What's the difference between "wrote" and "written"?

Wrote is the plain past: she wrote a letter. Written is the past participle and needs a helper: she has written a letter. Mixing them ("she has wrote") is the classic 4th grade error, and it's why "written" shows up as a tempting wrong answer on the multiple-choice sheets.

Which irregular verbs are appropriate for 4th grade?

The less-frequent, harder-change set: choose/chose, freeze/froze, rise/rose, tear/tore, sweep/swept, swing/swung, steal/stole, wear/wore. They follow the same logic as the earlier verbs; there are just fewer daily chances to hear them, so worksheets carry more of the load.

4th grade irregular past tense verbs

4th grade irregular past tense verbs worksheets

By 4th grade, the working set includes the harder changes: choose/chose, freeze/froze, tear/tore, swing/swung. Students also start separating the plain past from the past participle (wrote vs. written), a distinction that matters once perfect tenses arrive in 5th grade.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.3.1.d.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Write the past tense of the verb in parentheses in the blank.

The beavers (build) a dam across the creek last summer.
Fixed: The beavers built a dam across the creek last summer.
Diego (leave) his umbrella on the bus yesterday morning.
Before bed last night, Grandma (sing) an old lullaby to the baby.

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 4th grade sheet

4th grade sheets draw from 60 sentences, 8 to a page. 25 of the 60 aren't on 3rd grade sheets. The other 35 are.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

The fire drill bell rang during math class yesterday morning.
During the storm last night, the barn owl sought shelter in the hayloft.
After their long talk on Sunday, Maya forgave her brother for losing the kite.

Fix it. Write the past tense of the verb in parentheses in the blank. 8 sentences to fix per page.
Choose the word. Circle the letter of the correct past tense verb. The word in parentheses is the verb to change. 10 questions per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

The new pitfall at this level is participle confusion: "she has wrote" or "the lake was froze." When "written" or "frozen" turns up, on the test-style sheet or in your student's own answer, use it: ask when that form would be right (after has, have, or was). Five minutes on that question now saves grief in 5th grade perfect-tense work.

Watch for: Adding -ed to everything (goed, runned) is a smart guess that happens to be wrong for these verbs. It means the child has learned the regular rule; now they need the exceptions. Some past forms need a helper: 'she has written', not 'she has wrote'. Our answer keys use the plain past on these sheets.

Common questions about 4th grade irregular past tense verbs

What's the difference between "wrote" and "written"?: Wrote is the plain past: she wrote a letter. Written is the past participle and needs a helper: she has written a letter. Mixing them ("she has wrote") is the classic 4th grade error, and it's why "written" shows up as a tempting wrong answer on the multiple-choice sheets.
Which irregular verbs are appropriate for 4th grade?: The less-frequent, harder-change set: choose/chose, freeze/froze, rise/rose, tear/tore, sweep/swept, swing/swung, steal/stole, wear/wore. They follow the same logic as the earlier verbs; there are just fewer daily chances to hear them, so worksheets carry more of the load.

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Aligned to Common Core L.3.1.d. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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