SUMMARY A new Lagrangian particle method called the consistent particle method (CPM), which solves the Navier–Stokes equations in a semi‐implicit time stepping scheme, is proposed in this paper. Instead of using kernel function as in some particle methods, partial differential operators are approximated in a way consistent with Taylor series expansion. A boundary particle recognition method is applied to help define the changing liquid domain. The incompressibility condition of free surface particles is enforced by an adjustment scheme. With these improvements, the CPM is shown to be robust and accurate in long time simulation of free surface flow particularly for smooth pressure solution. Two types of free surface flow problems are presented to verify the CPM, that is, two‐dimensional dam break and liquid sloshing in a rectangular tank. In the dam break example, the CPM solutions of pressure and wave elevation are in good agreement with published experimental results. In addition, an experimental study of water sloshing in tank on a shake table was conducted to verify the CPM solutions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.