Irregular English Verbs (irregular verbs) are verbs that form the past tense not according to the rule "plus -ed", but each in its own way: go — went — gone, write — wrote — written. Such a verb has three forms (V1, V2, V3), and all three must be memorized. On this page, you will find a table of the 50 most essential verbs with translation and transcription, divided into groups by the type of alternation, an explanation of when the second form is needed and when the third, an analysis of common mistakes, and an interactive trainer to test yourself immediately.
Regular and Irregular Verbs in English: What's the Difference
Any English verb has three main forms: the base form (which is found in the dictionary), the past tense form, and the participle. The only question is how the second and third forms are obtained.
Regular verbs behave predictably: both forms are identical and are formed in one way — by adding the ending -ed.
Irregular verbs are the old-timers of the language. They have preserved the ancient way of forming forms — by alternating the vowel in the root (sing — sang — sung) or a special ending (buy — bought). There is no rule by which the form can be calculated — it is looked up in a table and memorized.
The most annoying thing is that irregular verbs are the most frequently used words in the language. be, have, do, go, say, make appear in speech more often than others, so you can't get around them. But they will also appear constantly — which means they will be remembered quickly.
play — played — played
go — went — gone
Three Verb Forms: V1, V2, and V3
The forms are numbered — this is the order in which they are written in tables and spoken aloud. Below is what each form means and in which sentence it appears.
Memorize two rules separately, as they are the most common sources of error:
- after did, didn’t, and will, the verb is in its base form: Did you see it?, not Did you saw it? — did already indicates the past tense;
- after have, has, had — conversely, only the third form: I have seen it.
For more details on the tenses themselves, see the materials on Past Simple and Present Perfect; here, only the form of the verb that goes into them is important.
Did you write?
The letter was written.
Table of Irregular English Verbs with Translation and Transcription
The table below contains the 50 most frequent irregular verbs. They are arranged not alphabetically, but by groups: within each group, the forms change according to the same pattern, making it much easier to learn: instead of fifty individual words, you get nine understandable schemes.
How to read a row: first, the three forms separated by hyphens (V1 — V2 — V3), below them the transcription, and to the right the translation. The letters in the group header indicate its pattern: A — A — A — all three forms are the same, A — B — B — the second and third are the same, A — B — A — the first and third, A — B — C — all three are different.
| Three Forms: V1 — V2 — V3 | Translation |
|---|---|
| 1. All three forms are the sameA — A — A | |
| put — put — put[pʊt] | to put |
| cut — cut — cut[kʌt] | to cut |
| let — let — let[let] | to let |
| hit — hit — hit[hɪt] | to hit |
| cost — cost — cost[kɒst] | to cost |
| read — read — read[riːd — red — red] | to read |
| 2. Second and third forms are the same, ending in ‑tA — B — B | |
| send — sent — sent[send — sent — sent] | to send |
| build — built — built[bɪld — bɪlt — bɪlt] | to build |
| spend — spent — spent[spend — spent — spent] | to spend |
| keep — kept — kept[kiːp — kept — kept] | to keep |
| sleep — slept — slept[sliːp — slept — slept] | to sleep |
| feel — felt — felt[fiːl — felt — felt] | to feel |
| leave — left — left[liːv — left — left] | to leave |
| mean — meant — meant[miːn — ment — ment] | to mean |
| 3. Endings ‑ought and ‑aughtA — B — B | |
| buy — bought — bought[baɪ — bɔːt — bɔːt] | to buy |
| bring — brought — brought[brɪŋ — brɔːt — brɔːt] | to bring |
| think — thought — thought[θɪŋk — θɔːt — θɔːt] | to think |
| teach — taught — taught[tiːtʃ — tɔːt — tɔːt] | to teach |
| catch — caught — caught[kætʃ — kɔːt — kɔːt] | to catch |
| 4. Alternation i — a — uA — B — C | |
| begin — began — begun[bɪˈɡɪn — bɪˈɡæn — bɪˈɡʌn] | to begin |
| drink — drank — drunk[drɪŋk — dræŋk — drʌŋk] | to drink |
| sing — sang — sung[sɪŋ — sæŋ — sʌŋ] | to sing |
| swim — swam — swum[swɪm — swæm — swʌm] | to swim |
| ring — rang — rung[rɪŋ — ræŋ — rʌŋ] | to ring |
| 5. Third form ending in ‑enA — B — C | |
| take — took — taken[teɪk — tʊk — ˈteɪkən] | to take |
| give — gave — given[ɡɪv — ɡeɪv — ˈɡɪvn] | to give |
| eat — ate — eaten[iːt — eɪt — ˈiːtn] | to eat |
| write — wrote — written[raɪt — rəʊt — ˈrɪtn] | to write |
| speak — spoke — spoken[spiːk — spəʊk — ˈspəʊkən] | to speak |
| break — broke — broken[breɪk — brəʊk — ˈbrəʊkən] | to break |
| choose — chose — chosen[tʃuːz — tʃəʊz — ˈtʃəʊzn] | to choose |
| forget — forgot — forgotten[fəˈɡet — fəˈɡɒt — fəˈɡɒtn] | to forget |
| 6. Second form ‑ew, third form ‑own and ‑awnA — B — C | |
| know — knew — known[nəʊ — njuː — nəʊn] | to know |
| grow — grew — grown[ɡrəʊ — ɡruː — ɡrəʊn] | to grow |
| throw — threw — thrown[θrəʊ — θruː — θrəʊn] | to throw |
| fly — flew — flown[flaɪ — fluː — fləʊn] | to fly |
| draw — drew — drawn[drɔː — druː — drɔːn] | to draw |
| 7. First and third forms are the sameA — B — A | |
| come — came — come[kʌm — keɪm — kʌm] | to come |
| become — became — become[bɪˈkʌm — bɪˈkeɪm — bɪˈkʌm] | to become |
| run — ran — run[rʌn — ræn — rʌn] | to run |
| 8. Most frequent: all three forms are differentA — B — C | |
| be — was / were — been[biː — wɒz / wɜː — biːn] | to be |
| do — did — done[duː — dɪd — dʌn] | to do |
| go — went — gone[ɡəʊ — went — ɡɒn] | to go |
| see — saw — seen[siː — sɔː — siːn] | to see |
| 9. Most frequent: second and third forms are the sameA — B — B | |
| have — had — had[hæv — hæd — hæd] | to have |
| make — made — made[meɪk — meɪd — meɪd] | to make |
| get — got — got*[ɡet — ɡɒt — ɡɒt] | to get |
| say — said — said[seɪ — sed — sed] | to say |
| find — found — found[faɪnd — faʊnd — faʊnd] | to find |
| tell — told — told[tel — təʊld — təʊld] | to tell |
How to Read Irregular Verbs: Transcription and Pitfalls
With regular verbs, pronunciation is predictable: the root stays the same, only the ending changes. With irregular verbs, the root itself changes, and the spelling and pronunciation often diverge. Therefore, it's better to learn the form aloud immediately and check it against the transcription, rather than guessing from the letters. The three pitfalls that trip people up most often are below.
How Many Irregular Verbs Are There in English?
There is no exact number — it all depends on what you count.
- Full academic lists contain up to 470 verbs, but most of them are rare or archaic words.
- Standard dictionaries and reference books list around 200.
- The school curriculum uses a list of 100–150 verbs over all years.
- In grades 5–6, about 50 are taught — the very ones collected in the table above.
The main thing is that frequency is distributed very unevenly. A few dozen verbs cover the vast majority of cases where an irregular verb is needed at all. Memorizing the entire list is pointless: rare verbs are learned naturally as you read.
By the way, the list of irregular verbs does not grow: all new words that enter the language (to google, to download) become regular. Over time, the number of irregular verbs even decreases.
How to Quickly Learn Irregular Verbs
Rote memorization of a list in alphabetical order is the longest path. The order that works best:
- Learn in groups. Within a group, one pattern applies, and memory latches onto it: remember sing — sang — sung, and ring — rang — rung immediately comes to mind.
- In portions of 5–7 verbs per day. The brain can't hold more at one sitting, but a daily portion over two weeks covers the entire school minimum.
- Say all three forms in a row aloud, like a chant. The chain "take — took — taken" is remembered by rhythm, not by individual words.
- Immediately construct a sentence with each new form — about yourself and your day. A word from a living sentence stays in memory many times longer than a line from a table.
- Revisit old portions after a day, then after three days, then after a week. Spaced repetition yields more than an hour of cramming at once.
- Test yourself, don't just reread. Rereading a table creates a false sense of "I know this." True testing is when you have to recall the form yourself: cover the second and third forms with your hand or use the trainer below — it specifically uses verbs not found in the table above.
Examples with Analysis: Which Form to Use
Example 1. Second Form in Past Tense
Task: Last summer we ___ (swim) in the lake.
Step 1. The marker last summer indicates a completed action in the past → simple past is needed, which means the second form.
Step 2. Check if the verb is irregular. swim is in the irregular verbs table, group "i — a — u": swim — swam — swum. The form swimmed does not exist.
Step 3. Take the middle form — swam.
Answer: Last summer we swam in the lake.
Example 2. Third Form After Has
Task: She has ___ (break) her phone.
Step 1. Before the blank, there is has — this is a strong signal: the third form must follow, regardless of the verb.
Step 2. break — broke — broken. The second form broke is incorrect here: She has broke is a mistake.
Step 3. Use the last form — broken.
Answer: She has broken her phone. — She broke her phone (and it's still broken).
Example 3. After Did — Only the Base Form
Task: ___ you ___ (bring) the book?
Step 1. This is a question about the past, so we start with the auxiliary Did.
Step 2. Here's a trap. bring is an irregular verb (bring — brought — brought), and your instinct might be to write brought. But did has already taken on the past tense, so the main verb remains in its base form.
Step 3. Assemble: Did + you + bring.
Answer: Did* you bring the book? ❌ Incorrect: Did you brought the book?*
Common Mistakes with Irregular Verbs
-
Adding -ed to an irregular verb: ❌ goed, buyed, thinked, teached.
The ending -ed is only for regular verbs. For irregular verbs, the form is taken from the table: ✅ went, bought, thought, taught.
-
Using the second form after have / has: ❌ I have wrote a letter. He has went home.
Only the third form is used after have / has / had: ✅ I have written a letter. He has gone home.
-
Using did or didn’t with the second form: ❌ Did you saw it? I didn’t took it.
The past tense in a sentence is shown only once — through did. The main verb reverts to its base form: ✅ Did you see it? I didn’t take it.
-
Confusing similar verbs lie and lay — and using the wrong form.
These are three different verbs: lie (to recline) — lay — lain; lay (to place) — laid — laid; and lie meaning "to tell an untruth" is actually regular: lied — lied. Note: lay is both the past tense of lie and the base form of another verb.
-
Mistakes with be: ❌ They was at home. I have was there.
Be has two forms in the past tense: was — for I, he, she, it; were — for you, we, they. And its third form is been: ✅ They were at home. I have been there.
-
Considering read a regular verb because all three forms are spelled the same.
It is irregular: if it were regular, it would be readed. The difference is in pronunciation, not spelling: read [riːd] — read [red] — read [red].
Questions and Answers
What are irregular verbs in English?
These are verbs whose second and third forms are not formed according to the rule with the ending -ed, but in their own way: most often through vowel alternation in the root (sing — sang — sung) or through a special ending (buy — bought — bought). All three forms of such verbs are memorized from a table.
How do regular verbs differ from irregular verbs?
Regular verbs have identical second and third forms created by adding -ed: work — worked — worked. Irregular verbs have unique forms for each: go — went — gone. You cannot predict the form by its appearance.
How many irregular verbs do I need to learn?
Full lists have up to 470, standard reference books list about 200, and the school curriculum covers 100–150. But in practice, 50–60 of the most frequent ones are enough: they cover most situations in speech and school exercises. The rest are learned naturally as you read.
When is the second form of a verb needed, and when is the third?
The second form (V2) is used for the simple past tense in affirmative sentences: I saw him yesterday. The third form (V3) is the past participle, used after have, has, had (I have seen him) and after be in the passive voice (the letter was written). The base form is used after did, didn’t, and will.
How can I tell if a verb is irregular?
You can't tell by its appearance: there's no indicator within the word itself; you need to consult a dictionary or table. There are two clues. Old, short words from everyday life (eat, drink, go, take) are more likely to be irregular, while new and borrowed words (to google, to download) are always regular.
Why are all three forms of the verb read spelled the same?
They are indeed spelled the same, but pronounced differently: read [riːd] — read [red] — read [red]. The vowel alternation is preserved in pronunciation, while the spelling has standardized over time. The form can only be determined by the rest of the sentence.
