How are irregular verbs different from regular verbs?

Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern when forming their past tense and past participle, while irregular verbs do not. Let's break it down:

Regular Verbs:

* Past Tense: Add "-ed" to the base form.

* Example: walk -> walked, play -> played

* Past Participle: Same as the past tense.

* Example: walked, played

Irregular Verbs:

* Past Tense and Past Participle: They have unique, unpredictable forms that don't follow the "-ed" rule. These forms need to be memorized.

* Example:

* go -> went -> gone

* see -> saw -> seen

* eat -> ate -> eaten

Here's a table summarizing the key differences:

| Feature | Regular Verbs | Irregular Verbs |

|-------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|

| Past Tense | Add "-ed" to base form | Unique, unpredictable forms |

| Past Participle | Same as past tense | Unique, unpredictable forms |

| Examples | walk, play, jump, cook, learn | go, see, eat, do, take, have |

Why do we have irregular verbs?

Irregular verbs are remnants of older forms of English, and their forms have changed less over time than regular verbs.

Examples of how they are used:

* Regular: "I walked to the store yesterday." (past tense)

* Irregular: "I have eaten breakfast." (past participle)

Key takeaway: Regular verbs make forming past tenses easy, while irregular verbs require memorization.