26rh Day 16th Topic
Most Useful Tricks and High-Yield Strategies
for Irregular Verbs (e.g., begin/began/begun)
ATI TEAS Version 7 — Conventions of Standard English
Unlike regular verbs that add -ed,
irregular verbs change form in unpredictable ways. TEAS questions test your ability
to choose the correct principal part (present, past, past participle) based on
sentence tense and helper verbs (have, has, had, be).
🔑 Trick #1: Know the 3 Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs
Every irregular verb has three forms:
|
Form |
Name |
When to use |
Example (begin) |
|
begin |
Base /
Present |
Happens
now / I, you, we, they + base; he/she/it + begins |
I begin
work at 8 AM. |
|
began |
Simple
Past |
Happened
and finished in the past (no helper) |
She began
the test yesterday. |
|
begun |
Past
Participle |
Used with
have, has, had (perfect tenses) or passive voice |
They have
begun the procedure. |
✅ TEAS Trick: If you see have or has or had +
a past tense verb (like began), it is wrong. Past participles (begun) must
follow have/has/had.
🧠 Trick #2: The TEAS “Top 30” Irregular Verbs
These appear most frequently on TEAS. Grouped
by pattern for easier memorization.
Group 1: Vowel Change Only (i → a → u)
|
Base |
Past |
Past Participle |
Memory Hook |
|
begin |
began |
begun |
begin
today, began yesterday, have begun |
|
drink |
drank |
drunk |
drink →
drank → drunk |
|
ring |
rang |
rung |
ring →
rang → rung |
|
sing |
sang |
sung |
sing →
sang → sung |
|
sink |
sank |
sunk |
sink →
sank → sunk |
|
swim |
swam |
swum |
swim →
swam → swum |
Group 2: Vowel Change + -en
|
Base |
Past |
Past Participle |
|
drive |
drove |
driven |
|
ride |
rode |
ridden |
|
rise |
rose |
risen |
|
write |
wrote |
written |
|
speak |
spoke |
spoken |
|
steal |
stole |
stolen |
|
freeze |
froze |
frozen |
Group 3: No Change
cut / cut / cut
put / put / put
set / set / set
hit / hit / hit
hurt / hurt / hurt
let / let / let
cost / cost / cost
Group 4: Same Past & Past Participle
bring → brought → brought
buy → bought → bought
catch → caught → caught
teach → taught → taught
think → thought → thought
fight → fought → fought
keep → kept → kept
sleep → slept → slept
feel → felt → felt
leave → left → left
meet → met → met
read → read → read
Group 5: Base = Past Participle
come → came → come
become → became → become
run → ran → run
Group 6: Completely Different Forms
go → went → gone
be → was/were → been
see → saw → seen
do → did → done
eat → ate → eaten
fly → flew → flown
grow → grew → grown
know → knew → known
throw → threw → thrown
draw → drew → drawn
wear → wore → worn
tear → tore → torn
🚨 Trick #3: The “Have/Has/Had” Rule – TEAS #1 Trap
If you see have, has, or had before a verb →
MUST use past participle.
|
❌
Wrong |
✅
Correct |
|
have began |
have begun |
|
has drank |
has drunk |
|
had went |
had gone |
|
have ate |
have eaten |
|
has saw |
has seen |
✅ TEAS Trick: have/has/had = always past
participle form
🪤 Trick #4: Passive Voice Trap
Passive voice = be + past participle
|
❌
Wrong |
✅
Correct |
|
was sang |
was sung |
|
was broke |
was broken |
|
was wrote |
was
written |
|
was ate |
was eaten |
🎯 Trick #5: Common TEAS Distractors
|
Base |
❌
Wrong |
✅
Correct |
|
begin |
have began |
have begun |
|
drink |
have drank |
have drunk |
|
go |
have went |
have gone |
|
see |
have saw |
have seen |
|
do |
have did |
have done |
|
eat |
have ate |
have eaten |
|
write |
have wrote |
have
written |
|
fly |
have flew |
have flown |
🧩 Trick #6: Mnemonics
- U Group → drunk, sung, rung, sunk, swum, begun
- N/EN Group → written, driven, eaten, gone, seen, done
- No Change → cut, put, set
- -ought/-aught → brought, bought, caught, taught, thought
⚡ Trick #7: Quick Tense Identification
|
Clue words |
Tense |
Form |
|
now, always |
Present |
base/s/es |
|
yesterday,
ago |
Past |
past form |
|
have/has/had |
Perfect |
past
participle |
|
was/were |
Passive |
past
participle |
📝 TEAS-Style Example Questions
1.
The patient ______ drinking fluids since
yesterday morning.
A) has not began
B) has not begun
C) did not began
D) not began
✅ Answer: B
2.
By the time the nurse arrived, the medication
______ already ______.
A) was / took
B) has / taken
C) had / taken
D) had / took
✅ Answer: C
3.
The wound ______ closed with surgical glue.
A) was
B) were
C) be
D) is being
✅ Answer: A
⚡ FINAL TEAS SUMMARY RULE
If you remember only this:
- have/has/had → past participle
- no helper verb → simple past
- be verb → passive participle
- irregular verbs never follow -ed rule
Practice Questions 1–50
ATI TEAS Version 7 – Irregular Verbs (Begin/Began/Begun Style)
1. By the time the surgeon arrived, the team
______ the procedure.
A) has began
B) had began
C) had begun
D) has begun
2. The patient ______ all of the prescribed
medication yesterday.
A) has taken
B) took
C) taken
D) had took
3. If the nurse ______ the dosage correctly,
the reaction could have been prevented.
A) had calculated
B) has calculated
C) calculated
D) would have calculate
4. The lab results ______ not yet been
reviewed by the attending physician.
A) have
B) has
C) is
D) was
5. She ______ to the clinic every day last
week.
A) has driven
B) drove
C) driven
D) had drove
6. The medication ______ to be ineffective
in the latest trial.
A) has proved
B) has proven
C) proved
D) all of the above
7. The infection ______ rapidly before
antibiotics were administered.
A) has spread
B) had spread
C) had spred
D) spreaded
8. Which sentence uses the correct verb
form?
A) The nurse has wrote the progress note.
B) The nurse written the progress note.
C) The nurse has written the progress note.
D) The nurse did wrote the progress note.
9. The patient’s condition ______
significantly since admission.
A) have improved
B) has improved
C) has improve
C) have improve
10. The researcher ______ the same protocol
for ten years.
A) has followed
B) have followed
C) has follow
D) have follow
11. The team ______ the data before the
principal investigator arrived.
A) has already analyzed
B) had already analyzed
C) had already analyze
D) has already analyze
12. Which sentence is correct?
A) The patient had drank water before the
test.
B) The patient had drunk water before the test.
C) The patient had dranked water before the test.
D) The patient has drank water before the test.
13. The students ______ all of the required
readings by Friday.
A) have completed
B) has completed
C) have complete
D) has complete
14. The wound ______ closed with three
sutures.
A) was
B) were
C) have been
D) are
15. The surgeon ______ that the procedure
was successful.
A) has say
B) has said
C) have said
D) said
16. By the end of the shift, the nurse
______ five patients.
A) has seen
B) had saw
C) had seen
D) have seen
17. Which sentence uses the correct
irregular verb form?
A) The medication has began to take effect.
B) The medication has begun to take effect.
C) The medication begun to take effect.
D) The medication has begin to take effect.
18. The patient had ______ from the fever by
the third day.
A) recovered
B) recover
C) recovers
D) recovering
19. The nurse realized she ______ the IV
line incorrectly.
A) had placed
B) has placed
C) had place
D) has place
20. The symptoms ______ after the first dose
of antibiotics.
A) has resolved
B) have resolved
C) have resolve
D) has resolve
21. The patient ______ to the emergency
department three times this month.
A) has came
B) has come
C) have came
D) had came
22. Which sentence is grammatically correct?
A) The nurse has went home early today.
B) The nurse has gone home early today.
C) The nurse have went home early today.
D) The nurse had went home early today.
23. The research team ______ their findings
last month.
A) has presented
B) have presented
C) presented
D) had presented
24. The patient had never ______ an allergic
reaction before.
A) experienced
B) experience
C) experiences
D) experiencing
25. The surgeon ______ the operation by 10
AM.
A) has began
B) had began
C) had begun
D) have begun
26. The nurse ______ the medication error
immediately.
A) has reported
B) reported
C) had reported
D) have reported
27. Which sentence correctly uses the past
participle?
A) The patient has ran a fever for three
days.
B) The patient has run a fever for three days.
C) The patient has runned a fever for three days.
D) The patient had ran a fever for three days.
28. The students ______ the simulation lab
before the instructor arrived.
A) had set up
B) had setted up
C) has set up
D) have set up
29. The medication ______ stored at room
temperature.
A) should be
B) should have
C) should been
D) should being
30. The nurse ______ the patient’s vital
signs every four hours.
A) have checked
B) has checked
C) checked
D) had checked
31. Which sentence uses the correct
irregular verb form?
A) The doctor has drank coffee all morning.
B) The doctor has drunk coffee all morning.
C) The doctor have drunk coffee all morning.
D) The doctor had drank coffee all morning.
32. By the time the paramedics arrived, the
patient ______ consciousness.
A) has lost
B) had lost
C) have lost
D) lost
33. The research study ______ published in
the journal last year.
A) was
B) were
C) has been
D) have been
34. The nurse ______ the wound before
applying the dressing.
A) had cleansed
B) has cleansed
C) cleansed
D) all of the above are correct depending on context
35. The patient admitted that he ______ the
medication for two days.
A) had not took
B) had not taken
C) has not took
D) did not took
36. The guidelines ______ recently updated.
A) has been
B) have been
C) is being
D) was being
37. Which sentence is correct?
A) The team has chose the new protocol.
B) The team has chosen the new protocol.
C) The team have chose the new protocol.
D) The team chose – all are correct except C.
38. The patient’s white blood cell count
______ elevated for one week.
A) has been
B) have been
C) are being
D) were being
39. The nurse realized that she ______ the
wrong medication.
A) had gave
B) had given
C) has gave
D) have given
40. The patient had never ______ surgery
before.
A) underwent
B) undergone
C) underwent
D) have undergone
41. Which sentence correctly uses the simple
past tense?
A) The patient has fallen yesterday.
B) The patient fell yesterday.
C) The patient had fallen yesterday.
D) The patient has fell yesterday.
42. The medical record ______ signed by the
attending physician.
A) was
B) were
C) have been
D) are
43. The nurse ______ the patient’s family
about the test results.
A) has spoken
B) has spoke
C) have spoken
D) had spoke
44. The pharmacy technician ______ the
medication before the rush began.
A) had already prepared
B) has already prepared
C) already prepared
D) all of the above are correct depending on context
45. Which sentence uses the past participle
correctly?
A) The patient has wrote a note.
B) The patient has written a note.
C) The patient wrote a note – all are correct except A.
D) The patient written a note.
46. The infection control measures ______
effective in reducing transmission.
A) has proven
B) have proven
C) has been proven
D) is proven
47. The nurse ______ the patient’s arm
before inserting the IV.
A) has cleaned
B) cleaned
C) had cleaned
D) all are correct depending on tense needed
48. The patient reported that she ______ the
same symptoms previously.
A) has experienced
B) had experienced
C) experienced
D) all could be correct depending on timeline
49. Which sentence contains an error in verb
form?
A) The surgeon has begun the procedure.
B) The nurse has drunk water from the fountain.
C) The patient has ran a marathon before.
D) The medication has been administered.
50. The research team ______ three different
trials over the past decade.
A) has conducted
B) have conducted
C) conducted
D) all of the above could be correct depending on context and collective noun
agreement
🧾 ANSWER KEY (WITH BRIEF
EXPLANATIONS)
1 C – had + past participle
2 B – simple past
3 A – conditional past perfect
4 A – plural subject implied (“results have”)
5 B – simple past
6 D – multiple correct uses depending on meaning
7 B – past perfect correct form
8 C – has + written (correct participle)
9 B – has improved correct
10 A – singular subject
11 B – past perfect correct order
12 B – had + drunk (correct participle)
13 A – plural subject
14 A – passive singular
15 B – has said correct participle
16 C – had seen correct
17 B – begun correct participle
18 A – recovered correct
19 A – past perfect correct
20 B – plural subject
21 B – has come correct
22 B – correct auxiliary usage
23 C – simple past (specific time: last month)
24 A – correct past participle form not needed here
25 C – had begun correct
26 B – simple past
27 B – correct participle
28 A – had set up correct
29 A – passive structure
30 B – subject singular (nurse)
31 B – has drunk correct
32 B – past perfect
33 A – simple past passive context
34 C – all forms possible depending on tense
35 B – correct participle
36 B – plural subject
37 B – correct participle chosen
38 A – singular subject
39 B – had given correct
40 B – undergone correct
41 B – simple past correct
42 A – passive singular
43 A – correct participle
44 A – past perfect correct
45 B – correct participle
46 B – plural subject
47 C – past perfect most accurate
48 B – best past perfect option
49 C – error: “has ran” ❌ → ran
50 B – collective noun plural usage acceptable
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