Irregular English verbs in s. Irregular English verbs

The verb is the king of the English language. Even the shortest sentence always contains a verb. Conversely, a verb can be used to form a one-word sentence, for example “ Stop!” (“Stop!”).

Verbs are sometimes called "action words." This is partly true. Many verbs convey the idea of action, of “doing” something—for example, “ run” (run), “ fight” (fight), “ do" (do), " work" (work).

But some verbs mean not action, but existence, not “doing,” but “being.” These are verbs like “ be" (be), " exist" (exist), " seem” (seem) “ belong”(belong).

A subject is attached to a verb as a predicate. So, in the sentence “ Mary speaks English” (“Mary speaks English”) Mary is the subject and the verb speaks - predicate.

Thus, we can say that verbs are words that explain what the subject does ( does) or what/what is ( is), and describe:

action (" John plays football” - “John plays football”);
state (" Ashley seems kind” - “Ashley seems kind”).

Verbs in English have one peculiarity. Most words in other parts of speech - , etc. - do not change (although nouns have singular and plural forms). But almost all verbs change according to grammatical forms. For example, the verb “ to work” (“work”) five forms:

to work, work, works, worked, working

Note, however, that this is not much compared to languages in which one verb can have 30 or more forms (for example, Hungarian) - if you have started learning verbs in , you can breathe a sigh of relief.

100 main verbs in English

Below is a list of 100 basic English verbs. It will be useful to first learn these most popular verbs in the English language. The verbs in the table are given in descending order of frequency of use:

Basic verb form	Verb in past tense (Simple Past)	Past participle (Past Participle)

have (to have)
do (to do)
say (speak)

get (receive)
make (to do)
know (know)
think (think)
take (take)
see (to see)
come (to come)
want (want)
use (use)
find (find)
give (give)
tell (tell)
work (work)
call (call; call)
try (try)
ask (ask; ask)
need (need)
feel
become (become)
leave (leave)
put (put; put)
mean (mean)
keep (keep)
let (allow)
begin (start)
seem (seem)
help (help)
show (show)
hear (hear)
play (play)
run (run)
move (move)

believe (believe)
bring (bring)
happen (happen)
write (write)
sit (sit)
stand (stand)
lose (lose)
pay (pay)
meet (meet)
include (include)
continue (continue)
set (set)
learn (learn)	learned/learned	learned/learned
change
lead (lead)
understand
watch (watch)
follow
stop (stop)
create (create)
speak (speak)

spend (spend)
grow (grow)
open (open)

win (to win)
teach (teach)
offer (offer)
remember (remember)

appear (appear)
buy (buy)
serve (serve)
die (to die)
send (send)
build (build)
stay (stay)
fall (fall)
cut (to cut)
reach (reach)
kill (kill)
raise (raise)
pass (pass)
sell (sell)

To successfully learn a foreign language, it is necessary to lay a certain foundation consisting of basic skills. In addition to vocabulary and developed pronunciation, this basis also includes grammatical knowledge. Undoubtedly, the most important thing for English grammar is the system of tenses and verb forms, without the knowledge of which not a single sentence can be constructed. Today, while studying the topic, we will combine a set of vocabulary with mastering grammar, as we will analyze one of the most necessary basic concepts - irregular verbs of the English language. Let's look at the essence of the phenomenon, and also provide a list of all the necessary words with transcription and translation into Russian.

In order to answer the question posed in the title, let’s take a short excursion into theory.

English verbs have several basic forms that help form tense aspects:

Infinitive - it’s the initial, dictionary form. ().
Past indefinite – a form for expressing past events. According to the rule, it is formed by adding the ending –ed to the infinitive. ().
Past participle – a form necessary for the formation of perfect tenses and passive voices. According to grammatical norms, it must coincide with the previous category, i.e. also add –ed. ().
Active participle – it is not always distinguished as a separate form, but it should be noted that these are verbs with the ending –ing, which are used in the tenses of the continuous group. ()

Today we are interested in the second and third items of the list, since they are responsible for the correctness or incorrectness of the verb. We have already noted that the general rule for forming past forms is to add the ending -ed. But, due to historical reasons, established language clichés do not always correspond to the norms, and it is much easier to accept exceptions than to try to change the established way of life. That is why there is such a thing as irregular verbs in the English language. English grammar calls this phenomenon irregular verbs.

Irregular verbs include those verbs in which the past tense form is not formed according to the general rule, that is, they are characterized by an atypical conjugation. Such verb forms have to be learned by heart, since they are individual for each case. It is noteworthy that the proportion of irregular English verbs used in speech is about 70%. This means that only 30% of all frequently used verbs obey the general rule.

This concludes the theory and moves on to the practical part, in which we will consider examples of irregular verbs in the English language with translation and transcription. This will allow you to combine learning vocabulary and working with pronunciation.

Learning irregular verbs in English

You're probably wondering how many irregular verbs you have to learn in English? We hasten to surprise you, because you probably didn’t expect to see such a number: there are over 450 representatives of the irregular type of formation of past forms. But don’t worry, we won’t learn the full list of irregular verbs, since more than half of the words in it have long been out of use in the modern language. There are approximately two hundred actively used words left, which we will divide into even smaller groups in order to master the material gradually.

The first 50 words for beginners

For beginners learning the language, it will be enough to familiarize themselves with a very small list of the most common verbs. This minimum will be enough for you to work with simple sentences in English. So that during training you do not have to be distracted by other rules, next to the example we will indicate how the word is read in English, and also roughly explain which Russian sounds correspond to English letters. Russian transcription will be presented only in this section, since further study requires a higher level of knowledge of a foreign language.

Top 50 irregular verbs
Forms*	Transcriptions	Russian pronunciation	Translation
be – was/were – been		[bi – uoz/uyer – bin]	be
begin – began – began		[bigIn – bigEn – bigAn]	start off
break – broke – broken		[break – brouk – broken]	break
bring – brought – brought		[bring – brought – brought]	bring
build-built-built		[build – build – build]	build
buy – bought – bought		[bye – boot – boot]	buy
catch – caught – caught		[ketch – koot – koot]	catch
come – came – come		[kam - keim -kam]	come
cut – cut – cut		[cat – cat – cat]	cut
do – did – done		[duu – did – dan]	do
drink – drank – drunk		[drink – drank – drank]	drink
drive – driven – driven		[drive – drow – driven]	drive
eat – ate – eaten		[iit – et – iitn]	eat
fall – fell – fallen		[fool – fal – foolen]	fall
feel – felt – felt		[fiil – felt – felt]	feel
find – found – found		[find – found – found]	find
fly – flew – flown		[fly – flow – flow]	fly
forget – forgot – forgotten		[fogEt – fogOt – fogOtn]	forget
get - got - got		[get – goth – goth]	receive
give – gave – given		[give – gave – gIvan]	give
go – went – gone		[go – vent – gon]	go
have – had – had		[have – head – head]	have
hear – heard – heard		[heer – hurd – hurd]	hear
hold – held – held		[hold – held – held]	hold
keep – kept – kept		[kip – capt – capt]	hold
know – knew – known		[no – new – noun]	know
leave – left – left		[liiv – left – left]	leave
let – let – let		[let – let – let]	let
lie-lay-lain		[bark - lay - lane]	lie
lose – lost – lost		[luuz – lost – lost]	lose
make – made – made		[make – made – made]	do
mean – meant – meant		[miin – ment – ment]	to mean
meet – met – met		[miit – mat – mat]	meet
pay – paid – paid		[pay – pay – pay]	to pay
put – put – put		[put – put – put]	put
read – read – read		[read–red–red]	read
run - run - run		[ran – ren – ran]	run
say – said – said		[say – sed – sed]	speak
see – saw – seen		[si – sou – siin]	see
show – shown – shown	[ʃou – ʃoud – ʃoun]	[show – shoud – shown]	show
sit – sat – sat		[sit – set – set]	sit
sleep – slept – slept		[slip – slapt – slapt]	sleep
speak – spoken – spoken		[speek – spoke – spooken]	speak
stand – stood – stood		[stand – stud – stud]	stand
take – took – taken		[take – knock – takeken]	take
tell – told – told		[tel – tould –tould]	tell
think – thought – thought	[θɪŋk – θɔ:t – θɔ:t]	[son – sout – sout]	think
understand – understood – understood	[ʌndər ‘stænd – ʌndər ‘stʊd – ʌndər ‘stʊd]	[andestand – andestud – andestud]	understand
win – won – won		[win – one – one]	win
write – written – written		[right – route – ritn]	write

Other English topics: What is the difference between the verbs make and do - usage, phrases and phrases

*The column shows the three main forms of the verb in the following order:

infinitive;
past indefinite (Past Indefinite/Simple);
past participle (Participle II).

Now you are familiar with the most commonly used irregular verbs in the English language. This list of words can be easily printed and memorized at any convenient time. Replenish your knowledge gradually; you don’t need to immediately load yourself with large amounts of information. Since the table contains many basic verbs, there will be no difficulties in learning the words, because in practice they are used in every second text or dialogue.

Top 100 – intermediate level vocabulary

If you are already confident in using the verbs you have learned, then it is time to move to the next level of knowledge and discover new irregular English verbs.

In this section we will continue to study the most commonly used irregular verbs, with another table to help us. It contains the same number of words arranged in alphabetical order as the first one, but in it we will no longer give the approximate Russian sound: the English transcription will help you understand how to pronounce the word. We hope you have already studied the material on how transcription signs are used. So, let's continue our work: we'll study just 50 more words and get the top 100 irregular verbs.

Forms	Transcriptions	Translation
arise – arose – arisen	[ə’raiz – ə’rəuz – ə’riz(ə)n]	arise, rise
awake – awoke – awoken	[ə`waɪk – ə`woʊk – ə`woʊkn]	wake up, wake up
bear – bore – born		carry, bear, give birth
become – became – become		become
bind – bound – bound		bind
bite – bit – bitten		bite, bite
blow – blew – blown		blow
burn – burnt – burnt		burn, burn
choose – chose – chosen		choose
cost – cost – cost		cost
creep – crept – crept		crawl, crawl
deal – dealt – dealt		deal, trade
dig-dag-dag		dig, dig
draw – drew – drown		paint
dream – dream – dream		dream, dream
fight – fought – fought		fight, fight, fight
feed – fed – fed		feed
forgive – forgave – forgiven		forgive, forgive
freeze – froze – frozen		freeze, freeze
grow – grown – grown		grow, grow
hang – hung – hunger *		hang, hang
hide-hid-hidden		hide, hide, hide
hurt – hurt – hurt		offend, injure, harm
lead – led – led		lead, lead
learn – learn – learn		study, teach
lend – tape – tape		lend, lend
ride – rode – ridden		ride a horse
ring – rang – rung		call, ring
rise – rose – risen		rise, ascend
seek – sought – sought		search
sell – sold – sold		sell
set – set – set		put, install
shake – shook – shaken	[ʃeɪk – ʃʊk – ʃeɪkən]	shake, shake
shine – shone –shone	[ʃaɪn – ʃoʊn – ʃoʊn]	shine, shine, sparkle
shut – shut – shut	[ʃʌt – ʃʌt – ʃʌt]	close
sing-sang-sung		sing
slide – slide – slide		slide
smell – smelt – smelt		smell, sniff
spend – spell – spell		spend, squander
steal – stole – stolen		steal, steal
swim – swam – swum		swim
swing – swung – swung		sway
teach – taught – taught		teach, train
tear – tore – torn		tear, tear, tear
throw – thrown – thrown	[θroʊ – θru: – θroʊn]	throw, throw, throw
upset – upset – upset	[ʌp’set – ʌp’set – ʌp’set]	upset, upset; overturn
wake – woke – woken		wake up, wake up
wear – wore – worn		wear, dress
weep – wept – wept		cry, sob
wet – wet – wet		wet, moisten, moisten

*Important note for translators: this verb has two meanings. The forms given in the table indicate expressions used with translation "hang, hang things." A rarer context is hanging as an execution, to hang a criminal. In such a situation, this English verb behaves as if it were correct, i.e. attaches the ending –ed: hang – hanged – hanged.

So, we have looked at all the main and popular irregular verbs in the English language, and congratulations! Don’t try to master the entire stock of new words at once, as you will only become more confused about forms and meanings. For effective and quick memorization, we suggest printing out the given material, dividing the verbs into groups for easy perception, and making cards with the spelling of the English word and the Russian translation. This method successfully helps most students learn the inflection of irregular verbs.

If you have already mastered the most common verbs of the English language with transcription, we invite you to expand your horizons even more and look into the less popular, but still common, use of irregular words in speech.

Rare but necessary verbs

The list of irregular verbs in English that we have studied already has a hundred examples. This, as we have already noted, is approximately half of the active vocabulary of a modern Englishman on the topic of irregular verbs. The use of the following hundred words is certainly not something you encounter every day. But, firstly, they are often included in standard tests and tasks to confirm the level of language proficiency, and secondly, it is better to know rare grammatical points of the language than to misunderstand something and get into an awkward situation. So, let's study rare, but necessary, irregular verbs in English with translation and transcription.

Forms	Transcriptions	Translation
abide – abode/abided – abode/abided	[əˈbaɪd – əˈbəʊd/əˈbaɪdɪd – əˈbəʊd/əˈbaɪdɪd]	withstand, endure, endure; abide
backbite – backbitten – backbitten	[ˈbækbaɪt – ˈbækbɪtən – ˈbækbɪtən]	slander
backslide – backslide – backslide	[ˈbækslaɪd – bækˈslɪd – bækˈslɪd]	retreat, refuse
beat – beat – beaten		beat
befall – befell – befallen		happen, happen
beget – begot/begat – begotten		generate, produce
begird – begirt – begirt		gird
behold – beheld – beheld		see
bend – bent – bent		bend
bereave – bereft/bereaved – bereft/bereaved		deprive, take away
beseech – besought – besought		beg, beg
beset – beset – beset		besiege, surround
speak – bespoke – bespoken		order, secure
bespit – bespat – bespat		spit
bet – bet – bet	[ˈbet – ˈbet – ˈbet]	bet, bet
betake – betook – betaken		accept, resort, go
bid – bid/bade – bidden		order, ask, set a price
bleed – bleed – bleed		bleed
breed – bred – bred		multiply, grow, produce
broadcast – broadcast – broadcast	[ˈbrɔːdkɑːst – ˈbrɔːdkɑːst – ˈbrɔːdkɑːst]	broadcast (television/radio broadcasting)
browbeat – browbeat – browbeaten	[ˈbraʊbiːt – ˈbraʊbiːt – ˈbraʊbiːtən]	intimidate, intimidate
burst – burst – burst		explode, explode, explode
bust – bust/busted – bust/busted		demote, destroy, go bankrupt, ruin
cast – cast – cast		throw, pour metal
chide – chid – chid		scold
cleave – cleft – cleft		to split, to cut
cling – clung – clung		cling, cling
dwell – dwelt – dwelt		to dwell, reside, linger
flee – fled – fled		run away, save yourself
fling – flung – flung		rush
forbear – forbore – forborne		refrain
forbid – forbad – forbidden		prohibit
forecast – forecast – forecast	[ˈfɔːkɑːst – ˈfɔːkɑːst – ˈfɔːkɑːst]	predict, prognosticate
foresee – foresaw – foreseen		foresee
forsake – forsook – forsaken		leave, leave
forswear – forswore – forsworn		renounce
gainsay – gainsaid – gainsaid	[ˌɡeɪnˈseɪ – ˌɡeɪnˈsed – ˌɡeɪnˈsed]	deny, contradict
gild – gilt/gilded – gilt/gilded	[ɡɪld – ɡɪlt/ ˈɡɪldɪd – ɡɪlt/ ˈɡɪldɪd]	gild, gild
grind – ground – ground	[ɡraɪnd – ɡraʊnd – ɡraʊnd]	grind, rub, grind
heave – heaved/hove – heaved/hove		pull, lift, move
hew – hewed – hewn		cut down, hew
hit – hit – hit		hit, strike, hit
inlay – inlaid – inlaid	[ɪnˈleɪ – ɪnˈleɪd – ɪnˈleɪd]	put in, insert
input – input – input	[ˈɪnpʊt – ˈɪnpʊt – ˈɪnpʊt]	enter data
interweave – interwove – interwoven	[ˌɪntəˈwiːv – ˌɪntəˈwəʊv – ˌɪntəˈwəʊvən]	to weave, intertwine
kneel – knelt – knelt		kneel
knit – knit – knit		to knit
lade – laded – laden/laded		load, upload
lean – leant – leant		lean, lean, lean against
leap – leapt – leapt		jump, gallop
light – lit – lit		illuminate
misdeal – misdealt – misdealt	[ˌmɪsˈdiːl – ˌmɪsˈdelt – ˌmɪsˈdelt]	act/do wrong
misgive – misgave – misgiven	[ˌmɪsˈɡɪv – ˌmɪsˈɡeɪv – ˌmɪsˈɡɪvən]	create fear
mow–mowed–mount		mow, reap (cereals)
outbid – outbid – outbid		surpass, outbid
plead – plead – plead		go to court
prove – proved – proved/proven		prove, confirm
quit – quit – quit		throw, leave
rebind – rebound – rebound	[ˌriːˈbaɪnd – rɪˈbaʊnd – rɪˈbaʊnd]	rebind, rebind
rent – rent – rent		to tear apart, to tear off
rid – rid – rid		liberate, liberate
sew – sewed – sewn/sewed		sew
shear – sheared – shorn	[ʃɪə – ʃɪəd – ʃɔːn]	cut, cut off
shed – shed – shed	[ʃed – ʃed – ʃed]	spill, lose
shoe – shod – shod	[ʃuː – ʃɒd – ʃɒd]	shoe, shoe
shoot – shot – shot	[ʃuːt – ʃɒt – ʃɒt]	shoot, shoot
shred – shred – shred	[ʃred – ʃred – ʃred]	to crush, to shred, to crumble
shrink – shrank – shrunk	[ʃrɪŋk – ʃræŋk – ʃrʌŋk]	shrink, shrink
shrive – shrove/shrived – shriven/shrived	[ʃraɪv – ʃrəʊv/ʃraɪvd – ˈʃrɪvən/ʃraɪvd]	confess, forgive sins
slay-slew-slain		kill
sling – slung – slung		hang up, throw
slink-slunk-slunk		sneak, sneak away
slit – slit – slit		cut lengthwise
smite – smote – smitten		hit, beat, strike
sow – sowed – sow		sow
speed – sped – sped		drive, rush
spill – spill – spill		shed
spin – spun/span – spun		twist, twirl, spin
spit – spat/spit – spat/spit		spit
split – split – split		split
spoil – spoilt – spoilt		spoil
spread – spread – spread		distribute
spring – sprang – sprung		jump, jump
stick – stuck – stuck		glue
sting – stung – stung		sting
strew – strewed – strewn		sprinkle, sprinkle
stride – strode – stridden		step
strike – struck – struck		strike, strike
strive – strove – striven		try, fight
swear – swore – sworn		to swear
sweep – swept – swept		sweep
swell – swelled – swollen		swell
thrust – thrust – thrust	[θrʌst – θrʌst – θrʌst]	push, poke
tread – trod – trod/trodden		step
waylay – waylayd – waylayd	[ˌweɪˈleɪ – ˌweɪˈleɪd – ˌweɪˈleɪd]	lie in wait
weave – wove/ weaved – woven/ weaved		weave
wed – wed –wed		marry
wind – wound – wound		wind up (mechanism)
work – worked(wrought) * – worked(wrought)	[ˈwɜːk – wɜːkt/ ˈrɔːt – wɜːkt/ ˈrɔːt]	work
wring – wrung – wrung		squeeze, twist, compress

Other English topics: Phrasal verb give: variety of combinations and meanings

*wrought – a very outdated book form, shown in the table for informational purposes only. In modern English its use is neither practiced nor recommended.

Now we can actually claim to have studied all the irregular verbs in modern English. Since the remaining words, in most cases, are derivatives of already learned verbs. For example, we looked at the word understand. When we encounter the same expression, but with a negative prefix - misunderstand, we will already know that its forms will become misunderstood/misunderstood.

That's all, learn irregular verbs in English, work with translation and transcription, and don't rush to memorize everything at once. It’s better to study a few words a day than to struggle with a huge list and worry about not remembering it. Good luck in your practice!

Irregular Verbs in English, these are verbs that have special forms (Past Simple) and (Past Participle). Among them there are both very common ones (feel - to feel, speak - to speak) and rare ones (cleave - to cut, forswear - to renounce). The tables below show common irregular verbs.

Read also:

Despite the fact that irregular verbs change in a special way, they still have some regularity. In the table below, the verbs are given with translation and transcription and are distributed based on the coincidence of forms:

Verbs AAA - all three forms are the same (cut - cut - cut, cut).
ABA verbs – the 1st and 3rd forms coincide (run – ran – run, run).
Verbs ABC – the 2nd and 3rd forms coincide (teach – taught – taught, teach).
ABC verbs – all forms are different (know – knew – known, know).

Inside the table, words are distributed not alphabetically, but by frequency, i.e. the higher the word, the more often it is used. Attached to the tables pdf files– you can print them out, stick them on cardboard and cut out cards for learning words.

AAA verbs: the same in three forms Download PDF
Translation	Infinitive	Past Simple	Past Participle
put	put	put	put
let	let	let	let
cut	cut	cut	cut
put (install)	set	set	set
bet	bet	bet	bet
throw (cast metal)	cast	cast	cast
cost	cost	cost	cost
beat	hit	hit	hit
to cause a pain	hurt	hurt	hurt
to knit	knit	knit	knit
stop	quit	quit	quit
distribute	spread	spread	spread
ABA type verbs: forms 1 and 3 match
run	run	ran	run
come	come	came	come
become	become	became	become
Verbs like ABB: forms 2 and 3 match
read	read	read	read
teach (gain knowledge)	learn	learn (learned)	learn (learned)
think	think [θiŋk]	thought [θɔ:t]	thought [θɔ:t]
teach (educate)	teach	taught	taught
smell (smell)	smell	smelt	smelt
hear	hear	heard	heard
hold	hold	held	held
bring	bring	brought	brought
stand	stand	stood	stood
lose (lose)	lose	lost	lost
meet	meet	met	met
lead	lead	led	led
understand	understand [ʌndə’stænd]	understood [ʌndə’stud]	understood [ʌndə’stud]
win	win	won	won
buy	buy	bought	bought
send	send	sent	sent
sell	sell	sold	sold
catch	catch	caught	caught kɔ:t]
fight	fight	fought	fought
put (lay)	lay	laid	laid
sit	sit	sat	sat
bind	bind	bound	bound
bleed	bleed	bled	bled
build	build	built	built
burn	burn	burnt	burnt
deal with	deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dig	dug	dug
feed	feed	fed	fed
hang	hang	hung	hung
hide	hide	hid	hidden [‘hɪdn]
lean	lean	lean (leaned)	lean (leaned)
lend (to someone)	lend	tape	tape
illuminate	light	lit	lit
ride	ride	rode	ridden [‘rɪdn]
sew	sew	sewed	sewed (sewn)
spell or spell	spell	spelled	spelled
shed	spill	spilt	spilt
spit	spit	spat (spit)	spat (spit)
spoil	spoiler	spoilt	spoilt
stick	stick	stuck	stuck
strike	strike	struck	struck
sweep	sweep	swept	swept
cry	weep	wept	wept
twist	wind	wound	wound
Verbs likeABC: all forms are different
go	go	went	gone
know	know	knew	known
take	take	took	taken [‘teik(ə)n]
see	see	saw	seen
give	give	gave	given
write	write	wrote	written [‘ritn]
speak	speak	spoke	spoken [‘spouk(e)n]
drive a car	drive	drove	driven [‘drivn]
break	break	broke	broken [‘brouk(e)n]
wear clothes)	wear	wore	worn
There is	eat	ate	eaten [‘i:tn]
drink	drink	drank	drunk
draw (draw)	draw	drew	drawn
steal	steal	stole	stolen [‘stəulən]
throw	throw [θrəu]	threw [θru:]	thrown [θrəun]
blow	blow	blew	blown
fall	fall	fell	fallen [‘fɔ:lən]
start off	begin	began	begun
forget	forget	forgot	forgotten
forgive	forgive	forgave	forgiven
fly	fly	flew	flown
freeze (freeze)	freeze	froze	frozen [‘frouzn]
grow	grow	grew	grown
call	ring	rank	rung
shake	shake [ʃeik]	shook [ʃuk]	shaken [‘ʃeik(ə)n]
sing	sing	sang	sung
stink	stink	stank (stunk)	stunk
try	strive	strove	striven [‘strɪvn]
to swear	swear	swore	sworn
tear	tear	tore	torn
wake	wake	woke up	woken [‘wouk(e)n]

Pay attention to the words read And wind. In the 2nd and 3rd forms read is read as . And the verb wind - to twist, should not be confused with the noun wind - wind.

The ten most basic irregular verbs

Among the commonly used irregular verbs we can distinguish the most basic. You need to know them first. Start learning verbs from them, and not in alphabetical order. You can learn them in literally 5 – 10 minutes.

Translation	Infinitive (1st form)	Past Simple (2nd form)	Past Participle (3rd form)
go	go	went	gone
know	know	knew	known
think	think [θiŋk]	thought [θɔ:t]	thought [θɔ:t]
take	take	took	taken [‘teik(ə)n]
see	see	saw	seen
give	give	gave	given
write	write	wrote	written [‘ritn]
speak	speak	spoke	spoken [‘spouk(e)n]
hear	hear	heard	heard
buy	buy	bought	bought

These verbs need to be learned first

Notes:

Over time, some verbs have almost turned from irregular to regular. For example, even in not very old textbooks it is written that the verb to work– irregular, it has the forms: work – wrought – wrought. Now the form wrought is hardly used except in established expressions like “wrought iron,” so I have not included it in this table.
Verbs to learn(learn), to lean(lean) are also more often used as correct: learned, leaned, especially in the USA.
Pay attention to the forms read – read – read. The word is written the same, but read differently.
Don't confuse the verb wind(twist) and noun wind- wind. They are spelled the same, but have different pronunciation and meanings.
In the British version the verbs sew pronounced like

Our topic today is getting to know such an interesting phenomenon as forms of irregular verbs. As you know, the English language is very cunning. This language often lays all sorts of traps for us. One of them is irregular verbs. English is not the only language that has irregular verbs. The French language is also rich in irregular verbs.

Irregular English verbs have three or four forms?

Romanian language, German language, Latin language, Greek language also contain irregular verbs. And even the Russian language is replete with them. I think you have repeatedly heard about irregular verbs in English, in other words Irregular Verbs. Why are such verbs called irregular? It's very simple: in the past tense they are conjugated in their own way, have their own special form, while all other verbs in the past tense have an ending -ed.

For comparison, let's conjugate 3 regular regular verbs in the Past Simple:

*Work -* ra		sing
I worked	I translated	I managed
You worked	You translated	You managed
He worked	He translated	He managed
She worked	She translated	She managed
It worked	It translated	It managed
We worked	We translated	We managed
They worked	They translated	They managed

As you can see, all 3 verbs are conjugated the same way, according to the pattern of stem + ending -ed.

The situation is completely different in the case of irregular verbs. Let's conjugate 3 more verbs in the simple past tense (Past Simple), which are irregular, and here pay attention to the fact that each of these verbs has its own, completely different form at the end or even at the root of the word:

*Blow* blow	*Go -* go	*Bring -* bring
I blew	I went	I brought
You blew	You went	You brought
He blew	He went	He brought
She blew	She went	She brought
It blew	It went	It brought
We blew	We went	We brought
They blew	They went	They brought

Even the naked eye can see that each of these verbs appeared in its own form, completely different from the others. The catch is that there is no specific rule by which you can find out the form of an irregular verb. Each of them is conjugated differently. The English language, friends, is full of tricks and underwater reefs. Another catch is that each irregular verb has not one form, but three.

Three forms of irregular verbs

So what are these three forms?

The first is the infinitive or initial (indefinite) form of the verb
The second is Past Participle I, that is, the form that corresponds to the simple past tense (Past Simple), it is also used in the 2nd and 3rd cases of the conditional mood (Conditional of the 2-d and of the 3-d case)
The third is Past Participle II, the one that is used in the present perfect tense (Present Perfect) and in the long past tense (Past Perfect). The same form is used in the passive voice (Passive Voice), in the conditional mood of the 3-d case and some other grammatical rules.

Here are some examples of 3 forms of irregular verbs:

To arise - arose - arisen - to rise
To be - was, were - been - to be
To bear - bore - born - to give birth
To become - became - become - become, become
To begin - began - began - to begin
To catch - caught - caught - to catch, to catch
To choose - chose - chosen - to choose
To dig - dug - dug - dig, dig
To dream - dreamt - dreamt - dream, dream
To feel - felt - felt - to feel
To forget - forgot - forgotten - to forget
To have - had - had - to have

Now let’s look at these 3 forms using example sentences in all of the above verb tenses.

So, the simple past tense of the verb (Past Simple Tense):

Yesterday she felt herself bad ( to feel). — Yesterday she felt bad. Last Wednesday we met Jim ( to meet). — Last Wednesday we met Jim. Last night I dream you ( to dream). “Last night I dreamed about you.” I was in Paris last year ( to be) — I was in Paris last year.

Present Perfect Tense:

I have just seen him ( to see). - I just saw him. Tom has already brought my books ( to bring). — Tom has already brought my books. Have you ever been in London ( to be)? - Have you ever been in London? Ann has already forgotten her boy-friend ( to forget).- Anna has already forgotten her boyfriend.

Past Perfect Tense:

I noticed that I had forgotten my keys ( to forget). — I noticed that I forgot my keys. He understood that he had lost his documents ( to lose). — He realized that he had lost his documents.

Passive Voice:

The dog is fed by me ( to feed). — The dog was fed by me (I fed the dog). Made in France ( to make). - Made in France.

Conditional mood of the 2nd and 3rd cases (Conditional). The second and third forms appear here:

If I had money, I would buy a car ( to have). — If I had money, I would buy a car (real condition). If I had money, I would have bought a car ( to have, to buy).- If I had money, I would buy a car (unreal condition, past tense).

How to learn all forms of irregular verbs?

Cheat sheet for memorizing Irregular Verbs

As mentioned above, there are no rules by which the forms of irregular verbs are formed; everyone has their own. But we hope that this poetic form will help you quickly remember these irregular verbs:

To write-wrote-written
To eat-ate-eat
To speak-spoke-spoken
To break-broken-broken

To come-come-come
To become-became-become
To run-run-run
To swim-swam-swum

To know-knew-known
To throw-threw-thrown
To blow-blew-blown
To fly-flown

Tossing-sang-sung
To ring-rang-rung
To hide-hid-hidden
To bite-bit-bitten

To send-sent-sent
To spend-spent-spent
To sleep-slept-slept
To keep-kept-kept

To tell-told-told
To sell-sold-sold
To teach-taught-taught
To catch-caught-caught

To fight-fought-fought
To think-thought-thought
To buy-bought-bought
To bring-brought-brought

To cut-cut-cut
To shut-shut-shut
To cost-cost-cost
To lose-lost-lost

To lead-led-led
To feed-fed-fed
To feel-felt-felt
To hold-held-held

From this funny poetic form we see that some irregular verbs have the same letter combinations, which allows them to rhyme and thereby make it easier for us to remember them.

"Fourth" form of irregular verbs

There is a common belief that there is also a 4th form of irregular verbs. This 4th configuration is formed according to the scheme stem + ending -ing. It defines the Present Participle, that is, the present participle in such tenses as the Present Continuous and the Past Continuous. In other words, it is the present and past tense of the imperfect form. It follows from this that there are not 3, but 4 forms of irregular verbs. But this 4th configuration is, as it were, unofficial.

Let's look at this very 4th form using examples of sentences with the Present Continuous:

The same 4th form in sentences with Past Continuous:

To teach-taught-taught-teaching - to teach
I was teaching at school. — I taught at school.
To choose-chose-chosen-choosing - choose
We were choosing a new dress fir Kitty.- We were choosing a dress for Kitty.

At the bottom of the page you will find several tables with a list of irregular verbs and recommendations on how to learn them faster, their transcription, translation, pronunciation, you can listen and download audio, do exercises, but for now let’s remember 2 cases when they are used.

Did you love her? No, I didn't love her. I love ed you.

It is clear that in question And denial in the past tense we use did/didn’t and the verb without change (infinitive).
AND ONLY V approval“-ed” (or “-d”) is added to the verb. But not to everyone. About a hundred particularly common verbs are irregular; -ed is not added to them, but a different form is used for each verb. How to say: "I saw you."
“I see d you” - so to speak wrong, because see is an “irregular verb”. So again:

Statement in past tense Irregular verbs are not formed by adding “-ed”. Each irregular verb has its own form.

I saw you - I saw you

The use of verbs is well explained in the first lesson of the “Polyglot: English in 16 hours” program.

This was the form of the verb simple past - indefinite past. There is also another verb form where irregular verbs behave similarly - this is past participle – past participle (second participle).

Past Participle – past participle (second participle)

This form is used:

if the result is important at some point: I broke my arm – I have broken my arm (Perfect Tenses– perfect tenses)
as an adjective: My heart is broken (adjectives)
when the main person of the sentence is the object of the action: My window was broken by that idiot (The Passive Voice– passive voice) Compare also:
I see you - I see you. Do you see me – You see me or I am seen by you (literally: I see you).

For regular verbs, the Past Participle is formed again by adding “-ed”:

I have opened the window
The window is closed

A game

During the lesson you can play the game “Name all three forms of an irregular verb.” Click on the picture to enlarge.

Board game “Irregular verbs”

Listen to audio

see saw seen
make made made
find found found
know knew known
get got done
go went gone
write written written
think thought thought
come come come
take, took, taken
put, put, put
tell, told, told
give, gave, given
read, read, read
keep, kept, kept

begin, began, commenced
let, let, let
hear, heard, heard
cut, cut, cut
eat, ate, eaten
run, run, run

bring, brought, brought
become, become, become
grow, grown, grown
draw, drawn, drawn
show, shown, shown
mean, meant, meant

feel, felt, felt
hold, held, held
stand, stood, stood
understand, understood, comprehended
lose, lost, lost
catch, caught, caught

buy, bought, purchased
send, sent, sent
fall, fell, fallen
choose, chose, chosen
sleep, slept, slept
speak, spoken, spoken

meet, met, met
lead, led, led
bite, bit, bitten
hit, hit, hit
drive, drove, driven
break, broke, broken

sit, sat, sat
spend, spent, spent
ring, rang, rung
wear, wore, worn
sell, sold, sold
beat, beat, beaten

win, won, won
hurt, hurt, hurt
sing, sang, sung
blow, blew, blown
rise, rose, risen
ride rode ridden

fly, flew, flown
drink, drank, drunk,
forget, forgot, forgotten
throw, thrown, thrown
hang, hung, hunger,
swim, swam, swum

All three forms are the same

The forms simple past and past participle are the same

Infinitive	Past simple	Past participle	Translation
feel	felt	felt	feel
build	built	built	build
keep	kept	kept	contain
leave	left	left	leave
lend	tape	tape	occupy
lose	lost	lost	lose
meet	met	met	meet
send	sent	sent	send
sleep	slept	slept	sleep
spend	spent	spent	spend
sit	sat	sat	sit
get[get]	got	got	receive

bring	brought	brought	bring
buy	bought	bought	buy
catch	caught	caught	catch, grab
teach	taught	taught	learn
think [θiŋk]	thought [θɔ:t]	thought [θɔ:t]	think

find	found	found	find
have	had	had	have
hear	heard	heard	hear
hold	held	held	hold
lead	led	led	lead
make	made	made	produce
pay	paid	paid	to pay
say	said	said	speak
sell	sold	sold	sell
stand	stood	stood	stand
tell	told	told	tell
win	won	won	win

All forms are different

Infinitive	Past simple	Past participle	Translation
be	was, were	been	be
become	became	become	become
come	came	come	come
do	did	done	do
go	went	gone	go

begin	began	begun	start off
drink	drank	drunk	drink
ring	rank	rung	ring
run	ran	run	run
swim	swam	swum	swim

break	broke	broken [‘brouk(e)n]	break
drive	drove	driven [‘drivn]	drive
eat	ate	eaten [‘i:tn]	There is
forget	forgot	forgotten	forget
give	gave	given	give
freeze	froze	frozen [‘frouzn]	freeze
ride	rode	ridden [‘ridn]	ride a horse
see	saw	seen	see
speak	spoke	spoken [‘spouk(e)n]	speak
take	took	taken [‘teik(ə)n]	take, take
wear	wore	worn	wear
write	wrote	written [‘ritn]	write

blow	blew	blown	blow
fly	flew	flown	fly
know	knew	known	know
show [ʃəu]	showed [ʃəud]	shown [ʃəun]	show
throw [θrəu]	threw [θru:]	thrown [θrəun]	throw