Irregular verbs

Find a verb form.

Try the past simple quiz

Irregular verbs table

How english irregular verbs work

Most English verbs are regular. You add -ed to make the past simple and the past participle: walk → walked → walked. Irregular verbs do not follow that rule. Many of the most common verbs in English are irregular, so you need them from the first lessons.

Each verb has three forms. The past simple is for finished actions: I saw her yesterday. The past participle is used after "have" and in the passive: I have seen that film. The film was seen by millions. The lesson on the present perfect and the past simple explains when to use each one.

Irregular verbs look random at first, but many of them fall into groups. One large group changes its vowel. In the i, a, u group the vowel changes twice: sing → sang → sung, ring → rang → rung, swim → swam → swum, drink → drank → drunk. Another group takes o in the past simple and adds -en for the participle: break → broke → broken, speak → spoke → spoken, choose → chose → chosen.

Some verbs keep one form for all three. Cut, put, let and cost never change: "I cut it yesterday" looks the same as "I cut it every day". Others change only the last consonant: send → sent, build → built and spend → spent all change d to t.

In another group the past simple and the past participle are the same word, but different from the base form: buy → bought → bought, think → thought → thought, teach → taught → taught. A few verbs fit no group at all. Go → went → gone and be → was/were → been must simply be learned.

British and American English The past participle of get is got in British English and usually gotten in American English. The table shows both.

Learn a few verbs at a time. Group them by pattern, say the three forms aloud, and use the quiz above often. Short, regular practice works better than one long session.

Related tools

A searchable list of 50 common irregular verbs with all three forms. Read the patterns below, then test yourself on the past simple.