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Irregular verbs can be tricky because they don’t follow the normal rules. Instead of just adding -ed, they change completely, like go – went – gone or eat – ate – eaten. This page gives you a full list of irregular verbs with examples, so you can learn them quickly and use them with confidence.
An irregular verb is a verb that doesn’t follow the usual pattern of adding -ed in the past simple or past participle. Some irregular verbs stay the same in all forms, while others change completely. That’s why it’s important to learn them (there are around 200 in total!).
To make it easier, remember that irregular verbs are split into three forms: infinitive, past tense, and past participle. When you think about it, 200 verbs in three forms means about 600 words to learn. Quite a challenge, right?
I don’t want to worry you, so let’s start with the good news. Some irregular verbs aren’t used very often, so you won’t need to focus too much on them.
Even better, many irregular verbs actually follow the same patterns, which makes them easier to remember.
And the best news? You’ve found this page! I’ve broken everything down and created learning materials to help make irregular verbs simple.
As mentioned above, some irregular verbs share the same pattern. This means that the infinitive, past simple, or past participle have similar spellings or pronunciations.
To make learning easier, I’ve grouped these verbs into tables based on their patterns. Take a look, and don’t forget to practise saying them out loud!
Some irregular verbs ending in the letter ‘d’ change to ‘t’ in the past tense and past participle. For example: bend – bent – bent, build – built – built, lend – lent – lent, send – sent – sent, spend – spent – spent. These verbs follow the same spelling change, which makes them easier to learn and remember.
Irregular verbs ending in ‘ay’ follow a clear pattern where the past tense changes to ‘aid’. Spotting this rule makes them easier to learn, since you don’t need to memorise each verb separately. Instead, you can group them together and study how the same change happens every time. Common examples are lay → laid → laid, mislay → mislaid → mislaid, pay → paid → paid, say → said → said.
Once you’ve learnt the tables above, here’s a complete list of all the irregular verbs (with the infinitive, past simple and past perfect) for you brave souls to look through at your leisure.
| infinitive | past simple | past participle |
| arise | arose | arisen |
| awake | awoke | awoken |
| be: am/is/are | was, were | been |
| bear | bore | borne |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| behold | beheld | beheld |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid (farewell) | bid/bade | bid |
| bid (offer amount) | bid | bid |
| bind | bound | bound |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| bleed | bled | bled |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| breed | bred | bred |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burnt/burned | burnt/burned |
| burst | burst | burst |
| bust | busted | busted/bust |
| buy | bought | bought |
| cast (throw) | cast | cast |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| cling | clung | clung |
| clothe | clad | clad |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| creep | crept | crept |
| cut | cut | cut |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| dive | dove/dived | dived |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| dream | dreamt/dreamed | dreamt/dreamed |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| dwell | dwelt/dwelled | dwelt/dwelled |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feed | fed | fed |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| fit | fit | fit |
| flee | fled | fled |
| fling | flung | flung |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forbid | forbade | forbidden |
| forecast | forecast | forecast |
| foresee | foresaw | foreseen |
| foretell | foretold | foretold |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| forsake | forsook | forsaken |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got/gotten |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grind | ground | ground |
| grow | grew | grown |
| handwrite | handwrote | handwritten |
| hang (a picture) | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| input | input(ted) | input(ted) |
| keep | kept | kept |
| kneel | knelt/kneeled | knelt/kneeled |
| knit | knitted/knit | knitted/knit |
| know | knew | known |
| lay | laid (lay-duh) | 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 (to rest) | lay | lain |
| light | lit | lit |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| mislead | misled | misled |
| mistake | mistook | mistaken |
| misunderstand | misunderstood | misunderstood |
| mow | mowed | mowed/mown |
| offset | offset | offset |
| overdraw | overdrew | overdrawn |
| overhear | overheard | overheard |
| overtake | overtook | overtaken |
| pay | paid (pay-duh) | paid |
| plead | pled | pled |
| preset | preset | preset |
| prove | proved | proven |
| put | put | put |
| quit | quit | quit |
| read | read | read |
| rid | rid | rid |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| saw | sawed | sawn/sawed |
| say | said (sed) | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| seek | sought | sought |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| set | set | set |
| sew | sewed | sewn |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| shave | shaved | shaven |
| shear | sheared | shorn |
| shed | shed | shed |
| shine | shined/shone | shined/shone |
| shit | shit/shat | shit/shat |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| show | showed | showed/shown |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| sit | sat | sat |
| slay | slew | slain |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| slide | slid | slid |
| sling | slung | slung |
| slit | slit | slit |
| smell | smelt/smelled | smelt/smelled |
| sneak | snuck | snuck |
| sow | sowed | sowed/sown |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| speed | speeded/sped | speeded/sped |
| spell | spelt/spelled | spelt/spelled |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spill | spilt/spilled | spilt/spilled |
| spin | spun | spun |
| spit | spat | spat |
| split | split | split |
| spoil | spoilt/spoiled | spoilt/spoiled |
| spread | spread | spread |
| spring | sprang | sprung |
| stand | stood | stood |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| stink | stank | stunk |
| stride | strode | stridden |
| strike | struck | struck |
| string | strung | strung |
| strive | strove | striven |
| sublet | sublet | sublet |
| sunburn | sunburnt | sunburnt |
| swear | swore | sworn |
| sweat | sweat | sweat |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| swell | swelled | swelled/swollen |
| swim | swam | swum |
| swing | swung | swung |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| thrust | thrust | thrust |
| tread | trod | trodden |
| undergo | underwent | undergone |
| understand | understood | understood |
| undertake | undertook | undertaken |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| weave | wove | woven |
| wed | wed | wed |
| weep | wept | wept |
| wet | wet | wet |
| win | won | won |
| wind | wound | wound |
| withdraw | withdrew | withdrawn |
| withhold | withheld | withheld |
| withstand | withstood | withstood |
| wring | wrung | wrung |
| write | wrote | written |
You can download this table and take it home to study at your own pace. Perfect for revising anytime, anywhere!
Ok, so the list above is pretty big and to be fair, you probably won’t use a lot of them.
So, I’ve narrowed down the above list to 50 of the most commonly used irregular verbs. If you can, try and learn this list.
You may have noticed somewhere along your English language learning journey that some verbs can be spelt differently. This is because there are differences between British English and American English. One of the differences is with verbs. For some verbs, British English uses an irregular verb, but in American English, it’s regular.
Let’s take a look at the verbs that differ.
Verb endings aren’t the only difference between the two. Click here to find out about other differences between British and American English.
Are you ready to test your knowledge on irregular verbs? Answers are at the bottom. Good luck, I believe in you!
