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Irregular verbs in English: A list, with the common tenses
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Learning to conjugate verbs in English is super easy, even when you’re dealing with irregular verbs.
Although it may sound like irregular verbs may be difficult to learn, the reality is that you don’t have a lot to worry about. English isn’t a conjugation-heavy language, so unlike Spanish, French, or German, you won’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time memorizing countless irregular verbs.
In fact, what’s irregular about many irregular verbs is that they don’t need to be conjugated, which means that you won’t even have to worry about learning any other version of the verb besides the infinitive form!
With that said, it is important to be able to recognize which verbs are irregular and which ones aren’t so you don’t make any mistakes that could be easily avoided. Plus, you’ll want to know the four types of irregular verbs so you can easily categorize each of the irregular verbs and nail the conjugation when you speak or write.
Ready to get started? In this handy guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about irregular verbs in English, including the four types, a massive list of 117 of the most common irregular verbs, and five expert tips for learning them. Let’s go!
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What are irregular verbs in English and how many are there?
Irregular verbs are those that don’t follow regular conjugation rules. Those usually involve adding -d or -ed at the end of the base form of a verb. Irregular verbs do not follow these patterns either for the simple past or the past participle — or neither one of the two. Although there are around 200 irregular verbs in English, many of them aren’t commonly used at all. Below, we’ve included 117 of the most common irregular verbs for you.
Types of irregular verbs in English
Before we jump into the ultimate list of irregular verbs in English, let’s start by reviewing the four kinds of irregular verbs so you know what to expect.
![Group os students sitting at a table and discussing irregular verbs in English](https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blte031836cf13220c5/bltee001ffd9ddf9cf2/667e76ecbbfa8582b3f850c4/istock-1184211609.jpeg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&quality=80&)
Irregular verbs with the same base form, past tense, and past participle
One of the most common types of irregular verbs is also the easiest to learn. For these types of verbs, all you have to do is keep the infinitive form of the verb as is and use it for both the past tense and the past participle. Some common examples include:
- Bid
- Broadcast
- Set
Irregular verbs with the same past tense and past participle
Another type of irregular verb involves those that use the same conjugation for the simple past and past participle tenses. These are also relatively easy to learn, as you’ll just have to use to remember to use the same conjugation for both tenses. Here are some examples with the base form followed by the irregular conjugation:
- Bend → Bent
- Build → Built
- Get → Got
Irregular verbs with the same base form and past participle
This type of irregular verb includes the wildcards of all English verbs. While the simple past will have a unique and often irregular conjugation, the past participle will be exactly the same as the base verb. While this might sound counterintuitive, rest assured that the list of verbs in this category isn’t long. Here are some examples of verbs with the base form followed by the simple past form (remember that the past participle is the same as the base form!):
- Run → Ran
- Become → Became
- Overcome → Overcame
Irregular verbs with a different base form, past tense, and past participle
Finally, we have irregular verbs where each tense is completely different from each other. While it may sound like this might be the trickiest type of verb to learn, we’ve got a few tricks to memorize them easily. Keep reading until the end of this blog to learn more! For now, here are a few examples of verbs in this category, starting with the base form followed by the simple past conjugation and the past participle:
- Freeze → Froze → Frozen
- Write → Wrote → Written
- Eat → Ate → Eaten
List of the 117 most common irregular verbs in English and their past tense conjugation
Now that you’re familiar with the four types of irregular verbs in English, let’s take a look at 117 irregular verbs in English:
Infinitive | Simple past | Past participle | Example |
To awake | Awoke | Awoken | I was awoken in the middle of the night by a loud bang. |
To be | Was/were | Been | I think I might have already been asleep by the time you called me. |
To bear | Bore | Born | Even though he wasn’t responsible for the accident, he alone bore the consequences. |
To beat | Beat | Beaten | You beat me to the punch! I was about to say that. |
To become | Became | Become | She became the top swimmer in her high school. |
To begin | Began | Begun | I rushed as much as I could, but the competition had already begun by the time I got there. |
To bend | Bent | Bent | I can’t use this part anymore because it’s bent. |
To bid | Bid | Bid | She bid him farewell on a cold, rainy night. |
To bite | Bit | Bitten | Luckily, I’ve never been bitten by a snake. |
To bleed | Bled | Bled | I got a nosebleed last night and bled all over my pillowcase. |
To blow | Blew | Blown | I think he blew it out of proportion — it really wasn’t that big of a deal. |
To break | Broke | Broken | The handle broke as soon as I touched it. |
To bring | Brought | Brought | She brought the same cookies she had brought last year! |
To broadcast | Broadcast | Broadcast | The news report was broadcast this morning. |
To build | Built | Built | This house was built in the 19th century. |
To burn | Burned or burnt | Burn or burnt | I made some mac & cheese, but I left it in the oven too long and burnt it to a crisp! |
To bust | Bust | Bust | The original dam bust from all the pressure in 1987, so they had to build a new one. |
To buy | Bought | Bought | She bought him a new car for his birthday. |
To catch | Caught | Caught | We caught our kid using his phone past his bedtime, so we had to take it away. |
To choose | Chose | Chosen | The dress I had chosen is no longer in stock. |
To cling | Clung | Clung | The cat clung on to the roof for dear life. |
To come | Came | Come | I’m shocked, this news really came out of the blue. |
To cost | Cost | Cost | Even though she bought this art piece as an investment, she had to sell it for less than what it had originally cost her. |
To creep | Crept | Crept | The intruder crept into our house without making any noise. |
To cut | Cut | Cut | Due to budget constraints, the school cut its arts program last year. |
To dig | Dug | Dug | The dog randomly dug out a bone from the ground. |
To do | Did | Done | It was too late by the time he realized what he had done. |
To draw | Drew | Drawn | He was quite impressed with the results, considering he had never drawn anything like that before. |
To dream | Dreamed or dreamt | Dreamed or dreamt | They finally moved into the home they had always dreamt of. |
To drive | Drove | Driven | I had never driven on a coastline like this before. |
To drink | Drank | Drunk | I had already drunk too much wine by the time we started having dinner. |
To eat | Ate | Eaten | I was so hungry I could have eaten a whole cow! |
To fall | Fell | Fallen | Nathan wasn’t careful so he fell into the river. |
To feed | Fed | Fed | Even though it was a very long time, they kept me very well fed. |
To feel | Felt | Felt | I felt like you weren’t listening to me. |
To fight | Fought | Fought | I fought really hard to get to where I am today. |
To find | Found | Found | You should check with the lost and found department to see if they have your card. |
To flee | Fled | Fled | They fled their war-torn country when they were just children. |
To fling | Flung | Flung | He just grabbed my notebook and flung it out the window! |
To fly | Flew | Flown | The bird flew away before the cat could catch it. |
To forbid | Forbade | Forbidden | Taking photos inside the museum is strictly forbidden. |
To forget | Forgot | Forgotten | I had forgotten about the homework assignment, but luckily, I remembered right before the deadline. |
To forgive | Forgave | Forgiven | No need to apologize, you’re already forgiven! |
To freeze | Froze | Frozen | He froze when he heard her voice. |
To get | Got | Got | I got a new pair of jeans yesterday. |
To give | Gave | Given | He gave me flowers on our first date! |
To grind | Ground | Ground | Do you want to buy ground coffee or whole beans? |
To go | Went | Gone | Oh, she’s already gone! She left this morning. |
To grow | Grew | Grown | I didn’t like the carpet at first, but it grew on me. |
To hang | Hung | Hung | He hung his laundry in the balcony and it flew off! |
To have | Had | Had | I think he already had lunch, so we can start eating without him |
To hear | Heard | Heard | Hey! I heard you’re coming to visit next month? |
To hide | Hid | Hidden | They found a hidden treasure at the beach and became rich! |
To hit | Hit | Hit | He got injured while skiing because he hit a tree. |
To hold | Held | Held | My cat loves being held like a little baby. |
To hurt | Hurt | Hurt | Your words really hurt me, so it will take some time for me to move on. |
To keep | Kept | Kept | I kept your letter after all these years. |
To know | Knew | Known | I wish I had known before I came all the way here! |
To lay | Laid | Laid | They laid a strong foundation before beginning construction on the megaproject. |
To lead | Led | Led | Poor management led to the bankruptcy of what once was a thriving company. |
To learn | Learned | Learned | I was placed two math levels above my grade because I had already learned most of what they were studying. |
To leave | Left | Left | I rushed to the airport to meet there, but she had already left by the time I got there. |
To lend | Lent | Lent | Here are the books you had lent me. |
To let | Let | Let | Our teacher let us out of class a few minutes early. |
To lie | Lay | Lain | Yesterday was a great day, I just lay by the beach and ate a bunch of fruits. |
To lose | Lost | Lost | I can’t believe I found the jacket I thought I had lost years ago! |
To make | Made | Made | This dish is what made this restaurant an international phenomenon. |
To mean | Meant | Meant | I don’t know what she meant by that, but she seems upset. |
To meet | Met | Met | I had never met someone like you. |
To pay | Paid | Paid | As long as I’m being paid, I don’t mind staying after closing. |
To prove | Proved | Proven | We’re all innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. |
To put | Put | Put | I can’t find my scarf. I know I put it somewhere, but I can’t remember where! |
To quit | Quit | Quit | He had already quit his job before I had a chance to convince him not to. |
To read | Read | Read | He read her a bedtime story before putting her to bed. |
To ride | Rode | Ridden | I’ve ridden every single rollercoaster in this theme park. |
To ring | Rang | Rung | He rang me up at the cash register upstairs. |
To rise | Rose | Risen | It’s very inspiring to see how you rose from the bottom. |
To run | Ran | Run | You should have already run at least 20 miles in one go before you attempt to run a marathon. |
To say | Said | Said | I misunderstood what she had said. |
To see | Saw | Seen | That was the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen. |
To seek | Sought | Sought | I sought some advice from my thesis advisor, but he was upset I even asked! |
To sell | Sold | Sold | Fortunately, the house sold in less than two weeks. |
To send | Sent | Sent | I sent my bags ahead of time so they were already at the hotel when I got there. |
To set | Set | Set | I set the table earlier today so we should be ready for dinner. |
To sew | Sewed | Sewn | This one-of-a-kind, hand-sewn dress was passed on to me by my grandma. |
To shake | Shook | Shaken | I’m still a little shaken from the car accident, but, thankfully, I’m okay. |
To show | Showed | Shown | He had already shown her the birthday party invite, so he ruined the surprise. |
To shut | Shut | Shut | I forgot to shut the window and now my room is full of mosquitoes. |
To sing | Sang | Sung | She sang a beautiful song at our wedding. |
To sink | Sank | Sunk | The boat sank to the bottom of the ocean after hitting an iceberg. |
To sit | Sat | Sat | My mom forgot she had to pick me up from school so I just sat there and waited for her for hours. |
To sleep | Slept | Slept | I hadn’t slept that well in a really long time. |
To slide | Slid | Slid | The dog slid down the waterslide like an enthusiastic child. |
To sling | Slung | Slung | I was already on my way out but I still slung a few pieces of candy in my bag. |
To sow | Sowed | Sown | The farmers sowed diligently all day long, but soon they will be able to feast on their harvest. |
To speak | Spoke | Spoken | There you have it, spoken like a true native! |
To spend | Spent | Spent | I spent the whole afternoon studying Spanish, and I think it’s actually paying off! |
To spin | Spun | Spun | Everything was fine at first, but things just spun out of control. |
To stand | Stood | Stood | Nobody dared to help after the accident, everyone just stood there in shock. |
To steal | Stole | Stolen | They stopped construction because the government found out it was being financed with stolen money. |
To sting | Stung | Stung | I’m very lucky because I’ve never been stung by a bee. |
To stink | Stank | Stunk | All of our fruits went bad because the power went out while we were away, so our fridge stunk terribly when we returned. |
To swear | Swore | Sworn | I could’ve sworn I saw you at the mall the other day. |
To swim | Swam | Swum | I swam all the way to the island and back yesterday. |
To swing | Swung | Swung | I swung at the ball as hard as I could, but I still didn’t hit a home run. |
To take | Took | Taken | I think what I said might’ve been taken out of context. |
To teach | Taught | Taught | Having taught children for over two decades, I think I can speak to children effectively. |
To tear | Tore | Torn | I’m torn between these two dresses, what do you think? |
To tell | Told | Told | I’ve told you a million times to always lock the door when you leave! |
To think | Thought | Thought | Learning English is much easier than I thought. |
To throw | Threw | Thrown | I threw my bags on the floor and ran to give him a hug as soon as I got home. |
To understand | Understood | Understood | I finally understood how to conjugate verbs in Spanish after taking a few more online classes. |
To wake | Woke | Woken | She woke me up right in time to make it to the airport to catch my flight. |
To wear | Wore | Worn | He wore a sharp-looking suit with a striking red tie to the gala. |
To weep | Wept | Wept | I was able to get over my last breakup, but only after I had wept for several days. |
To win | Won | Won | They placed me with some novice players, so I had won the game before it even began. |
To write | Wrote | Written | I think this might be the most beautiful story ever written. |
5 best strategies for learning irregular verbs
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1. Group them by type
Before you set out to memorize all irregular verbs without a structure, you should group the ones you want to learn by type. Of course, you won’t memorize 100+ irregular verbs in one go, so selecting the verbs that are most important to you and grouping them by type will make it much easier for you to remember what makes that verb irregular. That way, you’ll know if you’ll need to change the entire verb or if you get to keep the stem, and if you should change them in all verb tenses or just one or two.
2. Recite the infinitive, simple past, and past participle forms
Memorizing irregular verbs can be easier if you memorize all three verb conjugations in one go. Not only will it make it easier to remember which conjugations need special attention, but you’ll also be able to create a fun rhyme in your head, which will increase your chances of remembering all three conjugations. For example, try saying the following conjugations very quickly:
- Freeze, froze, frozen
- Begin, began, begun
- Sing, sang, sung
- Stink, stank, stunk
- Wear, wore, worn
Isn’t it kinda fun? It’s almost like you’re saying a short little tongue twister!
3. Always check if a verb is irregular
Of course, not all verbs are irregular. An overwhelming majority of English verbs are regular, so you can just follow regular conjugation rules then. However, one of the most common mistakes English learners make is conjugating irregular verbs assuming that they can be conjugated like regular verbs. Thus, any time you learn a new verb, make sure to look it up in the dictionary to double-check whether you’re dealing with a regular on an irregular verb!
4. Use spaced repetition software for hard verbs
Every now and then, you’ll run into some particularly difficult verbs that will make you mess up over and over again — and that’s totally okay! When that happens, simply add the word and its conjugations to your favorite spaced repetition software (SRS) and keep reviewing it until you’ve got it! If you don’t have an SRS tool yet, check out Anki, which is one of the favorite tools of language learners.
5. Listen to music with irregular verbs
Let’s face it, studying a new language is much more effective when it’s fun! That’s why it’s such a good idea to use music to learn a language, even for things like irregular verbs. Some fun songs that include a healthy amount of irregular verbs include:
- Return to Sender by Elvis Presley
- Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones
- Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion
All three of the songs above will help you memorize some helpful irregular verbs as each one contains many irregular verbs that can be easily burned into your psyche after a few listens.
Skip the headaches with this handy list of English irregular verbs
English isn’t a conjugation-heavy language, so make sure you don’t make the easily avoidable mistakes of conjugating an irregular verb as if it were a regular verb! In this article, we’ve covered some of the most common irregular verbs, the four types of irregular verbs, and five unmissable tips to memorize all these irregular verbs!
If you enjoyed this article, make sure to check out the rest of our blog! There, we have dozens of super helpful (and free!) guides on all things English grammar, vocab, and even fun facts! Some recent articles include a guide to writing a letter or email in English, a list 1000 English adjectives, and our top guide for business English. For an even deeper understanding of the English language, you can join our English classes and learn in a group or take English lessons with a private instructor.