Irregular Verbs

All verbs in the English language have an infinitive form (the base form you find in the dictionary). To express the past tense and past participle, the ending of the infinitive form has to change. For most verbs, to create the past tense and past participles, we add "ed" or "d" to the end of the verb. But what about the verbs that do not follow this rule? These are known as irregular verbs, and there are around 200 of them in the English language!

Irregular Verbs Meaning

Irregular verbs refer to verbs that do not follow the expected conjugation pattern for the past tense and the past participle. Instead, each irregular verb is slightly different and has its own unique past tense form and past participles.

An example of an irregular verb is as follows:

The verb "to eat" is just one example of many different irregular verbs.

Fig. 1 - Both 'to eat' and 'to drink' are irregular verbs.

Check out the four types of irregular verbs below:

Types of Irregular Verbs

There are four types of irregular verbs, which are as follows:

1, Verbs with the same infinitive, past simple, and past participle form, e.g.,

2. Verbs with the same past simple and past participle form, e.g.,

3. Verbs with the same infinitive and past participle form, e.g.,

4. Verbs with different infinitive, past simple, and past participle forms, e.g.,

Irregular Verb Examples

Below are some examples of the different types of irregular verbs, including their infinitive, past simple, and past participle forms.

Let's start with the verbs that have the same infinitive form, past simple, and past participle:

Moving on to the verbs that have the same past simple and past participle:

Now the verbs that have the same infinitive form and past participle:

Lastly, the verbs that have different infinitive, past simple, and past participle forms:

Irregular Verb List English

Below is a list of some more irregular verbs. As you read through these, think about which type of irregular verb each word is.

• abide

• alight

• arise

• bend

• bind

• bust

• dig

• draw

• flee

• fling

• input

• knit

• read

• rise

• slit

• spit

• thrust

• tread

• understand

• unwind

• wear

• weave

• wind

• withdraw

• withhold

• withstand

• wring

Irregular Verb Tenses

Although only the past tense and past participle have been mentioned above, irregular verbs can be used in any tense - just like regular verbs. For example, we know that the past (simple) tense of "to eat" is "ate," and the past participle is "eaten." But what about all the other tenses and aspects? Check them out below:

Infinitive form: to eat

Present simple: eat/eats

Present progressive: am/are eating

Present perfect: have eaten

Present perfect progressive: have/has been eating

Past simple: ate

Past progressive: was/were eating

Past perfect: had eaten

Past perfect progressive: had been eating

Future simple: will/shall eat

Future progressive: will/shall be eating

Future perfect: will/shall have eaten

Future perfect progressive: will/shall have been eating

Irregular Verb Forms

Irregular verbs do not form the past tense or past participle by adding "ed" or "d" to the end of the verb. Irregular verbs are one of the most difficult parts of English grammar because they do not rely on a set rule. This often makes it difficult for English speakers (especially non-native speakers) to learn. So how can you learn the irregular verb forms if they all differ?

There may only be one way to learn them... Memorizing. This is often done through repetition but can be achieved in various different ways, depending on how you learn best. Below are some ways you could memorize irregular verb forms:

• Write out the verbs (e.g., make a list or a table)

• Recite the verbs aloud

• Try and use the verbs in your daily life (both written and spoken communication)

• Make up a catchy song (this may seem cheesy, but it can be an effective way to remember things!)

• Teach someone else

• Associate the verbs with visuals

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Unlike irregular verbs, regular verbs follow a standard pattern for the past tense and past participles. To make the past tense or past participle with a regular verb, the suffix "ed" or "d" is added to the end of the verb. For example, the past tense of "dance" is "danced," and the past participle is also "danced."

Fig. 2 - Both 'to jog' and 'to sprint' are regular verbs, whereas 'to run' is irregular.

Check out some more examples of regular verbs below:

As you can see, each regular verb ends in "ed" when expressing the past tense and past participle.