Irregular verbs can be a real pain, especially the ones that aren't frequently used. While most native English speakers can usually tell if the past tense of a word sounds right, memorizing and properly spelling the simple past and past participles of irregular verbs still can be difficult for even the most fluent English speakers. Keep this list handy when writing to ensure proper spelling, grammar and usage of irregular verbs.
Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs
English verbs are tricky business. Even the regular verbs are not always so regular, but what makes a verb regular exactly? Regular verbs can be written in the past tense by adding either -d or -ed to the base verb form (jump, jumped).
Irregular verbs, however, have different spellings to change a verb to the past tense. Sometimes the change is as simple as one letter (know, knew), and other times the change is more complicated (go, went). Most irregular verb forms come naturally with time and practice, but those that do not should be memorized to avoid mistakes when communicating.
List of Irregular Verbs (Base/Infinitive ~Simple Past ~Past Participle)
- Arise ~ Arose ~ Arisen
- Be ~ Was/Were ~ Been
- Bear ~ Bore ~ Borne/Born
- Become ~Became ~ Become
- Begin ~ Began ~ Begun
- Bend ~ Bent ~ Bent
- Bet ~ Bet/Betted ~ Bet/Betted
- Bid ~ Bade/Bid ~ Bidden/Bid
- Bind ~ Bound ~ Bound
- Bite ~ Bit ~ Bitten/Bit
- Bleed ~ Bled ~ Bled
- Blow ~ Blew ~ Blown
- Break ~ Broke ~ Broken
- Bring ~ Brought ~ Brought
- Build ~ Built ~ Built
- Burn ~ Burned/Burnt ~ Burned/Burnt
- Burst ~ Burst ~ Burst
- Buy ~ Bought ~ Bought
- Catch ~ Caught ~ Caught
- Choose ~ Chose ~ Chosen
- Come ~ Came ~ Come
- Creep ~ Crept ~ Crept
- Cut ~ Cut ~ Cut
- Deal ~ Dealt ~ Dealt
- Dive ~ Dived/Dove ~ Dived
- Do ~ Did ~ Done
- Draw ~ Drew ~ Drawn
- Dream ~ Dreamed/Dreamt ~ Dreamed/Dreamt
- Drink ~ Drank ~ Drunk
- Drive ~ Drove ~ Driven
- Eat ~ Ate ~ Eaten
- Fall ~ Fell ~ Fallen
- Feed ~ Fed ~ Fed
- Feel ~ Felt ~ Felt
- Find ~ Found ~ Found
- Fit ~ Fitted/Fit ~ Fit
- Fly ~ Flew ~ Flown
- Freeze ~ Froze ~ Frozen
- Get ~ Got ~ Gotten/Got
- Give ~ Gave ~ Given
- Go ~ Went ~ Gone
- Grow ~ Grew ~ Grown
- Hang ~ Hung ~ Hung
- Has ~ Had ~ Had
- Have ~ Had ~ Had
- Hear ~ Heard ~ Heard
- Hide ~ Hid ~ Hidden/Hid
- Hit ~ Hit ~ Hit
- Hold ~ Held ~ Held
- Keep ~ Kept ~ Kept
- Know ~ Knew ~ Known
- Lay ~ Laid ~ Laid
- Lead ~ Led ~ Led
- Leap ~ Leaped/Leapt ~ Leaped/Leapt
- Learn ~ Learned/Learnt ~ Learned/Learnt
- Leave ~ Left ~ Left
- Lie ~ Lay ~ Lain
- Light ~ Lighted/Lit ~ Lighted/Lit
- Lose ~ Lost ~ Lost
- Make ~ Made ~ Made
- Mean ~ Meant ~ Meant
- Meet ~ Met ~ Met
- Mistake ~ Mistook ~ Mistaken
- Mow ~ Mowed ~ Mowed/Mown
- Pay ~ Paid ~ Paid
- Plead ~ Pleaded/Pled ~ Pleaded/Pled
- Prove ~ Proved/Proven ~ Proved/Proven
- Quit ~ Quit/Quitted ~ Quit/Quitted
- Ride ~ Rode ~ Ridden
- Ring ~ Rang ~ Rung
- Rise ~ Rose ~ Risen
- Run ~ Ran ~ Run
- Saw ~ Sawed ~ Sawed/Sawn
- Say ~ Said ~ Said
- See ~ Saw ~ Seen
- Sell ~ Sold ~ Sold
- Send ~ Sent ~ Sent
- Set ~ Set ~ Set
- Sew ~ Sewed ~ Sewn/Sewed
- Shake ~ Shook ~ Shaken
- Shine ~ Shone/Shined ~ Shone/Shined
- Show ~ Showed ~ Shown/Showed
- Shrink ~ Shrank/Shrunk ~ Shrunk/Shrunken
- Shut ~ Shut ~ Shut
- Sing ~ Sang/Sung ~ Sung
- Sink ~ Sank/Sunk ~ Sunk
- Sit ~ Sat ~ Sat
- Sleep ~ Slept ~ Slept
- Slide ~ Slid ~ Slid
- Sling ~ Slung ~ Slung
- Smell ~ Smelled/Smelt ~ Smelled/Smelt
- Speak ~ Spoke ~ Spoken
- Speed ~ Sped/Speeded ~ Sped/Speeded
- Spell ~ Spelled/Spelt ~ Spelled/Spelt
- Spend ~ Spent ~ Spent
- Spill ~ Spilled/Spilt ~Spilled/Spilt
- Spin ~ Spun ~ Spun
- Spoil ~ Spoiled/Spoilt ~ Spoiled/Spoilt
- Spring ~ Sprang/Sprung ~ Sprung
- Steal ~ Stole ~ Stolen
- Stick ~ Stuck ~ Stuck
- Sting ~ Stung ~ Stung
- Stink ~ Stank ~ Stunk
- Strike ~ Struck ~ Struck/Stricken
- String ~ Strung ~ Strung
- Swear ~ Swore ~ Sworn
- Sweep ~ Swept ~ Swept
- Swim ~ Swam ~ Swum
- Swing ~ Swung ~ Swung
- Take ~ Took ~ Taken
- Teach ~ Taught ~ Taught
- Tear ~ Tore ~ Torn
- Tell ~ Told ~ Told
- Think ~ Thought ~ Thought
- Throw ~ Threw ~ Thrown
- Wake ~ Woke/Waked ~Walked/Woken
- Wear ~ Wore ~ Worn
- Weave ~ Wove ~ Woven
- Weep ~ Wept ~ Wept
- Wet ~ Wet/Wetted ~ Wet/Wetted
- Win ~ Won ~ Won
- Wind ~ Wound ~ Wound
Although the number of irregular verbs in the English language is numerous, many have similar past tense and past participle patterns. With practice and regular usage, you can learn the past tenses of irregular verbs.
Megan B. Wyatt - Megan B. Wyatt has a BA in English, edits fiction manuscripts and currently works as an entertainment reporter in Lafayette, Louisiana.
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