Irregular verbs: online trainer. Irregular verbs, an effective memorization trainer
Don't forget to talk about this simulator on social networks :)
Where do irregular verbs in English come from?
The very name “irregular verbs” is incorrect from a historical point of view. It is those verbs that we now call irregular that came to us from ancient times. in English(VI-XI centuries), which even then had a strict grammatical system, and was much more complex than modern English. In particular, all verbs in Old English were conjugated, i.e. their forms changed according to certain rules. Moreover, there were several types of conjugations. One verb had to be conjugated in one way, the other in another. There was also a so-called “root type of conjugation”, where when the form of the verb changed, the vowel sound in the root of the word changed, which may well be reminiscent of the differences between the 3 forms of the verb in modern English.
Thus, irregular verbs in modern English are precisely the remnants of the conjugation system of Old English verbs: a system that existed until 1066, when the Normans came to British soil. For the 300 years following the Norman Conquest, the Norman kings and nobility spoke only a language called Anglo-Norman (a variety of French). English remained the language ordinary people. During all this time, the development of the English language followed the path of simplification. Endings disappeared, replaced by numerous options to indicate the past tense in different cases and the faces came with one single ending - ed. Verbs that followed the new rules began to be called regular (regular), in Russian we call them “correct”. Absolutely all new borrowings appearing in English were subject to these new rules; however, many verbs from Old English ceased to obey the previous grammatical system.
The system gradually collapsed and only the most ancient and most frequently used verbs survived and retained their ancient grammar. They began to be called irregular (irregular), and in Russian incorrect. Although, for example, in the USA some of these verbs have also become regular, while in England they still remain on the list of irregular verbs:
- learnt, burnt, spelt, knelt - used in Great Britain
- learned, burned, spelled, knelted - in the USA
The processes of language simplification proceeded naturally, easily and painlessly, until in the 17th-18th centuries linguists intervened in the natural course of language development, consolidating the current situation in the grammars of that time. Moreover, they believed that the processes of language simplification that were taking place were a sign of degradation, not progress. It can be assumed that without their intervention there would be much fewer irregular verbs in modern English. However, the almost universal spread of education in England at that time cemented in the minds of people the language system described by linguists of that time and did not allow the language to be simplified further, at least at the same rate as in the period following the Norman Conquest.
The developer of the irregular verb trainer wrote it when he couldn’t find anything like it in the App Store. Unlike other English learning apps, Irregular verbs trainer only serves to memorize irregular verbs, but it does an excellent job of this task. The program works as follows.
There are three learning modes available: Simple Test, Mixed Test and Place Words. IN simple test The user is shown the first form of the verb and asked to enter the second and third.
In a mixed test, the third form is shown, and the second and first forms must be remembered by yourself. In the Place Words mode, three forms of the verb are presented on the screen. The user needs to correctly determine which form is which. Although the tasks are similar, they use different approaches, which helps memorize verbs.
In each test, statistics of correct answers are kept. If you answer incorrectly, the training ends. Also Irregular verbs trainer remembers the number of correct answers in a row and shows your record, which motivates you to answer correctly.
The application is quite simple and does the job. The only thing I can complain about is the somewhat unintuitive choice of matching verbs to forms in the “Rank Words” mode. Otherwise, the Irregular verbs trainer really helps.
Draw results
As promised, we gave away nine promotional codes for the application, choosing the winners using Random.org. They became:
- Hedgehog in Panama
- Artem
- Sangul
- Dmitriy84
- Rinat
- Novel
- Sangul
- Andrey
- Iryna
We congratulate the guys and ask them to check their email, and we thank everyone else for participating!
Catherine
Good afternoon, thank you for your simulator. And since I have not been very successful in learning English for several years, I don’t care how the software works based on Petrov’s lessons. This is a very good idea, but not as well implemented as Petrov’s own systematic and laconic approach to presenting material.
I will make a number of significant comments that will undoubtedly make the simulator better and will be much more convenient to use.
We are talking about the second test with listening and writing three forms. It’s very good that you can train both listening and writing at the same time. Learning through writing makes it easier to remember.
If you bring this simulator (test) to perfection, then others will not be needed.
1. The list of irregular verbs I compiled for training, consisting of 88 verbs, disappeared irrevocably when I turned off the computer - it would be nice if it was saved. Make up the same thing every day... not a good task :) It’s very convenient to set yourself a goal - to learn 6 verbs every day, for example, 60 in 10 days. I made a list and drove, because it’s quite possible! But now there is no such possibility (. There is no point in making your own list either. A piece of paper and a pen are more convenient (
2. Verbs for the test (for training) are given in 6. It is extremely important to make the setting to return to the previous six for repetition. Repetition is the key to success, but without this function, using this simulator is almost useless.
3. The function of general clearing of everything written is very necessary. That is, I wrote, checked, cleared it with one click, and after a while returned to the same verbs - wrote, checked, cleared. And I still don’t remember it. Now there are two options - either delete everything written manually (in the age of technology, people expect a completely different ease of use), or move on to other verbs without learning the previous ones.
4. The listening function next to each form of the verb, and not just the infinitive, will be very helpful. This will make the simulator more effective. Nowadays we have to turn to other sources for pronunciation.
5. Correct answers - it will be much more effective for the student to turn this function off and on himself. Now the correct answers appear during checking and “hang” until the student writes them down and presses the check button again. It will be more helpful if the student can see the error but correct it from memory. For example, incorrect answers are highlighted in red and the student either immediately writes the correct answer or clicks the hint only for this option and removes it when he sees fit.
Another exercise is not at all convenient for use; words previously moved to the correct places are shifted when new ones are moved to adjacent cells, turning the exercise not into memorizing words, but simply into Tetris.
I would like a truly useful service to be brought to life and be good for both students and creators (after all, only a good product will be able to bring not only benefit to others, but also profit to the creators;)).
1. Find the irregular verbs in the following list and give all three forms of these verbs.
come – want – use – give – eat – read – finish – take – try – ask – begin – help – let – play – leave – know – seem – work – think – swim – move – live – run – bring
2. Find the 2nd and 3rd forms of irregular verbs in the text and distribute them into the appropriate columns.
II form III form
Chris is a professional artist. He fell in love with drawing when he was 3 years old. He spent all days long in the garden with a box of crayons and a drawing-pad. Now he has already sold more than 200 of his paintings. He has taken part in the International exhibition of modern artists this year and has won praise as the youngest artist there. Two years ago Chris met a nice girl, Anna. So last Saturday they got married and today they have flown to the Maldives.
3. Put the verbs from brackets into form II and translate the sentences.
1. He... (drive) his grandfather to the doctor.
2. Jack... (wear) a strange red tie.
3. Little Greg… (blow) out 5 candles on his birthday cake.
4. They… (hold) an opera festival in August.
5. We accidentally… (break) the umbrella.
6. My daughter… (lose) her way in a new city.
7. My mother… (make) vanilla pancakes in the morning.
9. Our cat... (catch) three mice in the garden.
10. I... (go) to the ballet school in my childhood.
4. Put the verbs from brackets into III form and translate the sentences.
1. My brother has… (take) his girlfriend to a Mexican restaurant.
2. Sam has… (fly) to Iceland
3. Susan has… (find) two interesting jobs at the agency this week.
4. I have already… (send) you about ten messages.
5. We have just… (meet) Mr. Jackson at the airport.
6. Where has your teacher... (go)?
7. Which wedding hat have you… (choose)?
8. Has Rachel ever … (be) abroad?
9. The train has just… (leave) the station.
10. I haven’t … (tell) her anything.
Answers:
come – came – come
give – gave – given
eat – ate – eaten
read – read – read
take – took – taken
begin – began – begun
let – let – let
leave – left – left
know – knew – known
think – thought – thought
swim – swam – swum
run - run - run
bring – brought – brought
II form III form
1. drove (He took grandfather to the doctor.)
2. wore (Jack wore a strange red tie.)
3. blew (Little Greg blew out 5 candles on the birthday cake.)
4. held (They held an opera festival in August.)
5. broke (We accidentally broke the umbrella.)
6. lost (My daughter got lost in a new city.)
7. made (My mother prepared vanilla pancakes in the morning.)
8. wrote (Mary wrote a long note in her diary.)
9. caught (Our cat caught three mice in the garden.)
10. went (I went to ballet school as a child.)
4.
1. taken (My brother took his girlfriend to a Mexican restaurant.)
2. flown (Sam flew to Iceland today.)
3. found (Susan found two interesting works at the agency this week.)
4. sent (I have already sent you about 10 messages.)
5. met (We just met Mr. Jackson at the airport.)
6. gone (Where did your teacher go?)
7. chosen (Which wedding hat did you choose?)
8. been (Has Rachel ever been abroad?)
9. left (The train has just left the station.)
10. told (I didn't tell her anything.)
Material prepared via Skype
Dmitry Romanov 06-07-2016
4263
Oh, these irregular English verbs... How many nerves they frayed for schoolchildren, students and adults who vainly studied the tablets with the three forms of these ill-fated verbs. And the most unpleasant thing is that they fade from memory faster than you can watch the original episode of Friends.
Just don't panic! There is one life hack that will allow you to learn irregular verbs in English quickly, fun, effectively and for a long time. Mnemonics will help us in mastering a new step in learning English, but first things first.
introduction
We do not know who exactly came up with tablets with a list of almost all irregular verbs (even rare and rarely used ones). However, he hardly expected so much hatred in his direction from students, students and self-educated people. Is it really possible to effectively and accurately remember such an array of words enclosed in tiny cells and then easily retrieve them from memory?
| Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was/were | been | be |
| become | became | become | become |
| begin | began | begun | start off |
| break | broke | broken | break |
| bring | brought | brought | bring |
| buy | bought | bought | buy |
| come | came | come | come |
| do | did | done | do |
| drink | drank | drunk | drink |
| eat | ate | eaten | eat |
| find | found | found | find |
| give | gave | given | give |
| go | went | gone | go |
| grow | grew | grown | grow |
| have | had | had | have |
| hear | heard | heard | hear |
| keep | kept | kept | hold |
| know | knew | known | know |
| learn | learn | learn | learn |
| leave | left | left | leave |
| lose | lost | lost | lose |
| make | made | made | do |
| meet | met | met | meet |
| pay | paid | paid | to pay |
| read | read | read | read |
| run | ran | run | run |
| say | said | said | speak |
| see | saw | seen | see |
| send | sent | sent | send |
| sing | sang | sung | sing |
| sit | sat | sat | sit |
| sleep | slept | slept | sleep |
| speak | spoke | spoken | speak |
| swim | swam | swum | swim |
| take | took | taken | take |
| think | thought | thought | think |
| win | won | won | win |
| write | wrote | written | write |
Even the most diligent student is forced to spend forever on this, and then regularly repeat, remember, write down and rewrite. Indeed, according to the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, an hour after cramming, up to 60% of the learned information escapes from memory somewhere. This is why many pupils and students learn tables with irregular verbs “for show” and to get a grade, memorizing only 30-50 of the most common forms like “go-went-gone”.
A little theory
We will deliberately not go into detail in what cases the first, second and third forms of an irregular English verb will be useful to you. We'll talk about this another time, but now we'll talk about mnemonics and its benefits in learning foreign languages.
Mnemonics is a set of techniques that maximally simplify the process of memorizing complex, difficult to remember or unmemorable information. It involves you creating certain images in your head and “encoding” the received data in a special way. When two images are connected, it is much easier to retrieve them from memory and use them when necessary. Moreover correct sequence the received information is saved, which makes mnemonics many times more effective than habitual cramming.
There are several mnemonic techniques, however, it is in the case of irregular verbs in English that rhyming is easiest. It allows you to create colorful images in your head and greatly simplifies the process of learning the most popular irregular verbs. Another plus is that both children and adults can use poems or couplets with rhyme. The first will not find such a task boring, and the second will not have to burden their heads with a set of hard-to-remember words and the process will go faster.
Many progressive English teachers and linguists use mnemonics in their work. Usually these are those people who independently encountered a problem in learning irregular verbs and became poets for a while, or those who at one time tried to simplify the task for their own child in this difficult process. These can be entire poems, short humorous couplets, funny stories, sometimes even jokes.
There are a lot of similar creations floating around on the Internet that seem funny and are really effective. However, we were inspired by only a few of them and invite you to check them out for yourself below. Especially good, according to the My English Classroom team, are the poems of psychologist, teacher and journalist Alexander Pyltsyn, who developed an express intelligence method for learning English. We also liked the short stanzas and sayings of the poet and prose writer Eugene Papusha.
The simplest and most popular examples that even a small child can learn were chosen for the article. Rights to rhymes are reserved by the authors.
Basset Hound dog
Grandfather and grandmother find-found-found
Dog of the Basset Hound breed.
Very close to old people
The dog become-became-become.
Give-gave-given grandfather to him
Dear basturma -
Wow, the dog needs to feed-fed-fed
Something tasty for lunch.
The lard and cutlets themselves
Old people don't let-let-let.
Previously, grandma sit-sat-sat,
Knit-knit-knit yourself a jacket,
And now her grandfather tells her
It's a quit-quit-quit thing;
Today grandmother and grandfather
Life is different lead-led-led:
Grandfather dozes in the bath with a smile,
Grandma dwell-dwelt-dwelt in the closet,
The dog in the bed lie-lay-lain,
As Emir of the country of Bahrain
A. Pyltsyn
Through the fire with melancholy at times
tigers in the circus throw, threw, thrown
Yu Papusha
There will always be no use there,
where there is plenty of speak, spoken, spoken
Yu Papusha
The sound took flight...
This is heard, heard, heard
Yu Papusha
Blockhead with a Scoundrel
The Blockhead and the Scoundrel all day long
The two of us played “rubbish.”
"I win-won-won." - said Blockhead,
“You lose-lost-lost,” said the Scoundrel!
A. Pyltsyn
Rollingstones worldwide
by plane fly, flew, flown
Yu Papusha
The poet feels in his heart...
This word is feel, felt, felt
Yu Papusha
For the rich - no question:
How much is cost, cost, cost?
Yu Papusha
Any people on Earth
for freedom fight, fought, fought
Yu Papusha
First class sandwich
I'm at the buy-bought-bought buffet
First class sandwich
For him I pay-paid-paid,
In the classroom at the desk lay-laid-laid
And not think-thought-thought at all,
That his neighbor will make him smarter.
And now I'm very sad -
Smell-smelt-smelt it’s very tasty!
A. Pyltsyn
The lazy fat cat is sleeping,
he doesn't catch, catch, caugh mice
Yu Papusha
Who is blind in love,
after will be - weep, wept, wept