Irregular Verbs List Worksheet | Grade 4 Printable

This printable irregular verbs reference chart builds Grade 3–5 students' command of base forms, past tense, and past participles for 50 high-frequency irregular verbs. Students study and apply three principal parts per verb, building the automaticity needed for accurate writing and editing aligned to CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1.B.

At a Glance

• Grade: 3–5 · Subject: ELA — Grammar
• Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1.B — Form and use the progressive verb tenses and irregular past forms correctly
• Skill Focus: Irregular verb principal parts: base, past tense, past participle
• Format: 2 pages · 50 verb entries · Answer key included · PDF
• Best For: Grammar reference, writing workshop anchor
• Time: 15–25 minutes

The worksheet spans 2 pages and presents 50 irregular verbs in a three-column chart: base form, simple past, and past participle. The clean tabular layout doubles as a study reference and a fill-in practice tool. An answer key is included so students can self-check or teachers can use it for quick scoring.

Skill Progression

• Guided practice: Teacher models 5–8 high-frequency verbs (go/went/gone, do/did/done) using the chart as a visual anchor before students work independently.
• Supported practice: Students complete partially filled rows (base form given; past and participle blank) for 20 mid-frequency verbs with a word bank on the reverse.
• Independent practice: Students recall all three principal parts for 22 less common verbs (e.g., shrink/shrank/shrunk) without scaffolding, demonstrating internalized knowledge.

This gradual-release structure mirrors the I Do, We Do, You Do model, moving students from observation to application to independent recall across a single sitting.

Standards Alignment

Primary standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1.B — students form and use the progressive verb tenses and correctly produce irregular past-tense and past-participle forms in writing. Supporting standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.1.E addresses forming and using simple verb tenses, making this chart equally valid for Grade 3 instruction. Both standard codes can be copied directly into lesson plans, IEP goals, or district curriculum mapping tools.

How to Use It

Use the chart before direct instruction as a pre-assessment: ask students to fill in as many past and participle forms as they can in 5 minutes, then review gaps whole-class. Use it after instruction as a timed fluency drill — students who complete all 50 rows in under 20 minutes demonstrate solid automaticity. Formative tip: scan column 3 (past participle) first; errors there signal students conflating simple past with participle, a common Grade 4 misconception. Expected completion: 15–25 minutes.

Who It's For

Primary audience: Grade 3–5 students building verb fluency for narrative and informational writing. Strong fit for English learners who benefit from explicit principal-parts instruction. Pairs naturally with a mentor-text passage that uses irregular verbs in context (e.g., a historical narrative) or an irregular-verb anchor chart posted during writing workshop.

Irregular verb mastery is a documented predictor of writing accuracy in upper elementary grades. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1.B requires students to form and use irregular verb principal parts — base, past, and past participle — correctly in writing. NAEP 2022 data show that fewer than 40% of Grade 4 students score at or above Proficient in writing conventions, with verb-form errors among the most frequent surface-level mistakes flagged by scorers. Fisher & Frey (2014) identify explicit, repeated exposure to high-frequency irregular forms as a high-leverage grammar routine when embedded in authentic writing contexts. This 2-page, 50-verb chart provides that structured exposure in a format teachers can deploy as a reference tool, a fill-in drill, or a timed fluency check — making it a practical, research-grounded addition to any Grade 3–5 grammar sequence.