English Irregular Verbs
Explore 182 English verbs with irregular or alternative forms. Group them by spelling and sound patterns to learn related forms together.
Which form goes where
- V1
- The dictionary form. Use it after to and modal verbs, and in the present simple with I/you/we/they. Most verbs add -s or -es for he/she/it; be is exceptional.
- V2
- The past-simple form. Use it for past events, states and habits: I saw her yesterday.
- V3
- The past participle. Use it with have in perfect forms and with be in the passive: I have seen it. It was seen.
182 verbs · no active filters
| Level | Base form | Past simple | Past participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English level A1 | be | wasalso were | been | to exist; to have a qualityThe past has two forms: was for I / he / she / it, were for you / we / they. |
| English level A1 | have | had | had | to own or hold |
| English level A1 | do/duː/ | did/dɪd/ | done/dʌn/ | to perform an action |
| English level A1 | say/seɪ/ | said/sed/ | said/sed/ | to speak words |
| English level A1 | go/ɡəʊ/ | went/went/ | gone/ɡɒn/ | to move to another place |
| English level A1 | get | got | gotalso gotten | to receive or obtainAmerican English commonly uses gotten for obtaining or becoming; have got is still used for possession. British English normally uses got. |
| English level A1 | know/nəʊ/ | knew/njuː/ | known/nəʊn/ | to have information about |
| English level A1 | make | made | made | to create or produce |
| English level A1 | think/θɪŋk/ | thought/θɔːt/ | thought/θɔːt/ | to use your mind |
| English level A1 | see | saw | seen | to notice with your eyes |
| English level A1 | come | came | come | to move towards |
| English level A1 | take | took | taken | to carry away from here; to get hold of |
| English level A1 | tell | told | told | to say something to someone |
| English level A1 | find | found | found | to discoverfound is also a separate regular verb — found / founded / founded, to establish. |
| English level A1 | give | gave | given | to hand to someone |
| English level A1 | let | let | let | to allow |
| English level A2 | mean | meant | meant | to express a particular idea |
| English level A1 | feel | felt | felt | to experience an emotion or a touchfelt is from feel. fell is from fall — the two are unrelated. |
| English level A1 | keep | kept | kept | to continue to have |
| English level A1 | leave | left | left | to go away from; to let stay |
| English level A1 | put | put | put | to place somewhere |
| English level A2 | become | became | become | to start to be |
| English level A1 | show | showed | shownalso showed | to let someone see |
| English level A1 | hear/hɪə/ | heard/hɜːd/ | heard/hɜːd/ | to notice with your ears |
| English level A1 | run | ran | run | to move fast on foot |
| English level A1 | write | wrote | written | to put words on paper |
| English level A1 | bring/brɪŋ/ | brought/brɔːt/ | brought/brɔːt/ | to carry towards |
| English level A1 | begin | began | begun | to start |
| English level A2 | hold | held | held | to have in your hands |
| English level A1 | read/riːd/ | read/red/ | read/red/ | to look at words and understand themAll three forms are spelt the same but sound different: read /riːd/ — read /red/ — read /red/. |
| English level A1 | pay | paid | paid | to give money for |
| English level A1 | lose/luːz/ | lost/lɒst/ | lost/lɒst/ | to stop having; to be beaten |
| English level A1 | understand | understood | understood | to know the meaning of |
| English level A1 | meet | met | met | to come together with |
| English level A1 | sit | sat | sat | to rest on a seat |
| English level A1 | learn | learntalso learned | learntalso learned | to gain knowledge |
| English level A2 | stand | stood | stood | to be on your feet |
| English level A1 | speak | spoke | spoken | to talk |
| English level A2 | set | set | set | to put in place |
| English level A1 | win | won | won | to be first or best in a contest |
| English level B1 | lead/liːd/ | led/led/ | led/led/ | to guide or go firstThe past led sounds like the metal lead /led/, not like the verb lead /liːd/. |
| English level A2 | spend | spent | spent | to use money or time |
| English level A1 | buy/baɪ/ | bought/bɔːt/ | bought/bɔːt/ | to get by paying |
| English level A1 | send | sent | sent | to make something go somewhere |
| English level A2 | grow | grew | grown | to become bigger |
| English level A2 | build | built | built | to make by putting parts together |
| English level A2 | fall | fell | fallen | to drop down |
| English level A1 | break/breɪk/ | broke/brəʊk/ | broken/ˈbrəʊkən/ | to separate into pieces |
| English level A1 | cut | cut | cut | to divide with a knife |
| English level A1 | eat/iːt/ | ate/et/ | eaten/ˈiːtən/ | to take food |
| English level A2 | sell | sold | sold | to give in exchange for money |
| English level A1 | drive | drove | driven | to control a vehicle |
| English level A1 | hit | hit | hit | to touch something hard and fast |
| English level A2 | wear/weə/ | wore/wɔː/ | worn/wɔːn/ | to have clothes on |
| English level A2 | choose/tʃuːz/ | chose/tʃəʊz/ | chosen/ˈtʃəʊzən/ | to pick one |
| English level A1 | teach/tiːtʃ/ | taught/tɔːt/ | taught/tɔːt/ | to help someone learn |
| English level A1 | catch/kætʃ/ | caught/kɔːt/ | caught/kɔːt/ | to take hold of something moving |
| English level A2 | fight/faɪt/ | fought/fɔːt/ | fought/fɔːt/ | to struggle against |
| English level A2 | throw | threw | thrown | to send through the air |
| English level A2 | shoot | shot | shot | to fire a weapon |
| English level A1 | forget | forgot | forgotten | to fail to remember |
| English level B1 | deal | dealt | dealt | to handle; to give out cards |
| English level B1 | lie/laɪ/ | lay/leɪ/ | lain/leɪn/ | to be in a flat positionTwo different verbs share this spelling: lie / lay / lain means to rest flat, while lie / lied / lied means to tell an untruth. Its past, lay, is also the base form of lay — to put down. |
| English level A1 | draw/drɔː/ | drew/druː/ | drawn/drɔːn/ | to make a picture |
| English level B2 | seek/siːk/ | sought/sɔːt/ | sought/sɔːt/ | to look for |
| English level B2 | prove | proved | provedalso proven | to show to be true |
| English level A2 | hang | hung | hung | to attach at the top so it drops downUse hung in almost all meanings. Use hanged when a person is killed by hanging. |
| English level B1 | rise | rose | risen | to go up by itself |
| English level A1 | hurt | hurt | hurt | to cause pain |
| English level B1 | lay | laid | laid | to put down flatlay / laid / laid always takes an object. Do not confuse it with lie / lay / lain, to rest flat — whose past is also lay. |
| English level A1 | sleep | slept | slept | to rest with your eyes closed |
| English level A2 | beat | beat | beaten | to defeat; to hit repeatedlyThe past is beat, the same as the base form — never beated. The participle is beaten. |
| English level B1 | stick | stuck | stuck | to attach; to become fixed |
| English level A1 | sing | sang | sung | to make music with your voice |
| English level A1 | fly/flaɪ/ | flew/fluː/ | flown/fləʊn/ | to move through the air |
| English level A2 | shake | shook | shaken | to move quickly to and fro |
| English level A2 | shut | shut | shut | to close |
| English level A2 | hide | hid | hidden | to put out of sight |
| English level A1 | drink | drank | drunk | to take liquid |
| English level A2 | cost | cost | cost | to have as a price |
| English level A2 | feed | fed | fed | to give food to |
| English level B1 | strike | struck | struckalso stricken | to hit; to stop work in proteststricken — when someone or something is suddenly afflicted |
| English level A2 | blow | blew | blown | to move air |
| English level A2 | steal | stole | stolen | to take without permission |
| English level A2 | burn | burntalso burned | burntalso burned | to be on fire; to damage with fire |
| English level A1 | wake | wokealso waked | wokenalso waked | to stop sleepingwaked — less common |
| English level A1 | ride | rode | ridden | to travel on a horse or a bike |
| English level B1 | spread | spread | spread | to cover a wider area |
| English level A2 | lean | leantalso leaned | leantalso leaned | to bend from upright; to rest against |
| English level B1 | bear/beə/ | bore/bɔː/ | borne/bɔːn/ | to carry; to endureborn is for the passive of birth — She was born in London. Everywhere else the participle is borne. |
| English level B1 | bet | bet | bet | to risk money on a result |
| English level B2 | cast | cast | cast | to throw; to choose actors |
| English level A2 | smell | smeltalso smelled | smeltalso smelled | to notice with your nose |
| English level A2 | quit | quit | quit | to stop or leave |
| English level A2 | dig | dug | dug | to make a hole in the ground |
| English level B2 | tear/teə/ | tore/tɔː/ | torn/tɔːn/ | to pull apart |
| English level A2 | dream | dreamtalso dreamed | dreamtalso dreamed | to see images while asleep |
| English level B1 | swear/sweə/ | swore/swɔː/ | sworn/swɔːn/ | to promise; to use rude words |
| English level B2 | rid | rid | rid | to free from |
| English level B2 | bind | bound | bound | to tie together |
| English level B1 | light | litalso lighted | litalso lighted | to make something burn |
| English level B1 | bend | bent | bent | to make curved |
| English level A2 | ring | rang | rung | to make a bell sound |
| English level B1 | slide | slid | slid | to move smoothly over a surface |
| English level B1 | arise | arose | arisen | to happen; to come up |
| English level B1 | forgive | forgave | forgiven | to stop being angry with |
| English level B1 | swing | swung | swung | to move back and forth |
| English level B1 | spin | spun | spun | to turn round fast |
| English level B1 | split | split | split | to break along a line into parts |
| English level A2 | bite | bit | bitten | to cut with your teeth |
| English level B1 | overcome | overcame | overcome | to defeat a difficulty |
| English level B1 | wind/waɪnd/ | wound/waʊnd/ | wound/waʊnd/ | to turn or twistThe verb is said /waɪnd/, unlike the noun wind /wɪnd/. Its past, wound, is said /waʊnd/ — and the unrelated noun wound, an injury, is different again: /wuːnd/. |
| English level A2 | freeze | froze | frozen | to turn to ice |
| English level B1 | sink | sank | sunk | to go under water |
| English level A1 | swim | swam | swum | to move through water |
| English level B1 | sweep | swept | swept | to clean with a brush |
| English level B1 | upset | upset | upset | to make unhappy |
| English level B1 | flee | fled | fled | to run away from dangerNot to be confused with fly / flew / flown. |
| English level B2 | withdraw | withdrew | withdrawn | to take back or move away |
| English level B1 | shine/ʃaɪn/ | shone/ʃɒn/ | shone/ʃɒn/ | to give out lightshone is for light. When it means to polish, the verb is regular: shined. |
| English level B1 | lend | lent | lent | to give for a while |
| English level B1 | speed | spedalso speeded | spedalso speeded | to move very fast |
| English level B1 | spill | spiltalso spilled | spiltalso spilled | to let liquid fall out |
| English level B2 | rebuild | rebuilt | rebuilt | to build again |
| English level A2 | spell | speltalso spelled | speltalso spelled | to name the letters of a word |
| English level B1 | burst | burst | burst | to break open suddenly |
| English level B1 | bleed | bled | bled | to lose blood |
| English level B2 | leap | leaptalso leaped | leaptalso leaped | to jump |
| English level B2 | oversee | oversaw | overseen | to supervise |
| English level B2 | undertake | undertook | undertaken | to agree to do |
| English level B1 | spring | sprang | sprung | to jump up suddenly |
| English level B2 | forbid/fəˈbɪd/ | forbade/fəˈbæd/ | forbidden/fəˈbɪdən/ | to order not to do |
| English level B2 | spit | spatalso spit | spatalso spit | to force liquid from your mouthspit — especially in American English |
| English level B2 | thrive | thrivedalso throve | thrivedalso thriven | to grow well |
| English level B2 | strive | strovealso strived | strivenalso strived | to try very hard |
| English level B1 | shrink | shrank | shrunk | to become smaller |
| English level B1 | stink | stank | stunk | to smell bad |
| English level B1 | sting | stung | stung | to hurt with a sharp point |
| English level B1 | creep | crept | crept | to move slowly and quietly |
| English level B1 | kneel/niːl/ | knelt/nelt/also kneeled | knelt/nelt/also kneeled | to go down on your knees |
| English level B1 | weep | wept | wept | to cry |
| English level B1 | cling | clung | clung | to hold on tightly |
| English level B1 | fling | flung | flung | to throw with force |
| English level B1 | breed | bred | bred | to keep animals to produce young |
| English level B1 | awake | awoke | awoken | to wake up |
| English level B2 | mistake | mistook | mistaken | to take one thing for another |
| English level B2 | overtake | overtook | overtaken | to pass in front of |
| English level B2 | undo | undid | undone | to reverse an action; to unfasten |
| English level C1 | thrust | thrust | thrust | to push suddenly |
| English level C1 | tread/tred/ | trod/trɒd/ | trodden/ˈtrɒdən/also trod | to walk or step on |
| English level C1 | wring/rɪŋ/ | wrung/rʌŋ/ | wrung/rʌŋ/ | to twist to squeeze water out |
| English level B2 | weave | wove | woven | to make cloth from threads |
| English level B2 | grind | ground | ground | to crush into powder |
| English level C1 | forsake | forsook | forsaken | to abandon |
| English level B2 | shed | shed | shed | to let fall, such as leaves or tears |
| English level C1 | sling | slung | slung | to throw carelessly |
| English level C1 | stride | strode | stridden | to walk with long steps |
| English level B2 | string | strung | strung | to put on a string |
| English level B2 | swell | swelled | swollenalso swelled | to become bigger from injury or liquid |
| English level C1 | dwell | dweltalso dwelled | dweltalso dwelled | to live in a place |
| English level C1 | slay/sleɪ/ | slew/sluː/ | slain/sleɪn/ | to kill |
| English level C1 | slit | slit | slit | to make a long narrow cut |
| English level B2 | spoil | spoiltalso spoiled | spoiltalso spoiled | to ruin; to go bad |
| English level B2 | withhold | withheld | withheld | to refuse to give |
| English level B2 | withstand | withstood | withstood | to resist |
| English level B2 | uphold | upheld | upheld | to support or maintain |
| English level B2 | unwind | unwound | unwound | to relax; to undo a twist |
| English level B2 | foresee | foresaw | foreseen | to know in advance |
| English level B2 | overhear | overheard | overheard | to hear by accident |
| English level B2 | misunderstand | misunderstood | misunderstood | to get the wrong meaning |
| English level C1 | bid | bid | bid | to offer a price |
| English level C1 | shoe/ʃuː/ | shod/ʃɒd/ | shod/ʃɒd/ | to fit a horse with shoes |
| English level B2 | wet | wetalso wetted | wetalso wetted | to cover with liquid |
| English level B2 | knit | knittedalso knit | knittedalso knit | to make clothes from wool |
| English level B2 | broadcast | broadcastalso broadcasted | broadcastalso broadcasted | to send out on radio or TVbroadcasted — especially in American English |
| English level B2 | forecast | forecastalso forecasted | forecastalso forecasted | to predictforecasted — accepted but less common |
| English level B2 | retell | retold | retold | to tell again |
| English level B2 | outgrow | outgrew | outgrown | to grow beyond; to become too big for |
| English level B2 | sow/səʊ/ | sowed/səʊd/ | sown/səʊn/also sowed | to plant seeds |
| English level B2 | sew/səʊ/ | sewed/səʊd/ | sewn/səʊn/also sewed | to join with a needle and thread |
| English level B2 | mow/məʊ/ | mowed/məʊd/ | mown/məʊn/also mowed | to cut grass |
| English level C1 | wed | wedalso wedded | wedalso wedded | to marry |
Frequency source: verb lemmas in COCA