Irregular Verbs

Verbs, particularly main verbs, belong to the content words category under the parts of speech. The content words carry the meaning of a sentence. In tense conjugation, verbs are further divided into regular verbs and irregular verbs. The deviation of irregular verbs from the regular pattern of conjugation is the main feature that distinguishes them from regular verbs. Moreover, this factor also makes it complex to learn quickly and efficiently. Hence, in this blog, we will discuss the concept of irregular verbs in detail.

What are irregular verbs?

Verbs that don’t follow the standard rules of tense formation are known as irregular verbs. For example, instead of following the pattern of adding “-ed” to the verb “go”, its past tense is “went”. Likewise, the past tense of the verb ‘do’ is ‘did’.

One of the most common irregular verbs is the auxiliary verb. The table below shows its forms in the twelve verb tenses:

Tense / Aspect of Time	Simple	Progressive / Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Progressive / Continuous
Present	is, am, are	is / am /are + (verb + ing)	has / have + past participle	has / have been + present participle
Past	was, were	was / were + (verb + ing)	had + past participle	had been + present participle
Future	will + base verb	will be + (verb + ing)	will have + past participle	will have been + present participle

Here are a few examples of auxiliary verbs in sentences:

Simple Present Tense: I am at school.
Simple Past Tense: I was at school last week.

Present Progressive Tense: Mr. Schmidt is packing his suitcase.
Pas Progressive Tense: Mr. Schmidt was packing his suitcase yesterday.

Present Perfect Tense: She has finished painting.
Past Perfect Tense: She had finished painting before I arrived.

Future Tense: They will go to the beach tomorrow.
Future Perfect Tense: They will have gone to the beach by next week.

Strong vs Weak Irregular Verbs

Determining strong and weak irregular verbs lies in the spelling change of a verb when converted into its past tense and past participle form. For example, the verb ‘go’ is a strong irregular verb because it has a different form for each of the verb tenses: go, went, and gone. On the other hand, the verb ‘sleep’ is a weak irregular verb for its past tense, and the past participle form, ‘slept,’ is the same.

Here are a few examples of strong and weak irregular verbs:

Strong Verbs	Weak Verbs
Base form: break Past tense: broke Past participle: broken	Base form: cost Past tense: cost Past participle: cost
Base form: foresee Past tense: foresaw Past participle: foreseen	Base form: bring Past tense: brought Past participle: brought
Base form: give Past tense: gave Past participle: given	Base form: keep Past tense: kept Past participle: kept
Base form: write Past tense: wrote Past participle: written	Base form: feel Past tense: felt Past participle: felt
Base form: take Past tense: took Past participle: taken	Base form: ran Past tense: run  Past participle: ran

Irregular Verbs Rules

Irregular verbs are not bound by any specific rules when it comes to conjugation. However, there are some patterns that can be observed in the formation of irregular verb tenses.

Irregular verbs whose base form ends in “-ow” or “-aw” change their last two letters into “-ew” for its past tense. From its past tense form, further changes three letters into “-own” or “-awn” to form the past participle.

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
Know	Knew	Known
Blow	Blew	Blown
Grow	Grew	Grown
Throw	Threw	Thrown
Outgrow	Outgrew	Outgrown
Withdraw	Withdrew	Withdrawn
Draw	Drew	Drawn

Irregular verbs whose base form ends in “-ink,” “-in,” or “-ing” changes its last two or three letters into “-ank,” “-ang,” or “an” for its past tense” From its past tense form, further changes two or three letters into “-unk,” “ung” or “-an” to form the past participle.

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
Drink	Drank	Drunk
Sink	Sunk	Sank
Begin	Began	Begun
Stink	Stank	Stunk
Ring	Rang	Rung
Shrink	Shrank	Shrunk
Spring	Sprang	Sprung

Irregular verbs that don’t change their form at all.

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
Spread	Spread	Spread
Cast	Cast	Cast
Broadcast	Broadcast	Broadcast
Hurt	Hurt	Hurt
Let	Let	Let
Hit	Hit	Hit
Set	Set	Set
Bet	Bet	Bet
Shut	Shut	Shut
Put	Put	Put
Burst	Burst	Burst
Split	Split	Split
Shed	Shed	Shed
Thrust	Thrust	Thrust
Quit	Quit	Quit
Read	Read	Read

Irregular verbs whose base form ends in “-ive” changes their last three letters into “-ove” or “-ave” for its past tense. From its past tense form, it further changes four letters into “-iven to form the past participle.

Base Form	Past Tense	Part Participle
Drive	Drove	Driven
Forgive	Forgave	Forgiven
Give	Gave	Given
Strive	Strove	Striven
Thrive	Throve	Thriven

Irregular verbs with the past tense and past participle ending in “-ought” or “-aught.”

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
Bring	Brought	Brought
Buy	Bought	Bought
Fight	Fought	Fought
Seek	Sought	Sought
Think	Thought	Thought
Teach	Taught	Taught
Catch	Caught	Caught

Examples of Irregular Verbs

Here are 30 irregular verbs used in sentences:

1. The snake shed its skin.
2. Ms. Jones taught Math last semester.
3. Her stylist also did my hair.
4. Joseph had not thought of selling his artwork.
5. He sought help from his friends.
6. She hurt me. That’s why I left.
7. I bought a new car last week.
8. We drove to the beach last Sunday.
9. The cat caught the mouse in the kitchen.
10. My teacher spoke about the importance of reading.
11. The dog brought me a stick.
12. He put his plans aside to accommodate his friend.
13. My parents began teaching me how to swim.
14. I flew to London last month.
15. She wrote an essay for her English class.
16. They have chosen the best student to compete in the quiz bee.
17. We awoke early this morning.
18. The children drew pictures in art class.
19. I have brought my lunch to school.
20. The family had withdrawn their money from the bank.
21. We should have done it sooner.
22. Rose has written a letter of apology.
23. Gina needs to outgrow her old bad habits.
24. My son burst into tears when he dropped his ice cream
25. The students have sought help from their teacher.
26. Benny and his friends were exhausted after the hike.
27. The baby had slept through the night.
28. I have seen that movie twice.
29. Jonas has chosen his electives for next semester.
30. The plants I gave my friend have grown well in her garden.

Irregular Verbs Exercises with Answers

Complete the table of irregular verbs below.

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
be	1. ______________	been
2. ______________	flew	3. ______________
4. ______________	had	5. ______________
swear	swore	6. ______________
cost	7. ______________	cost
8. ______________	tear	9. ______________
wake	10. ______________	woken
catch	11. ______________	caught
12. ______________	slept	13. ______________
14. ______________	rode	15. ______________

Answers:

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
be	1. was / were	been
2. fly	flew	3. flown
4. have	had	5. had
swear	swore	6. sworn
cost	7. cost	cost
8. tear	tear	9. torn
wake	10. woke	woken
catch	11. caught	caught
12. sleep	slept	13. slept
14. ride	rode	15. ridden

Irregular Verbs List

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
arise	arose	arisen
awake	awoke	awoken
be	was / were	been
bear	bore	borne
beat	beat	beaten
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
bend	bent	bent
bet	bet	bet
bind	bound	bound
bite	bit	bit
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast
build	built	built
burst	burst	burst
buy	bought	bought
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
cut	cut	cut
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamt	dreamt
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
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grind	ground	ground
grow	grew	grown
hang	hung	hung
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	hidden
hit	hit	hit
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
keep	kept	kept
kneel	knelt	knelt
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie (on a surface as in lie down)	laid	lain
lie (to not tell the truth)	lied	lied
light	lit	lit
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
may	might	—
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
overtake	overtook	overtaken
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
set	set	set
sew	sawn	sewn
shake	shook	shaken
shoot	shot	shot
shrink	shrank	shrunk
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sit	sit	sit
sleep	slept	slept
smell	smelt	smelt
speak	spoke	spoken
spill	split	spilt
spit	spat	spat
stand	stood	stood
steal	stole	stolen
stick	stuck	stuck
strike	struck	stuck
swear	swore	swore
sweep	swept	swept
swell	swelled	swollen
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	woken
wear	wore	worn
weep	wept	wept
win	won	won
wind	wound	wound
write	written	written

Advice for ESL Students & English Language Learners

English grammar, like any language, is a complex subject to study. Understanding and applying grammar rules can be challenging, especially for English language learners. However, your success in learning the language is dependent on your learning plan.

First, know that there are different levels of language proficiency. Knowing your status allows you to align it with your study materials and learning strategy. To keep your motivation, select beginner-friendly materials instead of university textbooks when starting. In doing so, you will feel less intimidated by the topics you should learn.

Second, focus on the basics: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Learn how to use them correctly in sentences and understand their meaning. It will help you build a strong foundation for your English language learning journey. Divide those topics into subtopics and learn each concept and rule one by one.

Third, find a reliable source of learning materials. Online resources such as websites, blogs, and YouTube videos are mostly free. LillyPad’s blog, for example, is a great resource for English language learning materials. Additionally, you can find books and other printed materials in your local library or bookstore.

Fourth, practice speaking the language with native speakers or other English learners. It will help you understand how to use the language correctly in conversations and improve your pronunciation.

Finally, be patient with yourself and don’t give up. Learning a language takes time and effort, so set realistic goals and celebrate your achievements along the way.

Additionally, it is important for learners to properly understand regular verbs, conditional mood, subjunctive mood and types of verbs.

Common Mistakes Made by English Learners

Learning a new language can be difficult, and English is no exception. Even experienced English learners make mistakes when speaking or writing in the language. Here are some of the most common mistakes made by English learners:

Common Mistake	Why it Happens	Correction	Examples
Using the base form when expressing a statement in the perfect aspect of verbs	Twelve verb tenses in English grammar make it confusing to study. Some learners find it hard to memorize all of the formulas of the twelve verb tenses.	The perfect aspect of verbs uses the past participle instead of its base form. Following a grammar chart that summarizes the formula of verb tenses would help learners understand and memorize them better.	Present Perfect Tense Incorrect: I have go to the concert last year. Correct: I have gone to the concert last year. Past Perfect Tense Incorrect: Zoey had drive to the hospital last week. Correct: Zoey had driven to the hospital last week. Future Perfect Tense Incorrect: He will have sleep soundly by now. Correct: He will have slept soundly by now.
Converting irregular verbs using regular verb rules	In most English as Second Language materials, regular verbs are taught first before irregular verbs. As such, some students get used to converting verbs following the regular rules and carry it subconsciously when learning irregular verbs.	One of the best ways to avoid this mistake is memorizing irregular verbs. You can do this by familiarizing yourself with the top 10 most common irregular verbs first: 1. be 2. say 3. go 4. come 5. know 6. get 7. give 8. become 9. find 10. think	1. be – was / were – been 2. say – said -said 3. go – went – gone 4. come – come -come 5. know- knew – known 6. get – got – gotten 7. give – gave – given 8. become – became become 9. find – found – found 10. think – thought – thought

Learning Strategies and Best Practices for Linking Verbs

A holistic approach to learning a language makes it easier to understand and remember. The five macro skills, reading, listening, viewing, speaking, and writing, should be developed and used in the learning process for better language acquisition. The table below lists activities you can do when learning linking verbs:

Learning Strategies
Reading	– Use flashcards to know basic English sight words and their meaning. – Search for a material that contains a translation of common expressions from your native language to English. – Select study materials appropriate for your language proficiency.
Listening	– Listen to an audiobook or a song and write what you hear to improve your retention of English words. – Compare and contrast two audio materials like TV ads and a speech. – Summarize a podcast, movie, audiobook, and other English audio materials.
Viewing	– Observe how native speakers speak and try to mimic it. – Watch English movies, interviews, and tutorials. – Use pictographs to learn and remember new words.
Speaking	– Join a community of English language learners and communicate with them to improve and gain feedback. – Integrate the language into your daily life and try to speak using English. – Participate in speech organizations (e.g. debate clubs, theatre groups)
Writing	– Write a journal of your learning journey in English. – Answer practice tests and create your own sentences. – Create a reflection essay on the media you watch or listen to.

Irregular Verbs Frequently Asked Questions