Irregular Verbs
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In this lesson, we will learn
- how to form simple past tense for irregular verbs
- how to pronounce and spell the past tense of irregular verbs
We use the simple past tense to talk about things that happened in the past. For most verbs, the simple past tense is created by adding a d, ed or ied at the end of the word. These are called regular verbs.
The simple past tense of some verbs do not end in ed. Such verbs are called irregular verbs. Since they are irregular, they do not follow any pattern and the best way to learn them would be to repeat and memorize them.
Usually we will try to remember the base form (infinitive), past tense and past participle.
Examples:
They go to the movies every weekend. (go - base form)
They went to the movie yesterday. (went - past tense)
They have gone to the movies. (gone - past participle)
The following is a list of commonly used irregular verbs. (Check out the videos below for more irregular verbs.)
Base Form |
Past Tense |
Past Participle |
arise |
arose |
arisen |
awake |
awoke |
awoken |
be |
was, were |
been |
bear |
bore |
born/borne |
beat |
beat |
beaten |
become |
became |
become |
begin |
began |
begun |
behold |
beheld |
beheld |
bend |
bent |
bent |
bet |
bet |
bet |
bid |
bade |
bidden |
bid |
bid |
bid |
bind |
bound |
bound |
bite |
bit |
bitten |
bleed |
bled |
bled |
blow |
blew |
blown |
break |
broke |
broken |
breed |
bred |
bred |
bring |
brought |
brought |
build |
built |
built |
burst |
burst |
burst |
bust |
bust |
bust |
buy |
bought |
bought |
cast |
cast |
cast |
catch |
caught |
caught |
choose |
chose |
chosen |
clap |
clapped |
clapped |
cling |
clung |
clung |
come |
came |
come |
cost |
cost |
cost |
creep |
crept |
crept |
cut |
cut |
cut |
dare |
dared |
dared |
deal |
dealt |
dealt |
dig |
dug |
dug |
dive |
dived |
dived |
do |
did |
done |
draw |
drew |
drawn |
dream |
dreamt |
dreamt |
drink |
drank |
drunk |
drive |
drove |
driven |
dwell |
dwelt |
dwelt |
eat |
ate |
eaten |
fall |
fell |
fallen |
feed |
fed |
fed |
feel |
felt |
felt |
fight |
fought |
fought |
find |
found |
found |
flee |
fled |
fled |
fling |
flung |
flung |
fly |
flew |
flown |
forbid |
forbade |
forbidden |
foresee |
foresaw |
foreseen |
foretell |
foretold |
foretold |
forget |
forgot |
forgotten |
forgive |
forgave |
forgiven |
forsake |
forsook |
forsaken |
freeze |
froze |
frozen |
frostbite |
frostbit |
frostbitten |
get |
got |
gotten |
give |
gave |
given |
go |
went |
gone |
go |
went |
gone/been |
grind |
ground |
ground |
grow |
grew |
grown |
handwrite |
handwrote |
handwritten |
have |
had |
had |
hear |
heard |
heard |
hide |
hid |
hidden |
hit |
hit |
hit |
hold |
held |
held |
hurt |
hurt |
hurt |
inlay |
inlaid |
inlaid |
input |
input |
input |
interlay |
interlaid |
interlaid |
keep |
kept |
kept |
kneel |
knelt |
knelt |
know |
knew |
known |
lay |
laid |
laid |
lead |
led |
led |
learn |
learnt |
learnt |
leave |
left |
left |
lend |
lent |
lent |
let |
let |
let |
lie |
lay |
lain |
light |
lit |
lit |
lose |
lost |
lost |
make |
made |
made |
mean |
meant |
meant |
meet |
met |
met |
pay |
paid |
paid |
quit |
quit |
quit |
read |
read |
read |
ride |
rode |
ridden |
run |
ran |
run |
say |
said |
said |
see |
saw |
seen |
seek |
sought |
sought |
sell |
sold |
sold |
send |
sent |
sent |
shake |
shook |
shaken |
shine |
shone |
shone |
sing |
sang |
sung |
sit |
sat |
sat |
sleep |
slept |
slept |
speak |
spoke |
spoken |
spend |
spent |
spent |
spring |
sprang |
sprung |
stand |
stood |
stood |
steal |
stole |
stolen |
swim |
swam |
swum |
swing |
swung |
swung |
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 |
Videos
This video will help students of English learn the past and present tense forms of many irregular verbs.
This video is designed to help you learn the most frequently used English irregular verbs. You can practice the pronunciation while memorizing them. (Part 1)
This video is designed to help you learn English irregular verbs. You can practice the pronunciation while memorizing them. (Part 3)
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You can use the free Mathway calculator and problem solver below to practice Algebra or other math topics. Try the given examples, or type in your own problem and check your answer with the step-by-step explanations.
