The Irregular Verbs in English

A U s e r - F r i e n d l y C l a s s if i c at io n
Most verbs in English are regular verbs, meaning that they add the ed ending to form both the simple past and the
past participle forms, which are identical, such as play-played-played. However, there is a considerable number of
irregular verbs(about 450, but only about 200 in common use)
While any new verb coined in later periods tends to be regular. Still, the ten most used verbs in English are irregular.
Consult your dictionary if you are not sure about the exact usage.
The following irregular verb tables are sorted according to V1,V2, and V3 forms. Here is a quick reminder for these
verb forms:
Uses of the 3 main verb forms:
Present Simple
Future Simple
V2=Past Simple
Past Simple only !
V3=Past participle perfect tenses
passive forms
passive adjective
V1=base form

I write in English every day.

I will write an English essay tomorrow.
Yesterday, I wrote 2 poems in English.
I have already written my English paper.
This novel was written by Charles Dickens.
This story is well-written.

Study Tables for the Irregular Verbs in English Part 1

The following irregular verb categories 1-3 are complemented by categories 4-7, found in Part 2.
Category 1: irregular ending with no vowel change, V2=V3
group 1: d ending changes to t, ent changes to end
bend
build
lend
send
spend

bent
build
lent
sent
spent

bent
built
lent
sent
spent

group 2: the verbs have and make

have \ has
make

had
made

had
made

group 3: regular (V2, V3) in US English, irregular in UK English

learn
burn
dwell

learned \ learnt
burned \ burnt
dwelled \ dwelt

learned \ learnt
burned \ burnt
dwelled \ dwelt

smell
spell
spill
spoil

smelled \ smelt
spelled \ spelt
spilled \ spilt
spoiled \ spoilt

smelled \ smelt
spelled \ spelt
spilled \ spilt
spoiled \ spoilt

group 4: ay ending changes to aid

*said is pronounced /sed/
lay
(the table,
clothes, eggs)
pay
say

laid

laid

paid
*said
(/sed/)

paid
*said

Category 2: Vowel change, irregular ending, V2=V3

group 5: vowel change , d or t ending

creep
feed
feel
keep
kneel
meet
sleep
sweep
weep
*l eave

crept
fed
felt
kept
knelt \ kneeled
met
slept
swept
wept
left

crept
fed
felt
kept
knelt \ kneeled
met
slept
swept
wept
left

group 6: different pronunciation of the same vowel

d or t ending
deal
dream
lean
leap
mean
read
hear

dealt
dreamed \ dreamt
leaned \ leant
leapt
meant
read (/red/)
heared

group 7: ell turns to old

dealt
dreamed \ dreamt
leaned \ leant
leapt
meant
read (/red/)
heared

sell
tell

sold
told

sold
told

group 8: vowel change with ought (or *aught) ending

d or t ending
bring
buy
fight
seek
think
*catch
*teach

brought
bought
fought
sought
thought
c aught
t aught

brought
bought
fought
sought
thought
c aught
t aught

Category 3: Verbs with the same form V1=V2=V3

group 9: Verbs that do not change
d or t ending
bet
bet
bid (to offer) bid
broadcast
broadcast \
broadcasted
burst
burst
cost
cost
cut
cut
fit
fit
(was the right size)
fitted
(tailored, changed size)
hit
hit
hurt
hurt
let
let
put
put
set
set
shut
shut
spread
spread
quit
quit

bet
bid
broadcast \
broadcasted
burst
cost
cut
fit
(was the right size)
fitted
(tailored, changed size)
hit
hurt
let
put
set
shut
spread
quit

Category 4: Vowel change, V3 ending with (e)n

group 10: V2 and V3 with long /o / sound
break

broke

broken

choose chose

chosen

freeze froze

frozen

speak

spoke

spoken

steal

stole

stolen

awake awoke \ awaked awoken \ awaked

wake

woke \ waked

weave wove

woken \ waked
woven

group 11: V2 long o sound, V3 shirt /i/ sound

arise

arose

arisen

rise

rose

risen

*ride

rode

*ri dden

drive

drove

driven

*write

wrote

*wri tten

group 12: The following verbs:

*bite

bit

*bi tten

*hide

hid

*hi dden

eat

ate

eaten

give

gave

given

forgive

forgave

forgiven

forbid *

forbad(e) forbi dden

* bid
bade
( to command, farewell)

*bi dden

* forget

forgot

*forgo tten

get

got

* go tten (AmE) \ got (BrE)

shake

shook

shaken

take

took

taken

see

saw

seen

beat

beat

beaten

fall

fell

fallen

lie
( down to rest)

lay

lain

Watch Out !
Do not confuse lie (tell a lie, regular), lie (down to rest, irregular), and lay (the table, irregular).
*lie
(tell a lie)

lied lied

lie
(down to rest)

lay lain

lay
laid laid
(the table, eggs)

group 13: the ear-ore-orn pattern

bear

bore

born

swear

swore

sworn

tear

tore

torn

wear

wore

worn

group 14: V1 with ow, V2 with ew, V3 with own

blow

blew

blown

grow

grew

grown

know

knew

known

throw

threw

thrown

fly

flew

flown

draw

drew

*dr awn

Category 5: regular V2, regular or irregular V3

group 15
show

showed showed \ shown

sow

sowed

sowed \ sown

mow

mowed mowed \ mown

swell

swelled swelled \ swollen

sew

sewed

sewed \ sewn

*shine
shined
(the shoes)

shined

*shine
(brightly)

shown

shown

Category 6: vowel change, no ending, V2=V3

group 16: vowel change pattern, no ending

dig

dug

dug

stick

stuck

stuck

spin

spun

spun

sting

stung

stung

strike

struck

struck

swing

swung

swung

*hang
(a man)

hanged

hanged

*hang
(a picture)

hung

hung

slide

slid

slid

light

lighted \ lit

lighted \ lit

shoot

shot

shot

group 17: vowel change pattern i - ou - ou

bind

bound

bound

find

found

found

grind

ground

ground

wind

wound

wound

group 18: vowel change ee - e - e

bleed

bled

bled

feed

fed

fed

flee

fled

fled

*lead

led

led

*speed speeded \ sped speeded \ sped

Category 7: The craziest verbs !

group 19: vowel change pattern i - a - u

begin

began

begun

drink

drank

drunk

ring

rang

rung

shrink

shrank

shrunk

sing

sang

sung

sink

sank

sunk

spin

span \ spun

spun

spring

sprang

sprung

swim

swam

swum

group 20: vowel change, V1=V3

come

came

come

become

became

become

run

ran

run

group 21: miscellaneous

the verb to be
am
is
are

was
was
were

been

go

went

gone

*dive
dove
(jumped head first)

dived

*dive
(scuba-diving)

dived

dived

do

did

done

can

could

may

might

hold

held

held

stand

stood

stood

understand

understood understood

sit

sat

sat

babysit

babysat

babysat

win

won

won

lose

lost

lost

https://sites.google.com/site/englishgrammarguide/Home/the-irregular-verbs-in-english--part-1
https://sites.google.com/site/englishgrammarguide/Home/the-irregular-verbs-in-english--part-2