Irregular verbs do not form the Past Simple and the Past Participle with -ed. They have their own forms, which you have to learn, but many of them follow patterns. The three forms are called V1 (the infinitive: go), V2 (Past Simple: went) and V3 (Past Participle: gone).
Where each form is used
- V1 – the base form: I go, to go, I will go, I didn't go.
- V2 – the Past Simple of finished actions: I went to Rome last year.
- V3 – the perfect tenses (I have gone, she had gone), the passive (the book was written) and the third conditional (if I had known).
Patterns that make them easier to learn
| Pattern | Examples (V1 – V2 – V3) |
|---|---|
| All three forms are the same | cut – cut – cut · put – put – put · let – let – let · hit – hit – hit · set – set – set · shut – shut – shut |
| V2 and V3 are the same | buy – bought – bought · bring – brought – brought · catch – caught – caught · teach – taught – taught · sit – sat – sat · find – found – found · make – made – made · say – said – said |
| i – a – u | sing – sang – sung · drink – drank – drunk · begin – began – begun · swim – swam – swum · ring – rang – rung |
| V3 ends in -n / -en | break – broke – broken · speak – spoke – spoken · choose – chose – chosen · drive – drove – driven · write – wrote – written · give – gave – given · take – took – taken |
| V1 and V3 are the same | come – came – come · run – ran – run · become – became – become |
| Completely different | go – went – gone · be – was/were – been · do – did – done · see – saw – seen |
Tips for learning irregular verbs
- Learn them in groups that sound alike (sing–sang–sung, ring–rang–rung) instead of alphabetically.
- Start with the 30 most frequent verbs (be, have, do, say, go, get, make, know, think, take, see, come) – they cover a large share of everyday English.
- Say the three forms aloud in a sentence: Today I write, yesterday I wrote, I have already written.
- Revise with spaced repetition: a few verbs every day work better than the whole list once a week.
Two forms are sometimes both correct
Some verbs have two accepted forms, for example learn – learned / learnt, dream – dreamed / dreamt, get – got / gotten (American English). In the table below the forms are separated by a slash.
The list of irregular verbs
| V1 | V2 | V3 |
|---|---|---|
| arise | arose | arisen |
| be | was / were | been |
| bear | bore | borne / born |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bind | bound | bound |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| bleed | bled | bled |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| breed | bred | bred |
| bring | brought | brought |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burnt / burned | burnt / burned |
| burst | burst | burst |
| buy | bought | bought |
| cast | cast | cast |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| creep | crept | crept |
| cut | cut | cut |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| dive | dived / dove | dived |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| dream | dreamt / dreamed | dreamt / dreamed |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| 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 |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got / gotten |
| 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 / kneeled | knelt / kneeled |
| know | knew | known |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| lean | leant / leaned | leant / leaned |
| leap | leapt / leaped | leapt / leaped |
| learn | learnt / learned | learnt / learned |
| 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 |
| mistake | mistook | mistaken |
| overcome | overcame | overcome |
| overtake | overtook | overtaken |
| pay | paid | paid |
| prove | proved | proven / proved |
| put | put | put |
| quit | quit | quit |
| read | read | read |
| rebuild | rebuilt | rebuilt |
| rewrite | rewrote | rewritten |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| seek | sought | sought |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| set | set | set |
| sew | sewed | sewn / sewed |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| shed | shed | shed |
| shine | shone | shone |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| show | showed | shown / showed |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| slide | slid | slid |
| smell | smelt / smelled | smelt / smelled |
| sow | sowed | sown / sowed |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spell | spelt / spelled | spelt / spelled |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spill | spilt / spilled | spilt / spilled |
| spin | spun | spun |
| split | split | split |
| spread | spread | spread |
| stand | stood | stood |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| strike | struck | struck |
| swear | swore | sworn |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| swim | swam | swum |
| swing | swung | swung |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| undergo | underwent | undergone |
| understand | understood | understood |
| undo | undid | undone |
| upset | upset | upset |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| weave | wove | woven |
| weep | wept | wept |
| win | won | won |
| wind | wound | wound |
| withdraw | withdrew | withdrawn |
| write | wrote | written |
Frequently asked questions
How many irregular verbs are there in English?
There are about 200 in total, but around 100 are common in everyday English. The list on this page contains the most useful ones from A1 to C1.
Which form do I use after “have”?
Always V3, the Past Participle: I have seen, she has gone, they have done.
Why are the most common verbs irregular?
Frequently used words keep their old forms longer. Rare verbs usually become regular over time.