Irregular verbs and the rules and patterns that govern them can be difficult to learn without proper guidance.
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Fortunately, we already covered the 12 main English verb tenses and the lesser known 13th tense called Future in the Past here at Magoosh Speaking.
However, those blogs mainly focus on regular verbs. What about the 200+ irregular verbs in the English language? Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered.
In this blog, we’ll review the regular past and past participle forms of verbs and provide a definitive irregular verbs list that breaks them down by group and form.
(Prefer to watch this lesson on video? Here’s our full length tutorial on “Irregular Verbs”):
‘Irregular Verbs’:
Regular Verbs
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Before we look at irregular verbs, let’s review the base, simple past, and past participle forms of regular verbs. Those are the forms that have a different structure with an irregular verb.
To create the past simple and past participle forms of a regular verb in English, simply add -ed to the end of the verb.
| Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| Ask | Asked | Asked |
| Earn | Earned | Earned |
| Join | Joined | Joined |
| Wash | Washed | Washed |
If the verb ends in consonant + y then change the -y to -i and add -ed.
| Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| Carry | Carried | Carried |
| Hurry | Hurried | Hurried |
| Marry | Married | Married |
| Worry | Worried | Worried |
If a word ends in -e, then we just add -d to the end.
| Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| Cause | Caused | Caused |
| Damage | Damaged | Damaged |
| Love | Loved | Loved |
| Refuse | Refused | Refused |
Here are some sentences using regular verbs in these forms:
- I asked to go with them to the movies.
- She washed the dishes last night.
- He has carried her books to school since they were six years old.
- Do you know what caused the damage to the roof?
Pronunciation of Regular Verbs with -ed
The last letter of the verb will determine how you pronounce it with -ed.
Pronounce verbs ending in -f, -k, -ss, -ch, -sh, or -x + -ed with a /t/ sound.
Examples:
- Kissed
- Washed
- Matched
- Boxed
Pronounce verbs ending in -d or -t + -ed with an /id/ sound.
Examples:
- Greeted
- Needed
- Admitted
- Folded
Pronounce verbs ending in all other letters + -ed with a /d/ sound.
Examples:
- Allowed
- Called
- Opened
- Pulled
Irregular Verbs
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Irregular verbs in English are defined as: verbs that do not follow the pattern of adding -ed in the simple past and past participle forms of the verb.
As stated before, there are over 200 of them in English and learning them all can be a difficult task. Like any other list you learn in life, it’s always easier to remember if you group everything into a pattern.
English irregular verbs have four distinct (clear) patterns or types. So we’ve divided our list of irregular verbs examples into these groups for you.
Group 1
The irregular verbs in Group 1 have the same base, simple past, and past participle forms.
| Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid | bid | bid |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| burst | burst | burst |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | cut |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| let | let | let |
| put | put | put |
| quit | quit | quit |
| set | set | set |
| shut | shut | shut |
| split | split | split |
| spread | spread | spread |
Group 2
The irregular verbs in Group 2 have the same simple past and past participle forms.
| Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bring | brought | brought |
| build | built | built |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| creep | crept | crept |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| feed | fed | fed |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| flee | fled | fled |
| get | got | got |
| hang | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hold | held | held |
| keep | kept | kept |
| kneel | knelt | knelt |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| light | lit | lit |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| read | read* | read* |
| say | said | said |
| seek | sought | sought |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| shine | shone | shone |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| slide | slid | slid |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spit | spat | spat |
| stand | stood | stood |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| strike | struck | struck |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| swing | swung | swung |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| understand | understood | understood |
| weep | wept | wept |
| win | won | won |
Group 3
The irregular verbs in Group 3 have the same base and past participle forms
| Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| become | became | become |
| come | came | come |
| run | ran | run |
Group 4
The irregular verbs in Group 4 have different base, simple past, and past participle forms.
| Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| arise | arose | arisen |
| awake | awoke | awoken |
| be | was /were | been |
| begin | began | begun |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forbid | forbade | forbidden |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grow | grew | grown |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| know | knew | known |
| lie | lay | lain |
| mistake | mistook | mistaken |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| see | saw | seen |
| sew | sewed | sewn |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| show | showed | shown |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| sing | sang | sung |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spring | sprang | sprung |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stink | stank | stunk |
| swear | swore | sworn |
| swim | swam | swum |
| take | took | taken |
| tear | tore | torn |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| write | wrote | written |
Learning Tips
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Even with the grouping, that’s a lot of verbs to learn! So here are a few key strategies you can use to commit those verbs and their forms to memory.
- The mind can only handle so much! Try to learn only a few every day and a limited number of verbs each week.
- Use a free flashcard program like Quizlet or Anki to create your own flashcards to help you memorize them. Both programs let users post their own flashcard decks, so there’s probably already a deck out there you can use.
- Keep an English journal and try to use the irregular verbs you’re learning that day in your writing.
- Try some irregular verbs exercises online.
- Read, read, and read some more! Reading is the key to seeing more irregular verbs in use. In speaking, you’ll mainly hear the most common irregular verbs.
With our list, you should have a great start to learning the English irregular verbs. Remember to take things slowly and only learn a few verbs at a time. Over time, you’ll get them all.
There are over 200 irregular verbs in English, and I know we didn’t list them all. So leave a comment below and let us know if you can think of any more we can add to our list.
If you really want to advance your English skills, our starter plan includes unlimited automatic feedback and access to our Magoosh English Speaking Slack Group. There you can get peer feedback from advanced students along with unlimited automatic feedback within the app.
