Antes de meterte con los tiempos de pasado, necesitas las formas. La mayoría de verbos hacen el pasado con -ed (work → worked), pero un grupo muy usado no sigue esa regla: son los irregulares. Cada uno tiene tres formas — base, pasado y participio (go → went → gone) — y no hay atajo mágico: se aprenden. La buena noticia: se agrupan por patrones, y así entran mucho mejor que una lista de 200 sueltos.
Las tres formas
Tipo 1 — Sin cambio
| Base | Pasado | Participio | Significado |
|---|---|---|---|
| cut | cut | cut | cortar |
| put | put | put | poner |
| let | let | let | dejar / permitir |
| set | set | set | poner / fijar |
| hit | hit | hit | golpear |
| cost | cost | cost | costar |
| shut | shut | shut | cerrar |
| hurt | hurt | hurt | doler / herir |
| read | read | read | leer |
| spread | spread | spread | extender |
| split | split | split | dividir |
| quit | quit | quit | dejar / abandonar |
Las tres formas son idénticas. Ojo con «read»: se escribe igual, pero el pasado y el participio se pronuncian /red/.
Tipo 2 — Dos formas (pasado = participio)
| Base | Pasado | Participio | Significado |
|---|---|---|---|
| buy | bought | bought | comprar |
| bring | brought | brought | traer |
| think | thought | thought | pensar |
| catch | caught | caught | coger / atrapar |
| teach | taught | taught | enseñar |
| fight | fought | fought | luchar |
| make | made | made | hacer |
| find | found | found | encontrar |
| tell | told | told | decir / contar |
| keep | kept | kept | guardar / mantener |
| feel | felt | felt | sentir |
| leave | left | left | dejar / marcharse |
| meet | met | met | conocer / quedar |
| lose | lost | lost | perder |
| sell | sold | sold | vender |
| build | built | built | construir |
| send | sent | sent | enviar |
| spend | spent | spent | gastar / pasar (tiempo) |
| sit | sat | sat | sentarse |
| stand | stood | stood | estar de pie |
| win | won | won | ganar |
| hold | held | held | sostener |
| hear | heard | heard | oír |
| say | said | said | decir |
| pay | paid | paid | pagar |
| understand | understood | understood | entender |
El pasado y el participio son iguales. Muchos acaban en -ought / -aught: buy, bring, think, catch, teach, fight.
Tipo 3 — Tres formas distintas
| Base | Pasado | Participio | Significado |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was / were | been | ser / estar |
| go | went | gone | ir |
| do | did | done | hacer |
| see | saw | seen | ver |
| eat | ate | eaten | comer |
| give | gave | given | dar |
| take | took | taken | coger / tomar |
| write | wrote | written | escribir |
| drive | drove | driven | conducir |
| speak | spoke | spoken | hablar |
| break | broke | broken | romper |
| choose | chose | chosen | elegir |
| begin | began | begun | empezar |
| drink | drank | drunk | beber |
| sing | sang | sung | cantar |
| swim | swam | swum | nadar |
| know | knew | known | saber / conocer |
| grow | grew | grown | crecer |
| throw | threw | thrown | lanzar |
| fly | flew | flown | volar |
| draw | drew | drawn | dibujar |
| fall | fell | fallen | caer |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | olvidar |
| wear | wore | worn | llevar puesto |
| ride | rode | ridden | montar |
| rise | rose | risen | subir / levantarse |
Sub-patrones útiles: i–a–u (sing, drink, swim); -ew/-own (grow, know, throw, fly); participio en -en (break, take, give, choose).
Tipo 4 — Base = participio
| Base | Pasado | Participio | Significado |
|---|---|---|---|
| come | came | come | venir |
| become | became | become | convertirse |
| run | ran | run | correr |
La base y el participio coinciden; solo cambia el pasado.