Irregular verbs refer to a word that does not form its simple past tense and the past participle by adding the usual -ed at the end of the verb.
Usually, irregular verbs only form in the past tense or past particle form, but there are also irregular verbs in the present tense. This makes it trickier to understand and use.
It’s essential to learn irregular verbs to improve your writing. Moreover, it also broadens your knowledge of how to use irregular words correctly. With the right knowledge, you can perform better at school and get higher marks in your English classes!
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What are irregular verbs?
For regular verbs, you write the simple past tense and the past participle by adding -ed to the base form of the verb. But for irregular verbs, the rules are different. It contrasts regular verbs because it does not form the simple past tense and past participle the same way.
Take a look at the table below to see a comparison between regular and irregular verbs:
| Regular Verb (Base Form) | Simple Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Count | Counted | Has counted |
| Irregular Verb (Base Form) | Simple Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Begin | Began | Begun |
Turning an irregular verb into its simple past tense and past participle can be complicated. Every irregular verb has its own set of rules. For instance, the simple past tense of the word take is took, and the past participle is taken.
There are certain irregular verbs that don’t follow this rule. For example, the word swim. Its simple past tense is swam while its past participle is swum.
There are also instances wherein the simple past tense and past participle of an irregular verb are the same. For example, the base form is fight. The simple past tense and past participle of that word is fought.
What are the rules of an Irregular Verb?
There is no universal pattern or general guide as to how we conjugate an irregular verb. But there are certain characteristics that you must look out for in an irregular verb. For instance, they do not end by adding -ed to the verb (fought, swam, ate, etc.).
There are also instances where a vowel becomes different from its base form. For example, froze comes from the base word freeze.
Some irregular verbs also adhere to a specific pattern depending on how they’re used. To familiarize yourself, you can start with reading irregular verb examples. It can be tricky to understand since the rules vary depending don’t the base word, so make sure to read thoroughly until the end.
Common rules of irregular verbs
When you look at irregular verbs, you’ll recognize certain patterns in particular words. For instance, you must change the vowel and add -en. Take a look at some examples:
Adding suffixes (-en, -ne, or -e) to the base word
| Irregular Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Forbid | Forbade | Forbidden |
| Give | Gave | Given |
| Freeze | Froze | Frozen |
There are also instances where the base word, past tense, and past participle don’t change. See the example on the table:
No changes in the word
| Irregular Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Cut | Cut | Cut |
| Hit | Hit | Hit |
| Hurt | Hurt | Hurt |
Difference between regular and irregular verbs
It’s essential to understand the difference between regular verbs and irregular verbs. They differ in use and follow different structures and rules.
What are regular verbs?
Regular verbs are common and are a lot easier to follow than irregular verbs. For instance, if you want to form the past tense and the past participle of a regular verb, you simply add a suffix. Usually, you add the suffix -ed to the base form. If the base form ends with the letter E, you simply add the letter -d. See some examples in the table below:
Examples of regular verbs
Regular verbs in English are easier to understand with examples. Take a look at the table below to get familiar with regular verbs:
| Regular Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Adopt | Adopted | Adopted |
| Allow | Allowed | Allowed |
| Borrow | Borrowed | Borrowed |
| Collect | Collected | Collected |
| Earn | Earned | Earned |
| Kick | Kicked | Kicked |
| Laugh | Laughed | Laughed |
| Pray | Prayed | Prayed |
| Return | Returned | Returned |
What are irregular verbs?
We already covered irregular verbs in the earlier sections. What’s important to note is that an irregular verb doesn’t follow the same rules as a regular verb. Once you see start seeing patterns in irregular verbs, that’s when it becomes easier to use irregular verbs! Remember to take note of the vowel changes, spelling, and suffixes added at the base form.
Examples of irregular verbs
Take a look at the table below to see common irregular words and understand how irregular verbs are constructed:
| Irregular Verbs | Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Give | Gave | Given |
| Ride | Rode | Ridden |
| Buy | Bought | Bought |
| Fly | Flew | Flown |
| Know | Knew | Known |
| Arise | Arose | Arisen |
It’s necessary to know what makes a verb irregular to practice correct grammar in your writing. Once you get well-versed in using this, you’ll become a better writer and better communicator in the future! Try these Top 6 English Grammar Apps for Kids 4-11 to improve your child’s grammar skills.
Irregular verbs in the past tense
For the simple past tense of an irregular verb, it’s common to only change the vowel or a pair of vowels. For example, run becomes ran. You’ll see more examples of this later on.
There are also irregular verbs where you must change the vowel plus add a new ending to the verb. A great example of this is transforming the word eat to ate.
Depending on the word, the simple past tense if an irregular verb changes the last letter of the base word. For instance, sleep becomes slept, and the word weep becomes wept. In some cases, you can add -d at the end of the word like the word sold for sell.
Irregular verbs in the past participle
To form irregular verbs in the past participle, you may have to change the vowel of the base word or add a new ending to the verb. In some cases, you have to do both. In a past participle, the ending and vowel are usually different from the simple past tense form.
List of irregular verbs
One of the most important words to remember is the word be. It can be tricky to use this word but it’s very common across all forms of writing. It also doesn’t follow the usual pattern for past tense or past participle. It’s even challenging to use in the present tense. The verb be has many forms. Take a look at the guide below on how to use these various forms:
| Form | Tense | Example |
| be | Infinitive | Lisa wants to be a teacher. |
| am | Present tense | I am a teacher. |
| is | Present tense | Lisa is a teacher. |
| are | Present tense | Lisa and Jennie are teachers. |
| was | Past tense | Lisa was a teacher. |
| were | Past tense | Lisa and Jennie were teachers. |
| been | Past participle | Lisa has always been a great teacher. |
| being | Present participle | No one can stop Lisa from being a great teacher. |
Common Irregular Verbs
Here’s a table of the most common examples of irregular verbs in the English language:
| Irregular Verb | Simple Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Swim | Swam | Swum |
| Drink | Drank | Drunk |
| Fight | Fought | Fought |
| Begin | Began | Begun |
| Eat | Ate | Eaten |
| Fall | Fell | Fallen |
| Ride | Rode | Ridden |
| Ring | Rang | Rung |
| Rise | Rose | Risen |
| Run | Ran | Run |
| Forget | Forgot | Forgotten |
| Forgive | Forgave | Forgiven |
| Freeze | Froze | Frozen |
| Get | Got | Gotten |
| Sing | Sang | Sung |
| Do | Did | Done |
| Draw | Drew | Drawn |
| Bite | Bit | Bitten |
| Break | Broke | Broken |
| Speak | Spoke | Spoken |
| Hide | Hid | Hidden |
| Write | Wrote | Written |
| Wear | Wore | Worn |
| Throw | Threw | Thrown |
| Shake | Shook | Shaken |
| Tear | Tore | Torn |
| Catch | Caught | Caught |
| Sit | Sat | Sat |
| Lose | Lost | Lost |
| Beat | Beat | Beaten |
| Bind | Bound | Bound |
| Bleed | Bled | Bled |
| Lie | Lay | Lain |
| Hang | Hung | Hung |
| See | Saw | Seen |
| Blow | Blew | Blown |
| Cut | Cut | Cut |
| Deal | Dealt | Dealt |
| Forbid | Forbade | Forbidden |
| Shoot | Shot | Shot |
Knowing how to use irregular verbs empowers your writing skills as a student. If you want to unleash more of your skills, all it takes is a lot of practice! You can try comprehension strategies that would make you a better reader and read more books. Try our tutor-led creative writing courses & classes to enhance your writing skills.
