Teacher Richard presents...
Irregular English Verbs
English (British) | Thursday, 27th September 2012
Most English verbs are regular. That is, they form the past simple and past participle by adding -ed to the root verb. There are some 362 irregular English verbs, however, and these must be learned individually. This article and the associated practice activity will help you to learn some of the more common irregular English verbs.
This article has a Free Activity linked to it.
A good way to learn and remember these irregular verbs is repetition. Repeating words or groups of words many times is one way to help them stick in your mind. One way of getting plenty of repetitions of irregular verbs is to use flashcards.
You can make your own flashcards. On one side write the root verb and on the other side write the past simple and the past participle form. Then test yourself by picking cards at random. This site has ready-made flashcards and you can also hear the verbs spoken by a native English speaker - me!
You can also use sticky notes to remember these irregular verbs. You know the things - little yellow pieces of paper that you can stick to surfaces to remember things. Write the root verb on the front and the past simple and past participle on the back. Stick them around the house where you will find them unexpectedly. When you find them, ask yourself what the irregular forms are and see if you remember.
Here are the most common irregular English verbs. There are actually 362 irregular English verbs.
| Root Verb | Past Simple | Past Participle |
| awake | awoke | awoken |
| be | was, were | been |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid | bid | bid |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burned/burnt* | burned/burnt* |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | cut |
| dig | dug | dug |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| dream | dreamed/dreamt* | dreamed/dreamt* |
| drive | drove | driven |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grow | grew | grown |
| hang | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| keep | kept | kept |
| kneel | kneeled/knelt* | kneeled/knelt* |
| know | knew | known |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| lean | leaned/leant* | leaned/leant* |
| learn | learned/learnt* | learned/learnt* |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie | lay | lain |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | read |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| show | showed | shown |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spell | spelled/spelt* | spelled/spelt* |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spill | spilled/spilt* | spilled/spilt* |
| spoil | spoiled/spoilt* | spoiled/spoilt* |
| stand | stood | stood |
| swim | swam | swum |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| understand | understood | understood |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| win | won | won |
| write | wrote | written |
* In British English, the -t ending is preferred, while in the USA the -ed ending is preferred.
If you really want to master all of the 362 irregular English verbs then this is the site for you.