These are the most common fifty irregular verbs in the English language. This does not include the auxiliary verbs 'do' and 'have'. Just by learning these fifty, your students will have prepared themselves for 87% of irregular verb use in English! There is another page showing the usual list of irregular verbs in English.
Rank | Base Form | Past Tense Form | Past Participle |
1 | say | said | said |
2 | make | made | made |
3 | go | went | gone |
4 | take | took | taken |
5 | come | came | come |
6 | see | saw | seen |
7 | know | knew | known |
8 | get | got | got/gotten (US) |
9 | give | gave | given |
10 | find | found | found |
11 | think | thought | thought |
12 | tell | told | told |
13 | become | became | become |
14 | show | showed | shown |
15 | leave | left | left |
16 | feel | felt | felt |
17 | put | put | put |
18 | bring | brought | brought |
19 | begin | began | begun |
20 | keep | kept | kept |
21 | hold | held | held |
22 | write | wrote | written |
23 | stand | stood | stood |
24 | hear | heard | heard |
25 | let | let | let |
26 | mean | meant | meant |
27 | set | set | set |
28 | meet | met | met |
29 | run | ran | run |
30 | pay | paid | paid |
31 | sit | sat | sat |
32 | speak | spoke | spoken |
33 | lie | lay | lain |
34 | lead | led | led |
35 | read | read | read |
36 | grow | grew | grown |
37 | lose | lost | lost |
38 | fall | fell | fallen |
39 | send | sent | sent |
40 | build | built | built |
41 | understand | understood | understood |
42 | draw | drew | drawn |
43 | break | broke | broken |
44 | spend | spent | spent |
45 | cut | cut | cut |
46 | rise | rose | risen |
47 | drive | drove | driven |
48 | buy | bought | bought |
49 | wear | wore | worn |
50 | choose | chose | chosen |
This is a list of irregular verbs in the English language.
Past tense irregular verbs[edit]
For each verb listed, the citation form (the bare infinitive) is given first, with a link to the relevant Wiktionary entry. This is followed by the simple past tense (preterite), and then the past participle. If there are irregular present tense forms (see below), these are given in parentheses after the infinitive. (The present participle and gerund forms of verbs, ending in -ing, are always regular. In English, these are used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns.) In the case of modal verbs the present and preterite forms are listed, since these are the only forms that exist.
The right-hand column notes whether the verb is weak or strong and whether it belongs to a subclass, and links to descriptions elsewhere. Information about the development of these verbs generally can be found at English irregular verbs; details of the etymology and usage of specific verbs can be found by consulting Wiktionary.
In some cases, there are two or more possibilities for a given form. In the table, the preferred or more common usage is generally listed first, though for some words the usage is nearly equal for the two choices. Sometimes the usage depends on the dialect. In many cases, such as spell (spelt vs. spelled), learn (learnt vs. learned), and spill (spilt vs. spilled), American English normally uses the regular form, while British English tends to favor the irregular. In other cases, such as dive (dived vs. dove) and sneak (sneaked vs. snuck), the opposite is true. Australian, New Zealand and South African English tend to follow the British practice, while Canadian English often sides with the American usage.
The table includes selected archaic or dialectal forms, marked * (some of these forms may also be present in specialist uses).
Verb forms | Verb class and notes |
---|---|
ache/*ake – ached/*oke – ached/*aken | Strong, class 6; now regular. |
bake – baked/*book – baked/*baken | Strong, class 6; now regular except in Northern English dialects. |
be (am, is, are/*be) – was, were – been | Suppletive. See Indo-European copula. |
bear – bore/*bare – borne/born
| Strong, class 4. The spelling born is used in passive or adjectival contexts relating to birth. |
beat – beat – beaten/beat
| Strong, class 7 |
become – became – become
| Strong, class 4 |
*beget – begot/*begat – begot/begotten
| Strong, class 5 |
begin – began – begun | Strong, class 3 |
bend – bent/*bended – bent/*bended
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
beseech – beseeched/*besought – beseeched/*besought | Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law (now regularized) |
bet – bet/betted – bet/betted
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
betide – betided/*betid – betided/*betid | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
beware – (no other forms) | Defective; formed from be with predicate adjective, used as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive only. Inflected forms (bewares, bewared, bewaring) are considered obsolete. |
bid[in auctions etc.] – bid – bid
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
bid[meaning to request or say] – bid/*bade – bid/*bidden | Strong, class 5 |
bide – bided/bode – bided/bidden
| Strong, class 1 |
bind – bound – bound/*bounden
| Strong, class 3 |
bite – bit – bitten
| Strong, class 1 |
bleed – bled – bled | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
blend – blended/*blent – blended/*blent | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
bless – blessed/*blest – blessed/*blest | Weak, regular with alternative (archaic) spelling |
blow – blew – blown
| Strong, class 7 |
break – broke/*brake – broken/*broke
| Strong, class 4 |
breed – bred – bred
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
bring – brought – brought | Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
build – built – built
| Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
burn – burned/burnt – burned/burnt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
burst – burst/*brast – burst/*bursten | Strong, class 3 |
bust – busted/bust – busted/bust | Strong, class 3 (or regular) |
buy – bought – bought/*boughten
| Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
can[auxiliary verb] – could – (none) | Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs |
cast – cast – cast
| Weak with coalescence of dentals. Many of the prefixed forms can also take -ed. |
catch – caught/*catched – caught/*catched | Weak, French loanword conjugated perhaps by analogy with teach–taught; regular forms are now dialectal. |
chide – chided/chid/*chode – chided/chid/chidden | Strong, class 1 |
choose – chose – chosen
| Strong, class 2 |
clad – clad – clad | Developed from clad, the past form of clothe (see below). |
clap – clapped/*clapt – clapped/*clapt | |
cleave[meaning to split] – cleft/clove/cleaved/*clave – cleft/cloven/cleaved | Strong, class 2, sometimes switching to weak with vowel shortening. When meaning 'adhere' the verb is regular. |
*clepe – cleped/clepen/*clept – cleped/*clept/*clepen/*yclept | Weak with vowel shortening, or regular. Obsolete or dialectal. |
cling – clung/*clang – clung | Strong, class 3 |
clothe – clad/clothed – clad/clothed
| Weak; the regular clothed is from OE claþian, while clad (weak with coalescence of dentals) is from OE clæþan (both OE verbs having similar meaning).[1] |
comb – combed – combed/kempt | |
come – came – come/comen
| Strong, class 4 |
cost[intransitive sense] – cost/costed – cost/costed | Weak with coalescence of dentals. Regular when meaning 'calculate the cost of'. |
creep – crept/creeped/*crope – crept/creeped/*cropen | Originally strong, class 2; switched to weak with vowel shortening (or regular) |
crow – crowed/crew – crowed/*crown | Strong, class 7. Now usually regular, but crew can still be used of a cock's crowing. |
cut – cut – cut
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
dare (dares/dare) – dared/*durst – dared | Preterite-present, now regular except in the use of dare in place of dares in some contexts. See English modal verbs |
deal – dealt – dealt
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
dig – dug/*digged – dug/*digged
| Originally weak; past form dug developed by analogy with stick–stuck[2] |
dive – dived/dove – dived/dove | Weak, the alternative dove (found mainly in American usage) arising by analogy with strong verbs |
do (does /dʌz/) – did – done
| Irregular since Proto-Germanic: past tense formed by reduplication. Past participle from Old Englishgedon. Related to deed. |
dow – dowed/dought – dowed/dought | Related to doughty. |
drag – dragged/*drug – dragged/*drug | Strong, class 6, now usually regular; drug is used in some dialects |
draw – drew – drawn
| Strong, class 6; related to draft/draught |
dream – dreamed/dreamt/*drempt – dreamed/dreamt/*drempt
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
dress – dressed/*drest – dressed/*drest | Weak with alternative (archaic) spelling |
drink – drank/*drunk/*drinked – drunk/*drank/*drinked/*drunken
| Strong, class 3; related to drench |
drive – drove/*drave – driven
| Strong, class 1; related to drift |
dwell – dwelt/dwelled – dwelt/dwelled
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
earn – earned/earnt – earned/earnt | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
eat – ate/*et – eaten
| Strong, class 5. Past tense usually /eɪt/, sometimes /ɛt/ in British English. |
fall – fell/*felled – fallen/*felled
| Strong, class 7 |
feed – fed – fed
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
feel – felt – felt
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
fight – fought – fought/*foughten
| Strong, class 3 |
find – found/*fand – found/*founden
| Strong, class 3 |
fit – fitted/fit – fitted/fit
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
flee – fled – fled | Originally strong, class 2, switched to weak with vowel shortening |
fling – flung – flung | By analogy with strong, class 3 |
fly – flew – flown
| Strong, class 2. Regular when used for hitting a fly ball in baseball. |
forbid – forbid/forbade/forbad – forbidden | Strong, class 5 |
forget – forgot/*forgat – forgotten/*forgot | Strong, class 5 |
*forlese – forlore – forlorn | Past participle remains in use adjectivally. |
forsake – forsook – forsaken | Strong, class 6 |
freeze – froze – frozen
| Strong, class 2 |
get – got/*gat – got/gotten
| Strong, class 5. Past participle is got in British usage (except in fossilized phrases such as 'ill-gotten'), and gotten in American (but see have got). |
gild – gilded/gilt – gilded/gilt | Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
gird – girded/*girt – girded/*girt
| Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
give – gave – given
| Strong, class 5 |
go – went – gone
| Suppletive. See article on the verb go. |
*grave – grove/graved – graven/graved | Strong, class 6. Past participle graven remains in use adjectivally, as in graven images in archaic language, e.g. from the 17th century. The verb engrave is regular. |
grind – ground/grinded – ground/grinded/*grounden | Strong, class 3 |
grow – grew/*growed – grown/*growed
| Strong, class 7 |
hang – hung/hanged – hung/hanged
| Strong, class 7. Regularized alternative hanged was influenced by OE causativehangian, and is used chiefly for hanging as a means of execution. |
have (has) – had – had | Weak; had results from contraction, from OE haefd. Third person present has also a result of contraction. |
hear – heard – heard
| Weak, originally with vowel shortening (the modern pronunciation of heard in RP has the long vowel /ɜː/) |
heave – heaved/*hove – heaved/*hove/*hoven
| Strong, class 6, now usually regular except in nautical uses |
help – helped/*holp – helped/*holpen | Originally strong, class 6, but now weak. |
hew – hewed/*hew – hewed/hewn
| Strong, class 7 (or regular) |
hide – hid – hidden/*hid | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals, influenced by strong verbs |
hit – hit – hit
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
hoist – hoisted/hoist – hoisted/hoist | Weak, hoist was originally the past form of the now archaic verb hoise |
hold – held – held/*holden
| Strong, class 7 |
hurt – hurt – hurt | Weak with coalescence of dentals |
keep – kept – kept
| Weak with vowel shortening |
ken – kenned/kent – kenned/kent
| Northern and Scottish dialect word. Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
kneel – knelt/kneeled – knelt/kneeled | Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
knit – knit/knitted – knit/knitted
| Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular); related to knot |
know – knew – known/*knowen
| Strong, class 7 |
lade – laded – laden/laded
| Strong, class 6, often regularized (past participle laden is common adjectivally) |
laugh – laughed/*laught/*laugh'd/*low – laughed/*laught/*laugh'd/*laughen | Originally strong, now weak, regular, with alternative (archaic) spelling |
lay – laid/*layed – laid/*layed
| Weak, irregular in spelling only |
lead – led – led
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
lean – leaned/leant – leaned/leant | Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
leap – leaped/leapt/*lept/*lope – leaped/leapt/*lopen
| Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening (or regular) |
learn – learned/learnt – learned/learnt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
leave – left – left/*laft
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
lend – lent – lent
| Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
let – let/*leet – let/*letten
| Strong, class 7 |
lie – lay – lain
| Strong, class 5. Regular in the meaning 'tell an untruth'. |
light – lit/lighted – lit/lighted
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
lose – lost – lost | Originally strong, class 2, now weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
make – made – made
| Weak; made formed by contraction from 'maked' |
may – might – (none) | Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs |
mean – meant – meant | Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
meet – met – met | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
melt – melted/*molt – melted/molten | Strong, class 3. Now regularized, but molten survives in adjectival uses. |
mix – mixed/*mixt – mixed/*mixt | Weak, regular, with alternative (mostly archaic) spelling |
mow – mowed – mowed/mown | Strong, class 7. Now regularized in past tense and sometimes in past participle. |
must – (no other forms) | Defective; originally a preterite. See English modal verbs |
need (needs/need) – needed – needed | Weak, regular except in the use of need in place of needs in some contexts, by analogy with can, must, etc.[3] See English modal verbs |
ought – (no other forms) | Defective; originally a preterite. See English modal verbs |
pay – paid/*payed – paid/*payed
| Weak, irregular in spelling only. The spelling payed is used in the meaning of letting out a rope etc. |
pen – penned/pent – penned/pent | Weak with devoiced ending, but usually regular; pent is sometimes used when the verb has the meaning 'to enclose', and mainly adjectivally |
plead – pled/pleaded – pled/pleaded | French loanword, weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals. In North America, this verb is usually irregular. |
prove – proved – proved/proven
| French loanword, weak, with the alternative past participle proven by analogy with some strong verbs |
put – put – put/*putten
| Weak with coalescence of dentals. Past participle form putten is characteristic for Yorkshire and Lancashire dialects. |
*queath/*quethe – queathed/quethed/quoth/quod – queathed/quethed/quoth/quethen
| Strong, class 5. Past tense quoth is literary or archaic; other parts of that verb are obsolete. Bequeath is normally regularized in -ed. |
quit – quit/quitted – quit/quitted | French loanword, weak, with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
reach – reached/*raught/*rought/*retcht – reached/*raught/*rought/*retcht | Weak, now regular (archaic raught from original conjugation like teach) |
read/riːd/ – read/rɛd/ – read/rɛd/ / *readen
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
*reave – reaved/reft – reaved/reft
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending. The verb bereave is usually regular, but bereft survives as past participle, with distinct meanings. |
rend – rent – rent | Weak with coalescence of dentals |
rid – rid/ridded – rid/ridden/ridded | Weak with coalescence of dentals, or regular; ridden by analogy with strong verbs. |
ride – rode/*rid – ridden/*rid
| Strong, class 1 |
ring – rang/*rung – rung | By analogy with strong, class 3. Regular when meaning 'surround', etc. |
rise – rose – risen
| Strong, class 1 |
rive – rived/rove – rived/riven | From Old Norse, originally followed pattern of strong class 1, later regularized.[4] Now rarely used. |
run – ran – run
| Strong, class 3 |
saw – sawed – sawed/sawn | Weak; sawn by analogy with strong verbs[5] |
say (says /sɛz/) – said – said
| Weak, with vowel shortening in said/sɛd/ and in the third person present says/sɛz/ |
see – saw – seen
| Strong, class 5 |
seek – sought – sought
| Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
seethe – seethed/*sod – seethed/*sodden | Strong, class 2. Now regular, but sodden survives in some adjectival uses. |
sell – sold – sold
| Weak with Rückumlaut |
send – sent – sent
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
set – set – set/*setten
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
sew – sewed – sewn/sewed/*sewen
| Weak; sewn by analogy with strong verbs |
shake – shook – shaken
| Strong, class 6 |
shall – should – (none) | Preterite-present; defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will |
shape – shaped/*shope – shaped/*shapen
| Originally strong, class 6, now regular, but with misshapen (and archaically shapen) still used adjectivally |
shave – shaved/*shove – shaved/shaven | Strong, class 6, now regular, but shaven sometimes used adjectivally |
shear – sheared/shore – shorn/sheared | Strong, class 4 (or regular) |
shed – shed – shed | Strong, class 7 |
shine – shone/shined – shone/shined
| Strong, class 1 |
shit – shit/shitted/shat – shit/shitted/shat/*shitten
| Strong, class 1. The form shite is chiefly Scottish and Irish. |
shoe – shod/shoed – shodden/shod/shoed
| Weak with vowel shortening (or regular); shodden by analogy with strong verbs |
shoot – shot – shot/*shotten
| Strong, class 2 |
show – showed/*shew – shown/showed/*shewed
| Weak, with participle shown perhaps by analogy with sown (from sow) |
shrink – shrank/shrunk – shrunk/shrunken
| Strong, class 3; shrunken is mostly used adjectivally |
*shrive – shrived/*shrove – shrived/*shriven | Strong, class 1 |
shut – shut – shut
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
sing – sang – sung/*sungen
| Strong, class 3 |
sink – sank/sunk – sunk/sunken | Strong, class 3. The form sunken appears in some adjectival uses. |
sit – sat/*sate – sat/*sitten
| Strong, class 5 |
slay – slew/slayed – slain/slayed | Strong, class 6 (or regular) |
sleep – slept – slept
| Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening |
slide – slid – slid/slidden
| Strong, class 1 |
sling – slung/*slang – slung | Strong, class 3 |
slink – slunk/slinked/slank – slunk/slinked/slank | Strong, class 3 |
slip – slipped/*slipt – slipped/*slipt
| Regular, with alternative (archaic) spelling |
slit – slit – slit/slitten | Strong, class 1 |
smell – smelled/smelt – smelled/smelt | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
smite – smote/*smit – smitten/smitted | Strong, class 1. Largely archaic; smitten is quite commonly used adjectivally. |
sneak – sneaked/snuck – sneaked/snuck/*snucked | Weak, alternative form snuck (chiefly American) by analogy with strong verbs |
sow – sowed/*sew – sown/sowed | Strong, class 7, with regularized past tense sowed |
speak – spoke/*spake – spoken/*spoke
| Strong, class 5 |
speed – sped/speeded – sped/speeded | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
spell – spelled/spelt – spelled/spelt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
spend – spent – spent
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
spill – spilled/spilt – spilled/spilt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
spin – spun/*span – spun
| Strong, class 3 |
spit – spat/spit – spat/spit | Weak with coalescence of dentals (for past form spit, which is common in America), or spat by analogy with strong verbs. (In the meaning of roast on a spit, the verb is regular.) |
split – split – split | Weak with coalescence of dentals |
spoil – spoiled/spoilt – spoiled/spoilt | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
spread – spread/*spreaded – spread/*spreaded
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
spring – sprang/sprung – sprung/*sprang
| Strong, class 3 |
stand – stood – stood/*standen
| Strong, class 6 |
starve – starved/*starf/*storve – starved/*storven | Strong, class 3 |
stave – stove/staved – stove/staved/*stoven | Originally weak; irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs.[6] |
stay – stayed/*staid – stayed/*staid | Regular, with alternative spelling staid (now limited to certain adjectival uses) |
steal – stole – stolen | Strong, class 4 |
stick – stuck/*sticked – stuck/*sticked | Originally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verbs |
sting – stung/*stang – stung | Strong, class 3 |
stink – stank/stunk – stunk | Strong, class 3 |
stretch – stretched/*straught/*straight – stretched/*straught/*straight | Weak, now regular; obsolete past form straught as with teach–taught |
strew – strewed – strewn/strewed
| Originally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verbs |
stride – strode/*strided – stridden/*strode/*strid/*stridded
| Strong, class 1 |
strike – struck – struck/stricken
| Strong, class 1. The form stricken is limited to certain adjectival and specialist uses. |
string – strung/*stringed – strung/*stringed
| Originally weak, irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
strip – stripped/stript – stripped/stript | |
strive – strove/strived – striven/strived
| Strong, class 1 (or regularized) |
swear – swore – sworn
| Strong, class 6 |
sweat – sweated/sweat – sweated/sweat | Weak, usually regular, possible past form sweat with coalescence of dentals |
sweep – swept/*sweeped – swept/*sweeped
| Weak with vowel shortening |
swell – swelled/*swole/*swelt – swollen/swelled
| Strong, class 3, with regularized forms |
*swelt – swelted/*swolt – swelted/*swolten | Strong, class 3 (or regularized). Archaic |
swim – swam/*swum – swum
| Strong, class 3 |
swing – swang/swung – swung/*swungen
| Strong, class 3 |
*swink – swank/swonk/*swinkt/swinked – swunk/swunken/swonken/*swinkt/swinked
| Strong, class 3 |
take – took/*taked – taken
| Strong, class 6 |
teach – taught/*teached – taught/*teached | Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
tear – tore – torn
| Strong, class 4 |
*tee – teed/tow – teed/town
| |
tell – told/*telled – told/*telled
| Weak with Rückumlaut; related to tale |
think – thought/*thinked – thought/*thinked
| Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
thrive – throve/thrived/*thrave – thriven/thrived | Of Old Norse origin; followed strong class 1 (now archaic) or weak (regular) pattern[7] |
throw – threw/*throwed – thrown/*throwed
| Strong, class 7 |
thrust – thrust/*thrusted – thrust/*thrusted
| Weak, with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
tread – trod/*tread/*treaded/*trodden – trodden/trod/*tread/*treaded
| Strong, class 5 (or regularized) |
vex – vexed/*vext – vexed/*vext | |
wake – woke/*waked – woken/*waked
| Strong, class 6 |
wax – waxed/*wex – waxed/*waxen | Strong, class 7, now regularized |
wear – weared/wore – weared/worn
| Originally weak, fell into a strong pattern by analogy with bear |
weave – wove – woven
| Strong, class 7 |
wed – wed/wedded – wed/wedded
| Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
weep – wept/weeped – wept/weeped
| Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening |
wend – wended/*went – wended/*went | Weak, once with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending, but now regular; went is used as the past of go |
wet – wet/wetted – wet/wetted
| Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
will – would – (none) | Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will. (In non-auxiliary uses the verb is regular.) |
win – won – won | Strong, class 3 |
wind – wound – wound
| Strong, class 3. (The identically spelt verb wind/wɪnd/, with meanings connected with air flow and breathlessness, is regular.) |
work – worked/*wrought – worked/*wrought
| Weak, now regular, formerly with Rückumlaut and metathesis of r and o |
*worth – worth/worthed – worth/worthed/worthen | Strong, class 3, or regularized |
wreak – wreaked/*wrought/*wrack/*wroke – wreaked/*wrought/*wreaken/*wroken | Weak, usually regular; wrought (which is in fact from work) has come sometimes to be identified with this verb (perhaps by analogy with seek–sought). Other forms by analogy with strong verbs. |
wring – wrang/wrung/*wringed – wrung/*wringed | Strong, class 3 |
write – wrote/*writ – written/*writ
| Strong, class 1 |
writhe – writhed/*wrothe – writhed/*writhen | Strong, class 1, now regularized |
zinc – zinced/zinked/zincked – zinced/zinked/zincked |
Present tense irregular verbs[edit]
Though the list of verbs irregular in the preterite or past participle is long, the list of irregular present tense verbs is very short. Excepting modal verbs like 'shall', 'will', and 'can' that do not inflect at all in the present tense, there are only four (only two if pronunciation is ignored):
- be: I am, thou art, you are, he is, we are, they are.
- do (and compounds such as 'undo' and 'redo'): I do, you do, he does, we do, they do where 'does' is pronounced /ˈdʌz/ in contrast to /ˈduː/, the pronunciation of the infinitive and the other present tense forms.
- have: I have, you have, he has, we have, they have.
- say (and compounds such as 'gainsay' and 'naysay'): I say, you say, he says, we say, they say where 'says' has the standard pronunciation /sɛz/ (in contrast to the /seɪ/ used for the infinitive and other present tense forms).
References[edit]
- ^Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for 'clothe' and 'clad'.
- ^The strong-type past form dug arose as a past participle in the 16th century, by analogy with stuck, and was used as a past tense from the 18th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'dig'.
- ^The use of need for needs, which has become the norm in contexts where the verb is used analogously to the modal verbs, became common in the 16th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'need' (verb).
- ^Regularized (weak-type) forms of this verb are found from the 16th century onward. There is also an obsolete verb rive meaning arrive, for which weak-type forms are attested earlier. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for 'rive'.
- ^Strong-type past forms of this verb were sometimes used in the 15th century; the past participle sawn is a survival of this. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'saw'.
- ^The forms stove and stoven are found from the 18th century onward. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'stave'.
- ^The strong-type past forms leading to thrave (Northern) and throve are attested from the 13th and 14th centuries onward, and weak forms (leading to thrived) from the 14th. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'thrive'.
List Of Verbs Pdf
External links[edit]
- Complete List of 638 English Irregular Verbs with their forms in different tenses.
- Mind Our English: Strong and weak by Ralph Berry
- English Irregular Verb List A comprehensive list of English irregular verbs, including their base form, past simple, past participle, 3rd person singular, and the present participle / gerund.
- TheIrregularVerbs All the irregular verbs of the English language. Conjugation, pronunciation, translation and examples.
- verbbusters Searchable reference of English irregular verbs and cognates, with audio.
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
abide by | To respect or obey a decision, a law or a rule | If you want to keep your job here, you must abide by our rules. |
account for | To explain, give a reason | I hope you can account for the time you were out! |
add up | To make sense, seem reasonable | The facts in the case just don’t add up. |
advise against | To recommend not doing something | I advise against walking alone in this neighborhood. |
agree with | To have the same opinion as someone else. | I agree with you. I think you should go as well. |
allow for | To take into consideration | We need to allow for unexpected charges along the way. |
appeal to |
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apply for | To make a formal request for something (job, permit, loan etc.) | He applied for a scholarship for next semester. |
back away | To move backwards, in fear or dislike | When he saw the bear, he backed away in fright. |
back down | To withdraw, concede defeat | Local authorities backed down on their threats to build on that part of the beach. |
back up |
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bank on | To base your hopes on something / someone | I’m banking on you to help with the charity event. |
black out | To faint, lose consciousness | Jenna fell in the parking lot and blacked out. |
block off | To separate using a barrier. | The police blocked off the street after the explosion. |
blow up |
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boil down to | To be summarized as | It all boils down to who has more power. |
boot up | To start a computer by loading an operating system or program | You need to boot up your computer before you begin to work. |
break away | To separate from a crowd | One of the wolves broke away from his pack. |
break down |
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break into | To enter by force | Burglars broke into my car last night. |
break out | To start suddenly | Rioting broke out after the government raised the fuel prices again. |
break out of | To escape from a place by force | Several prisoners broke out of jail. |
break up | To come to an end (marriage, relationship) | She broke up with Daniel after dating him for five years. |
bring up | To raise (a child) | Sara is bringing up her children by herself. |
brush up on | To improve, refresh one’s knowledge of something | I must brush up on my French before going to Paris next month. |
bump into | To meet by chance or unexpectedly | I bumped into Adam at the bank. He says “hello”. |
burn out |
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call back | To return a phone call | Could please call back in ten minutes? |
call off | To cancel | The game was called off because of bad weather. |
calm down | To become more relaxed, less angry or upset | It took Kylie several hours to calm down after she saw the accident. |
carry on | To continue | The soldiers carried on walking in order to get to their post before dark. |
carry out |
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check in | To register at a hotel or airport | They said I must check in at least three hours before my flight. |
check out |
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clam up | To refuse to speak | When the police started asking questions, the suspect clammed up. |
clamp down on | To act strictly to prevent something | The local authorities have decided to clamp down on illegal parking in handicapped parking places. |
come across |
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come forward | To present oneself | Has the owner of the winning lotto ticket come forward? |
count on | To rely or depend on (for help) | You can count on me to keep your secret. |
cut down on | To reduce in number or size | I’ve decided to cut down on the amount of sweets I eat. |
cut out |
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deal with | To handle, take care of (problem, situation) | Catherine is not good at dealing with stress. |
die down | To calm down, become less strong | After the storm died down, we went outside to see the damage it had caused. |
do without | To manage without | She didn’t get a salary this month, so she’ll have to do without extra treats. |
drag on | To last longer than expected | The suspect’s trial dragged on longer than we had expected! |
draw up | To write (contract, agreement, document) | They drew up a contract and had me sign it. |
dress up | wear elegant clothes | Their wedding gave us a chance to dress up and get out of the house. |
drop in | To visit, usually on the way somewhere | Why don’t you drop in to see us on your way home? |
drop off |
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drop out | To leave school without finishing | Zack dropped out of college and joined the army. |
ease off | To reduce, become less severe or slow down (pain, traffic, work) | Traffic usually eases off about 7pm |
end in | To finish in a certain way; result in | Her marriage ended in divorce. |
end up | To finally reach a state, place or action | If you don’t improve your work habits, you’ll end up being fired. |
fall through | To fail; doesn’t happen | His plans to trek through South America fell through when he got sick. |
figure out | To understand, find the answer | He’s trying to figure out how to earn enough money to go on the trip to Spain. |
fill out | To complete (a form/an application) | Please fill out the enclosed form and return it as soon as possible. |
find out | To discover or obtain information | I’m going to to find out who’s responsible for the power cut. |
focus on | To concentrate on something | Tom had difficultty focusing on work the day before his holiday started. |
get along (with) | To be on good terms; work well with | It’s important to get along with your team supervisor. |
get at | To imply | What are you getting at? Do you think I’m to blame? |
get away | To escape | I think we should get away for the weekend. |
get by | To manage to cope or to survive | Students without jobs have a hard time getting by. |
get in | To enter | When did you get in last night? |
get into (+noun) | To enter | How did you get into your car without the keys? |
get off |
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get on | To board (bus, train, plane) | I’m trying to get on the flight to Brussels. |
get on with (something) | To continue to do; make progress | After they split up, she had a hard time getting on with her life. |
get on (well) with (somebody) | To have a good relationship with | He doesnt get on very well with the other members of the committee. |
get out | To leave | He had a hard time getting out of Newark because of the snow? |
get out of | To avoid doing something | Edna’s trying to get out of working the night shift. |
get over | To recover from (illness, disappointment) | Has she gotten over the flu? |
get over | To recover from (illness, disappointment) | Mary had the chickenpox last week but she got over it. |
get rid of | To eliminate | Please get rid of that old t-shirt. It’s so ragged. |
get together | To meet each other | Let’s get together for your birthday on Saturday. |
get up | To rise, leave bed | Will you please get up? You’ve got a class in 20 minutes. |
give in |
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give up | To stop doing something | Morris gave up drinking 10 years ago. |
go through | To experience | Andy went through a lot of pain after his mother died. |
grow up | To spend one’s childhood; develop; become an adult | He’s like Peter Pan. He never really grew up at all. |
hand in | To submit (report, homework) | Please hand in your papers before Friday. |
hand out | To distribute | Susan volunteered at the shelter where she handed out warm clothes. |
hang out | To spend time in a particular place or with a group of friends | Which pub does the team hang out at after the game? |
hang up | To end a phone conversation | If you hang up now, I’ll never speak to you again. |
hold on |
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hurry up | To be quick, act speedily | Hurry up and finish your lunch or we’ll miss the train. |
iron out | To resolve by discussion, eliminate differences | The two countries met at the conference to iron out their differences. |
join in | To participate | Yes David, you can join in the discussion any time you like. |
join up |
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keep on | To continue doing something | If you keep on making that noise I will get annoyed. |
keep up with | To stay at the same level as someone or something | I read the paper every day to keep up with the news. |
kick off | To begin, start | The rugby match kicked off at 3 o’clock. |
leave out | To omit, not mention | Please check your form again and make sure nothing is left out. |
let down | To disappoint | I feel so let down because they promised me a puppy but all I got was a doll. |
look after | To take care of | Andy can you look after your sister until I get back? |
look down on | To consider as inferior | She’s such a snob. She always looks down on anyone who is poor. |
look on | To be a spectator at an event | If you don’t want to take part in the game you can look on for now. |
look for | To try to find something | Harry went to the shop to look for a new computer. |
look forward to | To await or anticipate with pleasure | I’m looking forward to my birthday. It’s in two days time. |
look up to | To admire | I always looked up to my father. He was a great man. |
make fun of | To laugh at/ make jokes about | It’s not nice to make fun of people in wheelchairs. |
make up | To invent (excuse, story) | That’s a good excuse. Did you make up it up yourself? |
mix up | To mistake one thing or person for another | She had so many cats that she kept mixing up their names. |
move in | To arrive in a new home or office | Did you hear? Our new neighbors are moving in this afternoon. |
move out | To leave your home/office for another one. | When are you moving out? We need your office for the new guy. |
nod off | To fall asleep | You were so tired after the game that you nodded off on the couch. |
own up | To admit or confess something | Come on. Own up. We know you did it! |
pass away | To die | Your grandfather passed away peacefully in his sleep last night. |
pass out | To faint | He didn’t drink enough water so he passed out at the end of the race. |
pay back | To reimburse | I’ll pay you back as soon as I get the loan. |
put off | To postpone, arrange a later date | Don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can do today. |
put on | To turn on, switch on | It’s very dark in here. Please put on the light on. |
put out | To extinguish | The fire fighters were able to put out fire in ten minutes. |
put up | To accommodate, give somebody a bed | I can put you up until the weekend but then I’m going away. |
pick up | To collect somebody | I’ll pick you up at around 7:00 to take you to the airport. |
point out | To indicate/direct attention to something | As I already pointed out, there was a mistake in your calculation. |
rely on | To count on, depend on, trust | You can rely on me. I always arrive on time. |
rule out | To eliminate | Since he had a sound alibi, the police ruled him out as a suspect. |
run away | To escape from a place or suddenly leave | He ran away from home and joined the circus. |
run into | To meet by accident or unexpectedly (also: bump into) | I’m so glad I ran into you. I need to ask you something. |
run out of | To have no more of something. | We’ve run out of milk. I’ll just pop next door to borrow some. |
set off | To start a journey; | Let’s set off early to miss the rush hour traffic. |
set up | To start a business | They set up their own company when they were still in high school. |
shop around | To compare prices | Don’t buy that. Let’s shop around and see if we can find something cheaper. |
show off | To brag or want to be admired | He’s such a show off. He has to tell everybody about his new computer. |
show up | To appear/arrive | I don’t think she’ll show up tonight. Her daughter is sick. |
shut up (impolite) | To be silent, stop talking | Shut up, you’re spoiling the movie! |
sit down | To take a seat | I think you should sit down. It’s bad news. |
stand up | To rise from a sitting position | The whole stadium stood up for the national anthem. |
stick up for | To defend | My big brother always stuck up for me when I got into a fight. |
take after | To resemble, in appearance or character | Angie really takes after her grandmother. |
take care of | To look after | Please take care of my cat when I’m away. |
take off | To leave the ground | The plane will take off as soon as the fog lifts. |
take on | To hire or engage staff | I hear they’re taking on extra staff for this event. |
take out | To remove; extract | Please take out your mobile phones and turn them off. |
tell off | To reprimand/criticize severely | The coach told her off for not trying hard enough. |
think over | To consider | Take your time and think it over before you decide. |
try on | To wear something to see if it suits or fits | Go ahead, try it on and see if it fits? |
turn down | To refuse | I asked her out but she turned me down flat. |
use up | To finish a product (so that there’s none left) | Your parents used up all the coffee! |
watch out | To be careful | Watch out! There’s a dog in the road. |
wear out |
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work out |
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wipe off | To clean (board, table). | I’ll wash up if you wipe off the table. |