Irregular verb
An irregular verb is a verb which cannot be conjugated in a way "typical" of the language to which it belongs.
In total there are some 470 irregular verbs in English,[1] of which many, if not most, are archaic and/or infrequently used. Around 90 could be considered essential to learners, and of these, many are everyday verbs, which makes learning them easier.
Contents |
[edit] Essential irregular verbs
Present - Past - Past Participle
- be - was/were - been
- beat - beat - beaten
- become - became - become
- begin - began - begun
- blow - blew - blown
- break - broke - broken
- bring - brought - brought
- build - built - built
- burst - burst -burst
- buy - bought - bought
- catch - caught - caught
- choose - chose - chosen
- come - came - come
- cost - cost - cost
- cut - cut - cut
- deal - dealt - dealt
- do - did - done
- drink - drank - drunk
- drive - drove - driven
- eat - ate - eaten
- fall - fell - fallen
- feed - fed - fed
- feel - felt - felt
- fight - fought - fought
- find - found - found
- fly - flew - flown
- forbid - forbade - forbidden
- forget - forgot - forgotten
- forgive - forgave - forgiven
- freeze - froze - frozen
- get - got - got/gotten
- give - gave - given
- go - went - gone
- grow - grew - grown
- have - had - had
- hear - heard - heard
- hide - hid - hidden
- hit - hit - hit
- hold - held - held
- hurt - hurt - hurt
- keep - kept - kept
- know - knew - known
- lay - laid - laid
- lead - led - led
- leave -left - left
- let - let - let
- lie - lay - lain
- lose - lost - lost
- make - made - made
- meet - met - met
- pay - paid - paid
- put - put - put
- quit - quit - quit
- read - read - read
- ride - rode - ridden
- ring - rang - rung
- rise - rose - risen
- run - ran - run
- say - said - said
- see - saw - seen
- seek - sought - sought
- sell - sold - sold
- send - sent - sent
- set - set - set
- 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 (waked) - woken (waked)
- wear - wore - worn
- win - won - won
- write - wrote - written
[edit] Teaching tips
1. Rather than presenting or "teaching" irregular verbs in the boring ol' traditional alphabetical lists, as above, an alternative is to divide them into 3 groups as follows (not complete):
[edit] Group 1
Irregular verbs which don't change, i.e. 1 form:
- cost - cost - cost
- cut - cut - cut
- let - let - let
- put - put - put
- set - set - set
[edit] Group 2
Irregular verbs with 2 forms:
- bring - brought - brought
- build - built - built
- say - said - said
- teach - taught - taught
- win - won - won
Many - but not all - irregular verbs whose infinitive contains the /i=/ sound, as in "sleep", have a short /e/ in the past and past participle forms: sleep - slept - slept; read - read - read, etc.
[edit] Group 3
Irregular verbs with 3 forms:
- begin - began - begun
- break - broke - broken
- choose - chose - chosen
- do - did - done
- see - saw - seen
