Past participles are used in perfect tenses, passive constructions, and as adjectives — so getting them right is essential across a wide range of grammar. Some verbs form the past participle regularly (add -ed); others are irregular and must be memorized. The grammar review below explains the three main uses and lists the key irregular forms.
Fill in each blank with the correct past participle of the verb shown.
1. sing: ✓
2. know: ✓
3. try: ✓
4. believe: ✓
5. study: ✓
6. see: ✓
7. fall: ✓
8. laugh: ✓
9. cry: ✓
10. understand: ✓
11. play: ✓
12. grow: ✓
13. fly: ✓
14. answer: ✓
15. learn: ✓
16. cough: ✓
17. call: ✓
18. hold: ✓
19. give: ✓
20. stand: ✓
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GRAMMAR REVIEW!Past participles — forms and uses
The past participle is the third form of a verb (after the base form and the past simple). It is used in three main grammatical contexts.
How to form past participles:
• Regular verbs: add -edwalk → walked, clean → cleaned, love → loved
• Irregular verbs: must be memorized write → written, go → gone, break → broken
Three main uses:
1. Perfect tenses (with have/has/had): She has written three books. He had gone home.
2. Passive voice (with be): The window was broken. The letter is written in French.
3. As an adjective:a broken heart a spoken language a written exam
Common irregular past participles to know: be → been come → come do → done eat → eaten take → taken run → run make → made say → said