What Are Irregular Verbs?

In the process of learning modern English, irregular verbs are one of the hardest parts, because there is no rule to learn them: we simply have to memorize them (and there are nearly 200)!

Therefore, we could say that irregular verbs are kind of “following their own rules” in contrary to regular verbs which usually end with -d or -ed in the simple past and past participle.

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Table of contents
What Is an Irregular Verb?	Exercices	Frequently Asked Questions

 

What Is an Irregular Verb?

An irregular verb is a verb in the past tense that is not formed by adding –ed at the end. For example, “bear” in its past tense form would be ”bore”.

Here are some examples of irregular verbs:

Present (infinitive)	Simple Past	Past Participle
Be	Was/were	Been
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Know	Knew	Known
Hide	Hid	Hidden
Speak	Spoke	Spoken
Take	Took	Taken
Begin	Began	Begun
Eat	Ate	Eaten
Give	Gave	Given
Go	Went	Gone

 

On the other hand, some verbs can be both regular and irregular, depending on which form will be used. Here are some examples:

Present (infinitive)	Simple Past	Past Participle
Burn	Burned or burnt	Burned or burnt
Learn	Learned or learnt	Learned or learnt
Dream	Dreamed or dreamt	Dreamed or dreamt
Smell	Smelled or smelt	Smelled or smelt
Dive	Dived or dove	Dived or dove

There are also some irregular verbs that don’t change no matter what the tense is such as bet, broadcast, cut, hit, hurt, let, put, quit, read, set, shut, spread, etc. The following is an example of unchangeable irregular verbs in a sentence:

I couldn’t let the door shut on this old lady.

Even though irregular verbs can be tricky to remember, they still have the same use as regular verbs. That said, they must follow the form of subject-verb-agreement. They can also be actions, stative or linking verbs and they can be transitive or intransitive. To better understand how words function in a sentence, you can also explore what is a noun in English grammar.

What Is an Example Of an Irregular Verb In a Sentence?

Let’s look at some examples of the use of irregular verbs in a sentence:

• Yesterday, I ran a marathon.
• Last week, I quit my job.
• I made a lot of money with my investments.

To solidify your comprehension, let’s clearly define the difference between a regular and an irregular verb. A regular verb ends with the suffix -d, -ed or -ied in the simple past and past participle whereas an irregular verb has a different ending, which must be learned by heart. If you want to deepen your understanding of verb patterns and forms, you can refer to complete guide to irregular verbs.

To conclude, there is no specific context in which a regular or irregular verb will be used. The only tip to learn the numerous irregular verbs is to study them! This can be done by using a list and hiding one column at a time.

You can also read it out loud or ask a friend or family member to help you study. For example, they can name a verb in the present tense and have you tell them what the simple past and past participle of this verb is. Reading regularly can also improve retention and help memorize irregular forms faster, as explained in reading for better retention of information.

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Exercises on Irregular Verbs

If you wish, you can complete the following exercises to verify your comprehension. The corrected version will follow.

1. Write the simple past and past participle form of the following irregular verbs.

Present Tense	Simple Past	Past Participle
Forget
Feed
Begin
Choose
Come
Hide
Tell
Leave
Wear
Write

2. Identify by an “X” in the appropriate column if the verb is regular or irregular.

Basic verb	Regular form	Irregular form
Love
Send
Sleep
Talk
Sit

Answers

1. Write the simple past and past participle form of the following irregular verbs.

Present Tense	Simple Past	Past Participle
Forget	Forgot	Forgotten
Feed	Fed	Fed
Begin	Began	Begun
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Come	Came	Came
Hide	Hid	Hidden
Tell	Told	Told
Leave	Left	Left
Wear	Wore	Worn
Write	Wrote	Written

 

1. Indicate if the underlined nouns in the following sentences are direct or indirect complements.

Basic verb	Regular form	Irregular form
Love	X
Send		X
Sleep		X
Talk	X
Sit		X

 

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Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Know If a Verb Is Irregular?

A regular verb is one whose past tense forms (past simple or past participle) are formed by adding the suffix -ed (e.g., dreamed). Whereas an irregular verb is one whose past tense forms are formed by adding something other than the suffix -ed (e.g., took).

 

What Are the Rules for Irregular Verbs?

As mentioned above, irregular verbs don’t have a normal pattern and don’t follow the normal rules for conjugation when it comes to tense and past participle. They have their own tense forms and past participles. Sometimes it’s enough to change a vowel, but this isn’t always the case.

 

What Is a Weak Verb?

A weak verb is one that doesn’t change its vowel when it’s in the past tense (e.g., dance). A strong verb, on the other hand, changes at least one of its vowels when it’s in the past tense (e.g., sing/sang). In short, strong verbs have vowel modifications, weak ones do not.

 

Is the Past Tense the Same In Both American and British English?

Verb tenses are similar, but there are some exceptions for past tenses. For example, British English language uses the present perfect tense (for recent actions that affect the present).

 

What Are the 10 Most Common Irregular Verbs?

To be, to do, to go, to see, to get, to give, to have, to make, to take, to say.

 

What Is the List of 100 Irregular Verbs?

Here is a complete list of 100 irregular verbs:

Base form	Simple Past	Past Principle
Arise	Arose	Arisen
Awake	Awakened/Awoke	Awakened/Awoke
Be	Was/Were	Been
Beat	Beat	Beat
Become	Became	Become
Begin	Began	Begun
Bend	Bent	Bent
Bite	Bit	Bitten
Blow	Blew	Blown
Break	Broke	Broken
Breed	Bred	Bref
Bring	Brought	Brought
Build	Built	Built
Buy	Bought	Bought
Cast	Cast	Cast
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Come	Came	Come
Cost	Cost	Cost
Creep	Crept	Crept
Cut	Cut	Cut
Deal	Dealt	Dealt
Dig	Dug	Dug
Do	Did	Done
Draw	Drew	Drawn
Drink	Drank	Drunk

 

Base form	Simple Past	Past Principle
Drive	Drove	Driven
Eat	Ate	Eaten
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Fight	Fought	Fought
Find	Found	Found
Flee	Fled	Fled
Fly	Flew	Flown
Forbid	Forbade	Forbidden
Forget	Forgot	Forgotten
Forgive	Forgave	Forgiven
Forsake	Forsook	Forsaken
Freeze	Froze	Frozen
Get	Got	Gotten
Give	Gave	Given
Go	Went	Gone
Grind	Ground	Ground
Grow	Grew	Grown
Hang	Hung	Hung
Hide	Hid	Hidden
Hit	Hit	Hit
Hold	Held	Held
Kneel	Knelt	Knelt
Know	Knew	Know
Lead	Led	Led
Leave	Left	Left

 

Base form	Simple Past	Past Principle
Lend	Lent	Lent
Lie	Lay	Laid
Lose	Lost	Lost
Make	Made	Made
Mean	Meant	Meant
Meet	Met	Met
Mistake	Mistook	Mistaken
Misunderstand	Misunderstood	Misunderstood
Overcome	Overcame	Overcome
Pay	Paid	Paid
Put	Put	Put
Quit	Quit	Quit
Read	Read	Read
Rid	Rid	Rid
Ride	Rode	Ridden
Ring	Rang	Rung
Run	Ran	Run
Say	Said	Said
See	Saw	Seen
Sell	Sold	Sold
Shake	Shook	Shaken
Shed	Shed	Shed
Shine	Shone	Shone
Shoot	Shot	Shot
Shrink	Shrank	Shrunk

 

Base form	Simple Past	Past Principle
Shut	Shut	Shut
Sing	Sang	Sung
Sink	Sank	Sunk
Slit	Slit	Slit
Speak	Spoke	Spoken
Spend	Spent	Spent
Split	Split	Split
Stand	Stood	Stood
Steal	Stole	Stolen
Stick	Stuck	Stuck
Stink	Stank	Stunk
Swear	Swore	Sworn
Swim	Swam	Swum
Swing	Swung	Swung
Take	Took	Taken
Teach	Taught	Taught
Tear	Tore	Torn
Think	Thought	Thought
Throw	Threw	Thrown
Thrust	Thrust	Thrust
Uphold	Upheld	Upheld
Wake	Woke	Woken
Wear	Wore	Worn
Wring	Wrung	Wrung
Write	Wrote	Written

 

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