ the letter in half in anger and threw it away.
A) tore B) tear C) torn D) teared
Verb (forms & meaning): tear — V1 tear, V2 tore, V3 torn. To rip or pull apart.
Correct: A) tore. The simple past “tore” indicates a completed physical action in the past, matching the narrative “and threw it away.” It places the ripping event before the throwing.
Why B) tear is wrong: Base form cannot express the past action without auxiliary context.
Why C) torn is wrong: “Torn” is the past participle and would need an auxiliary (e.g., “had torn” or “was torn”) to be correct here.
Why D) teared is wrong: “Teared” typically means “caused to have tears” (rare) and is not the correct past of tear; it’s a mistaken regularization.
5. He admitted he had __ her about the meeting time.
A) told B) tell C) telled D) telling
Verb (forms & meaning): tell — V1 tell, V2 told, V3 told. To communicate information to someone.
Correct: A) told. The past perfect “had ___” requires the past participle; told works here and expresses that he had already given the information (or claimed he did) before admitting the error.
Why B) tell is wrong: The base form cannot follow “had” to form the past perfect.
Why C) telled is wrong: Incorrect form; the irregular past is told, not a -ed form.
Why D) telling is wrong: Present participle; it would yield a different meaning and structure (e.g., “was telling”).
6. Let the board __ critical documents from the public record.
A) withhold B) withheld C) withholded D) withholding
Verb (forms & meaning): withhold — V1 withhold, V2 withheld, V3 withheld. To refuse to give or release.
Correct: A) withhold. Let requires V1; withhold indicates the board has permission to keep documents back prior to scrutiny. It communicates deliberate general action with present implications.
Why B) withheld is wrong: Past or Past Participle form cannot follow “Let” alone.
Why C) withholded is wrong: Incorrect regularization; the verb is irregular.
Why D) withholding is wrong: Present participle indicates ongoing withholding and would not fit the causative “Let” construction.
7. The thief had __ the envelope with a small slit so no one noticed.
A) slit B) slitted C) slitten D) sliting
Verb (forms & meaning): slit — V1 slit, V2 slit, V3 slit. To make a long, narrow cut.
Correct: A) slit. This irregular verb keeps the same form for base, past, and participle. After “had,” the participle slit is called for; it indicates the envelope had already been opened covertly.
Why B) slitted is wrong: Regularization that is not standard for this verb; “slit” is correct.
Why C) slitten is wrong: Not an acceptable English form.
Why D) sliting is wrong: Present participle/gerund; would indicate ongoing cutting, not the completed action.
8. By dusk the family had __ at the graveside for hours.
A) wept B) weep C) wepted D) weeping
Verb (forms & meaning): weep — V1 weep, V2 wept, V3 wept. To shed tears due to sorrow.
Correct: A) wept. Past perfect or simple past contexts call for the appropriate past form; here “had wept” or “had __ for hours” uses wept to indicate the prolonged sorrow occurred earlier and was completed relative to dusk. It communicates the intensity and duration of grief.
Why B) weep is wrong: Base form cannot follow “had.”
Why C) wepted is wrong: Incorrect formation; weep is irregular.
Why D) weeping is wrong: Present participle; would change aspect (progressive) rather than the completed sense.
9. The carpenter had forcefully __ the dowel into the hole before the
A) thrust B) thrusted C) thrusting D) thrusten
Verb (forms & meaning): thrust — V1 thrust, V2 thrust, V3 thrust. To push or drive something forcibly.
Correct: A) thrust. Thrust uses the same form across base, past, and participle; in the past perfect slot after “had,” thrust is correct and tells us the dowel was already forced into place prior to the glue setting.
Why B) thrusted is wrong: Not standard; the correct form is thrust.
Why C) thrusting is wrong: Present participle; would indicate an action in progress rather than completed.
Why D) thrusten is wrong: Nonstandard and not accepted.
10. He insisted he had __ the embarrassing remark and wished it hadn’t been broadcast.
A) unheard B) unhear C) unheared D) unhearing
Verb (forms & meaning): unhear is rare; more commonly we use the adjective unheard (not heard). For the purposes of this clause, treat unheard as the adjective/past-participle-like form meaning “not heard or reversed in effect.”
Correct: A) unheard. The sentence claims he had not heard (or had managed to make it unheard) prior to the telecast; the chosen form unheard functions as the past-participial adjective that matches “had __” in meaning. It indicates the state of not being heard or having been rendered inaudible, which is why he regrets the broadcast.
Why B) unhear is wrong: “Unhear” as a base verb is uncommon and nonstandard; it does not fit natural English here.
Why C) unheared is wrong: Incorrect spelling/formation; the correct adjective is unheard.
Why D) unhearing is wrong: Present participle is awkward and does not suit the past-state meaning required by the sentence.