What Are Irregular Verbs?

Introduction

Irregular verbs deviate from standard tense and past participle patterns in English. Unlike regular verbs, which typically end in “-ed” for past forms, irregular verbs have unique simple past tense variations and past participle forms. This article explores the challenge of irregular verbs in modern English, emphasizing the need for memorization due to the absence of a consistent formula.

What are irregular verbs?

An irregular verb deviates from the typical inflection pattern. Apart from differing in the simple past and past participle forms, the verbs “to be” and “to have” also deviate from the standard conjugation of regular verbs in the simple present. Regular verbs add an “s” in the third person singular, whereas these irregular verbs exhibit unique inflections.

Past Simple And Past Participle

Many verbs form their past tense and past participle by adding “-ed,” like “waited,” and “visited.” However, some common verbs are irregular and don’t follow this pattern. For instance, the verb “to be” has “was/were” as its past simple and “been” as its past participle. Similarly, the verb “to go” uses “went” for past simple and “gone” for past participle.

• Regular Verbs:
  • Wait => waited, waited
  • Visit => visited, visited
  • Watch => watched, watched
• Irregular Verbs:
  • Be => was/were, been
  • Go => went, gone
  • Have => had, had

Present Simple

The simple present tense is the same for regular and irregular verbs, except for the third person singular, which adds “s” or “es.” Note that some verbs, such as “be” and “have” display special forms in the present tense.

• Regular Verbs:
  • Wait => waits
  • Visit => visits
  • Watch => watches
• Irregular Verbs:
  • Be => am, are, is
  • Have => have, has

Let’s explore the difference between regular and irregular in more detail!

What is the difference between regular and irregular verbs?

Regular verbs differ from irregular ones in the pattern they follow to form the past simple tense and the past participle form.

Verbs That Behave Regularly

A regular verb follows a typical pattern in its conjugation. For example, verbs such as close, live, watch, visit, and play are regular. They consistently take, “ed” in the past simple and past participle. Check the following chart:

Verb	Past Simple	Past Participle
close	closed	closed
live	lived	lived
watch	watched	watched
visit	visited	visited
play	played	played
ask	asked	asked
jump	jumped	jumped
talk	talked	talked
need	needed	needed
smile	smiled	smiled
work	worked	worked
clean	cleaned	cleaned
help	helped	helped
stay	stayed	stayed
play	played	played
laugh	laughed	laughed
cook	cooked	cooked
dance	danced	danced
sail	sailed	sailed

Verbs That Behave Irregularly

Irregular verbs, on the other hand, don’t follow the above pattern. They are inconsistent in their conjugation. Their simple past and past participle forms have different endings. See the chart below.

Verb	Past Simple	Past Participle
be	was/were	been
have	had	had
do	did	done
say	said	said
go	went	gone
get	got	got
make	made	made
see	saw	seen
come	came	come
know	knew	known
take	took	taken
give	gave	given
find	found	found
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
leave	left	left
feel	felt	felt
put	put	put
become	became	become
bring	brought	brought
buy	bought	bought
come	came	come
cut	cut	cut
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feel	felt	felt
find	found	found
fly	flew	flown
forget	forgot	forgotten
forgive	forgave	forgiven
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
keep	kept	kept
know	knew	known
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie (down)	lay	lain
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
pay	paid	paid
put	put	put
read	read	read
ride	rode	ridden
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
set	set	set
shake	shook	shaken
shine	shone	shone
shoot	shot	shot
show	showed	shown
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sit	sat	sat
sleep	slept	slept
speak	spoke	spoken
spend	spent	spent
stand	stood	stood
swim	swam	swum
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

Since the simple past and the past participle forms of irregular verbs are unpredictable, they have to be learned by heart.

Example Sentences

1. Yesterday, I saw a rare bird in the park.
2. She always wears her favorite necklace to special occasions.
3. The children ate their lunch before heading to the playground.
4. Last summer, we went on an unforgettable road trip across the country.
5. He spoke eloquently during the debate, impressing everyone with his arguments.
6. The cat suddenly ran out of the room when the door opened.
7. My grandmother knew how to knit beautiful scarves and hats.
8. The storm last night blew away our garden decorations.
9. They caught the early train to avoid the morning rush.
10. She broke the vase accidentally while rearranging the flowers.
11. The movie forgot to include the crucial plot twist, disappointing the audience.
12. Our team won the championship after a thrilling final match.
13. The old book fell apart when I opened it to the first page.
14. He always chose the scenic route when driving through the countryside.
15. The alarm clock rang loudly, waking everyone up at dawn.
16. By the time we arrived, they had already eaten all the pizza.
17. She realized that she had left her keys at home when she reached the office.
18. Before the concert, they had rehearsed their performance extensively.
19. The sun had set, and darkness had fallen by the time we reached the campsite.
20. I couldn’t find my phone because I had misplaced it somewhere in the house.
21. We discovered that someone had stolen our picnic basket while we were swimming.
22. They were exhausted because they had been working on the project for hours.
23. By the time the guests arrived, the chef had prepared a delicious feast.
24. The students were relieved because they had finished their exams.
25. When I reached the airport, the plane had already departed.

Conclusion

As previously stated, irregular verbs diverge from the standard past simple tense and past participle patterns in English. In contrast to regular verbs, which usually conclude with “-ed” for past forms, irregular verbs exhibit distinctive tense variations and past participles. This article delves into the complexities posed by irregular verbs in contemporary English, underscoring the necessity for memorization due to the lack of a uniform formula.

Here is a list of irregular verbs

Related Materials:

• What is the difference between regular and irregular verbs?
• List of irregular verbs
• Exercise: irregular verbs