Irregular verb

An irregular verb is a verb which cannot be conjugated in a way "typical" of the language to which it belongs.

In total there are some 470 irregular verbs in English, of which many, if not most, are archaic and/or infrequently used. Around 90 could be considered essential to learners, and of these, many are everyday verbs, which makes learning them easier.

A prerequisite for this article is Regular verb.

-ing form
Verbs ending in "ie" and pronounced /aɪ/ are phonetically regular but their spelling is irregular.
 * die - dying
 * lie - lying (in both meanings of "be in horizontal position" and "not to tell the truth")
 * tie - tying

Present - Past - Past Participle

 * be - was/were - been
 * beat - beat - beaten
 * become - became - become
 * begin - began - begun
 * blow - blew - blown
 * break - broke - broken
 * bring - brought - brought
 * build - built - built
 * burst - burst -burst
 * buy - bought - bought
 * catch - caught - caught
 * choose - chose - chosen
 * come - came - come
 * cost - cost - cost
 * cut - cut - cut
 * deal - dealt - dealt
 * do - did - done
 * 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/gotten
 * give - gave - given
 * go - went - gone
 * grow - grew - grown
 * have - had - had
 * hear - heard - heard
 * hide - hid - hidden
 * hit - hit - hit
 * hold - held - held
 * hurt - hurt - hurt
 * keep - kept - kept
 * know - knew - known
 * lay - laid - laid (pronunciation is regular)
 * lead - led - led
 * leave - left - left
 * let - let - let
 * lie - lay - lain (be in horizontal position)
 * "lie" is regular when in means not to tell the truth


 * lose - lost - lost
 * make - made - made
 * meet - met - met
 * pay - paid - paid (pronunciation is regular)
 * put - put - put
 * quit - quit - quit
 * read /riːd/ - read /red/ - read /red/
 * ride - rode - ridden
 * ring - rang - rung
 * rise - rose - risen
 * run - ran - run
 * say /seɪ/ - said /sed/ - said /sed/
 * see - saw - seen
 * seek - sought - sought
 * sell - sold - sold
 * send - sent - sent
 * set - set - set
 * shake - shook - shaken
 * shine - shone - shone
 * sing - sang - sung
 * sit - sat - sat
 * sleep - slept - slept
 * speak - spoke - spoken
 * spend - spent - spent
 * spring - sprang - sprung
 * stand - stood - stood
 * steal - stole - stolen
 * 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
 * it (seldom) is used as regular: wake - waked - waked


 * wear - wore - worn
 * win - won - won
 * write - wrote - written

Teaching tips
Rather than presenting or "teaching" irregular verbs in the boring ol' traditional alphabetical lists, as above, an alternative is to divide them into 3 groups as follows:

Group 1
Irregular verbs which don't change, i.e. 1 form:
 * burst - burst -burst
 * cost - cost - cost
 * cut - cut - cut
 * hit - hit - hit
 * hurt - hurt - hurt
 * let - let - let
 * put - put - put
 * quit - quit - quit
 * set - set - set

Group 2
Irregular verbs with 2 forms (labeled a and b). This group can be separated in 2: ending with an extra "t" (or changing "d" to "t") in the past and past participle, and other changes. Several irregular verbs whose infinitive contains the /iː/ sound, as in "sleep", have a short // in the past and past participle forms. Again, several irregular verbs whose infinitive contains the /iː/ sound, have a short // in the past and past participle forms. This is valid also for /ɪə/ and // (hear, heard).
 * a - b - b
 * Extra "t" or changing "d" to "t"
 * bring - brought - brought
 * build - built - built
 * buy - bought - bought
 * catch - caught - caught
 * fight - fought - fought
 * get - got - got/gotten
 * lose - lost - lost
 * seek - sought - sought
 * send - sent - sent
 * spend - spent - spent
 * teach - taught - taught
 * think - thought - thought
 * deal - dealt - dealt
 * feel - felt - felt
 * keep - kept - kept
 * leave -left - left
 * sleep - slept - slept
 * Other changes
 * find - found - found
 * have - had - had
 * hold - held - held
 * lay - laid - laid (pronunciation is regular)
 * make - made - made
 * pay - paid - paid (pronunciation is regular)
 * sell - sold - sold
 * shine - shone - shone
 * sit - sat - sat
 * stand - stood - stood
 * swing - swung - swung
 * tell - told - told
 * understand - understood - understood
 * win - won - won
 * feed - fed - fed
 * hear - heard - heard
 * lead - led - led
 * meet - met - met
 * read /riːd/ - read /rd/ - read /rd/
 * say - said - said
 * a - a - b
 * beat - beat - beaten
 * a - b - a
 * become - became - become
 * come - came - come
 * run - ran - run

Group 3
Irregular verbs with 3 forms. This group can be separated in 2: ending with an extra "n" in the past participle, and changing the vowel (i-a-u).

Extra "n"
These verbs also change their stressed vowel; we label those vowels as v1, v2 and v3.
 * v1 - v2 - v1
 * blow - blew - blown
 * eat - ate - eaten
 * fall - fell - fallen
 * forbid - forbade - forbidden
 * forgive - forgave - forgiven
 * give - gave - given
 * grow - grew - grown
 * know - knew - known
 * see - saw - seen
 * shake - shook - shaken
 * take - took - taken
 * throw - threw - thrown
 * v1 - v2 - v2
 * break - broke - broken
 * choose - chose - chosen
 * forget - forgot - forgotten
 * freeze - froze - frozen
 * get - got - got/gotten
 * hide - hid - hidden
 * lie - lay - lain
 * speak - spoke - spoken
 * steal - stole - stolen
 * tear - tore - torn
 * wake - woke - woken
 * wear - wore - worn
 * v1 - v2 - v3
 * do - did - done
 * drive - drove - driven
 * fly - flew - flown
 * go - went - gone
 * ride - rode - ridden
 * rise - rose - risen
 * write - wrote - written

i - a - u

 * begin - began - begun
 * drink - drank - drunk
 * ring - rang - rung
 * sing - sang - sung
 * spring - sprang - sprung
 * swim - swam - swum