Irregular Verbs

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In this lesson, we will learn

how to form simple past tense for irregular verbs
how to pronounce and spell the past tense of irregular verbs

We use the simple past tense to talk about things that happened in the past. For most verbs, the simple past tense is created by adding a d, ed or ied at the end of the word. These are called regular verbs.

The simple past tense of some verbs do not end in ed. Such verbs are called irregular verbs. Since they are irregular, they do not follow any pattern and the best way to learn them would be to repeat and memorize them.

Usually we will try to remember the base form (infinitive), past tense and past participle.

Examples:

They go to the movies every weekend. (go - base form)
They went to the movie yesterday. (went - past tense)
They have gone to the movies. (gone - past participle)

The following is a list of commonly used irregular verbs. (Check out the videos below for more irregular verbs.)

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
arise	arose	arisen
awake	awoke	awoken
be	was, were	been
bear	bore	born/borne
beat	beat	beaten
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
behold	beheld	beheld
bend	bent	bent
bet	bet	bet
bid	bade	bidden
bid	bid	bid
bind	bound	bound
bite	bit	bitten
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
build	built	built
burst	burst	burst
bust	bust	bust
buy	bought	bought
cast	cast	cast
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
clap	clapped	clapped
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
cut	cut	cut
dare	dared	dared
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
dive	dived	dived
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamt	dreamt
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
dwell	dwelt	dwelt
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forbid	forbade	forbidden
foresee	foresaw	foreseen
foretell	foretold	foretold
forget	forgot	forgotten
forgive	forgave	forgiven
forsake	forsook	forsaken
freeze	froze	frozen
frostbite	frostbit	frostbitten
get	got	gotten
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
go	went	gone/been
grind	ground	ground
grow	grew	grown
handwrite	handwrote	handwritten
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	hidden
hit	hit	hit
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
inlay	inlaid	inlaid
input	input	input
interlay	interlaid	interlaid
keep	kept	kept
kneel	knelt	knelt
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
learn	learnt	learnt
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie	lay	lain
light	lit	lit
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
pay	paid	paid
quit	quit	quit
read	read	read
ride	rode	ridden
run	ran	run
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
seek	sought	sought
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
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
wear	wore	worn
win	won	won
write	wrote	written

This video will help students of English learn the past and present tense forms of many irregular verbs.

Show Step-by-step Solutions

This video shows irregular verbs in the simple form, the past tense, and as past participles. It will help you remember how these verbs change. It might also help with pronunciation.

Show Step-by-step Solutions

This video is designed to help you learn the most frequently used English irregular verbs. You can practice the pronunciation while memorizing them. (Part 1)

Show Step-by-step Solutions

This video is designed to help you learn English irregular verbs. You can practice the pronunciation while memorizing them. (Part 2)

Show Step-by-step Solutions

This video is designed to help you learn English irregular verbs. You can practice the pronunciation while memorizing them. (Part 3)

Show Step-by-step Solutions

This video is designed to help you learn English irregular verbs. You can practice the pronunciation while memorizing them. (Part 4)

Show Step-by-step Solutions

Try the free Mathway calculator and problem solver below to practice various math topics. Try the given examples, or type in your own problem and check your answer with the step-by-step explanations.

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