The English Irregular Verb List
1. Definition and Rule
Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the standard rule of adding -ed or -d to form the simple past tense and the past participle. While regular verbs follow a predictable pattern — for example, play → played or walk → walked — irregular verbs change in unpredictable ways, both in spelling and pronunciation.
Approximately 200 irregular verbs are in active use in English, though around 67 of them appear most frequently in everyday communication. The irregularity always affects the past tense (preterite) form, the past participle form, or both. Historically, many of these verbs come from Germanic strong verbs that used vowel gradation (called ablaut), such as sing – sang – sung, while others derive from older weak verbs that underwent sound shifts over time, such as keep – kept – kept.
2. Form and Structure: The Three Principal Forms
Every English verb has several forms, but irregular verbs are identified by their three principal forms. Understanding these three forms is essential for using irregular verbs correctly across all tenses and constructions.
- Base / Infinitive Form (V1) — the dictionary form, used with to and in the present tense. Examples: go, eat, write
- Simple Past Form (V2) — describes a completed action at a specific time in the past. Examples: went, ate, wrote
- Past Participle Form (V3) — used with auxiliary verbs to build compound tenses and passive voice structures. Examples: gone, eaten, written
Because there is no single rule governing how irregular verbs change, each verb must be learned individually. The table below shows the five main patterns that group irregular verbs to make memorization easier.
The Five Main Conjugation Patterns
Pattern 1 — All three forms are identical (V1 = V2 = V3). These verbs look the same in every context; only the surrounding words tell you the tense.
- cut / cut / cut | hit / hit / hit | put / put / put | cost / cost / cost | hurt / hurt / hurt
Pattern 2 — The base form differs, but V2 and V3 are the same (V1 ≠ V2 = V3). This is the largest group. A notable sub-group ends in -ought or -aught:
- bring / brought / brought | buy / bought / bought | catch / caught / caught | teach / taught / taught | think / thought / thought
- Other verbs in this pattern: feel / felt / felt | find / found / found | keep / kept / kept | make / made / made | say / said / said | win / won / won | build / built / built | lose / lost / lost
Pattern 3 — The base and V2 are identical, but V3 differs (V1 = V2 ≠ V3).
- beat / beat / beaten | show / showed / shown
Pattern 4 — All three forms are distinct, organized by vowel shifts (ablaut). Recognizing the vowel shift pattern helps memorization enormously.
- The -in / -ing group (vowel shifts: /ɪ/ → /æ/ → /ʌ/): begin / began / begun | drink / drank / drunk | ring / rang / rung | sing / sang / sung | swim / swam / swum
- The -aw / -ow group: blow / blew / blown | draw / drew / drawn | fly / flew / flown | grow / grew / grown | know / knew / known | throw / threw / thrown
- The -ide / -ite group: bite / bit / bitten | hide / hid / hidden | ride / rode / ridden | write / wrote / written | choose / chose / chosen
- The -ake / -eak group: break / broke / broken | speak / spoke / spoken | take / took / taken
Pattern 5 — Completely different forms across all three. These verbs have no phonetic link between any of their forms.
- go / went / gone | do / did / done
Special case — The verb be: it is the most irregular verb in English, with eight distinct forms: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being. It is also conjugated differently depending on the subject: I am / was; he/she/it is / was; you/we/they are / were.
3. Uses of Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs function exactly like regular verbs in sentences — the only difference is their conjugation. They appear across all verb categories and are fundamental to everyday English. Their three principal forms are each put to distinct grammatical use:
- Simple Past Tense (V2): used alone to describe a completed action at a specific moment in the past.
- Present Perfect Tense (have/has + V3): the past participle combines with have or has to describe actions that began in the past but remain relevant in the present.
- Past Perfect Tense (had + V3): the past participle combines with had to show that one past action occurred before another past action.
- Passive Voice (be + V3): the past participle combines with the appropriate form of be to construct passive sentences where the subject receives the action rather than performing it.
- Adjective use: some past participles act as adjectives placed directly before a noun, for example the forgotten password or the half-eaten sandwich.
4. Worked Examples
Simple Past (V2 used alone)
She wrote the letter last week.
They went to the cinema on Saturday.
The choir sang beautifully at the ceremony.
I bought a new computer yesterday.
Present Perfect (have / has + V3)
She has written three books so far.
I have broken my glasses again.
They have given their best effort in every match.
Past Perfect (had + V3)
By the time she arrived, I had already eaten.
He had written the report before the meeting started.
Passive Voice (be + V3)
The record was broken in 2020.
The song was sung beautifully by the soloist.
The award was given to the winner at the end of the event.
Past Participle as Adjective
She could not remember her forgotten password.
He left the half-eaten sandwich on the table.
5. Common Mistakes to Avoid
Most errors with irregular verbs follow predictable patterns. Learning to recognise these mistakes is as important as learning the correct forms themselves.
Mistake 1: Adding -ed to an Irregular Verb (Over-regularization)
This is the most common error. Learners apply the regular past-tense rule to verbs that do not follow it.
- Wrong: She breaked the vase. → Correct: She broke the vase.
- Wrong: He teached English for years. → Correct: He taught English for years.
- Wrong: They drinked water. → Correct: They drank water.
- Wrong: We beginned the project. → Correct: We began the project.
Mistake 2: Using the Simple Past (V2) Instead of the Past Participle (V3)
When using have/has/had or be as auxiliaries, you must always use V3, not V2.
- Wrong: I had drank coffee. → Correct: I had drunk coffee.
- Wrong: She has swam in the ocean. → Correct: She has swum in the ocean.
- Wrong: The song was sang beautifully. → Correct: The song was sung beautifully.
Mistake 3: Mixing Tenses Within a Sentence or Narrative
Once you begin a story or description in a particular tense, you must stay consistent.
- Wrong: He went to the store and buys milk. → Correct: He went to the store and bought milk.
Mistake 4: Inventing Non-Existent Past Forms
Over-regularization sometimes produces forms that simply do not exist in English:
- speaked → should be spoke | growed → should be grew | knowed → should be knew
Mistake 5: Confusing Phonetically Similar Verbs
- rise / raise: these are two different verbs with different forms — rise / rose / risen vs. raise / raised / raised (raise is actually regular).
- lay / lie: learners often confuse lay (past of lie) with laid (past of lay).
Note on British vs. American English
Some verbs are treated as regular in American English but retain an irregular form in British English. Knowing both variants prevents confusion:
- learned (American) vs. learnt (British) | burned vs. burnt | dreamed vs. dreamt
6. Key-Point Callout
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Key point: Irregular verbs must be memorized in their three forms (V1 / V2 / V3) because no single rule governs how they change. Use V2 alone in the simple past. Always use V3 — never V2 — after have, has, had, or be. Grouping verbs by their vowel-shift pattern (sing/sang/sung, drink/drank/drunk) makes memorization far more manageable. The 20–30 most frequent irregular verbs (be, go, have, do, see, make, come, take, give, write …) account for roughly 70% of all irregular verb use, so mastering them first gives you the greatest return on effort.