Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are an important type of verb in the English language. It does not follow normal rules of grammar. It is an important topic for all students, especially for those who are preparing for competitive examinations. In this article, we will delve into the world of irregular verbs, and explore their characteristics, types, and common examples of verbs. By the end of this article, you have a solid understanding of irregular verbs and be better equipped to use them correctly in your daily conversations and writing.

What are Irregular Verbs? 

Irregular verbs are a subgroup of verbs that do not allow the typical conjunction pattern of regular verbs. Irregular verbs do not follow the normal rule of grammar. Irregular verbs differ from regular verbs in that way you can not predict the past form or 2nd form of a verb from its first or base form. As it does not follow normal rules, you have to memorize these verbs. 

Definition of an Irregular Verb

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the usual rules of grammar. The forms of irregular verbs can not be changed by adding ‘ed’ or ‘d’ to the end. Irregular verbs do not follow the usual rules of grammar for the tense and past participle. Irregular verbs have their own unique tense forms and past participles. For irregular verbs, you have to change the inside vowel of a verb in most cases. For example, ‘swim’ changes to ‘swam’ and ‘swum’. 

For Example – Have, Say, Make, Lose, Bring, Think, Catch, Keep, Hold, Find, Teach, Buy, Tell, Put, Know, Begin, Drink, Write, Speak, Grow, Get, Go, Come, Become, etc. 

Conjugating Irregular Verbs – Rules and Examples

Conjugating irregular verbs can be a little challenging to learn. Although it is frequently believed to be a challenging endeavour, this is untrue. Please attempt to unlearn whatever preconceived assumptions you may have about irregular verbs before we begin. Let’s go back to the beginning with an open mind.

Based on how irregular verbs behave when transformed to reflect the simple past and past participle forms, there are three basic groups from which irregular verb conjugation can be learned.

It fits into the following categories:

Group 1 consists of irregular verbs that have the same spelling in both the simple past and past participle forms as the root verb. These verbs don’t change in any sort of tense.

Group 2: Irregular verbs spelt the same in both the past participle and simple past forms. This group includes a few irregular verbs that also have different spellings.

Group 3: Non-regular verbs with three distinct spelling patterns for the base, simple past, and past participle forms of the verb.

For a better understanding, let’s have a look at the list of irregular verbs that belong to each of the three classes.

Using Irregular Verbs in Sentences

To use irregular verbs correctly, it is essential to understand their conjugation in different tenses. Here are some examples of irregular verbs used in sentences:

• She went to the store yesterday.
• They have had a great time on their vacation.
• He did his homework earlier today.
• We saw a beautiful sunset at the beach.
• I have eaten dinner already.

Forms of Irregular Verbs

There are three forms of an irregular verb. 

• 1st form or present simple form.
• 2nd form or simple past form.
• 3rd form or Past participle form. 

Irregular Verbs Examples

Group 1 – Irregular Verbs with the Same Spelling across All Forms

Base Verb	Simple Past Form	Past Participle Form
Cut	Cut	Cut
Put	Put	Put
Shut	Shut	Shut
Hurt	Hurt	Hurt
Burst	Burst	Burst
Shed	Shed	Shed
Bet	Bet	Bet
Let	Let	Let
Set	Set	Set
Hit	Hit	Hit
Split	Split	Split
Spread	Spread	Spread
Cast	Cast	Cast
Thrust	Thrust	Thrust

Group 2 – Irregular Verbs with the Same Simple Past Form and Past Participle Form

Base Verb	Simple Past Form	Past Participle Form
Bend	Bent	Bent
Bind	Bound	Bound
Find	Found	Found
Learn	Learnt/Learned	Learnt/Learned
Buy	Bought	Bought
Think	Thought	Thought
Catch	Caught	Caught
Light	Lit	Lit
Bring	Brought	Brought
Build	Built	Built
Hang	Hung	Hung
Spoil	Spoilt/Spoiled	Spoilt/Spoiled
Hear	Heard	Heard
Understand	Understood	Understood
Lose	Lost	Lost
Spill	Spilt/Spilled	Spilt/Spilled
Have	Had	Had
Burn	Burnt/Burned	Burnt/Burned
Strike	Struck	Struck
Lead	Led	Led
Say	Said	Said
Kneel	Knelt	Knelt
Dream	Dreamt/Dreamed	Dreamt/Dreamed
Hang	Hung	Hung
Make	Made	Made
Lay	Laid	Laid
Keep	Kept	Kept
Swing	Swung	Swung

Group 3 – Irregular Verbs with Completely Different Spellings for Each Form

Base Verb	Simple Past Form	Past Participle Form
Blow	Blew	Blown
Arise	Arose	Arisen
See	Saw	Seen
Run	Ran	Run
Sink	Sank	Sunk
Drink	Drank	Drunk
Sing	Sang	Sung
Break	Broke	Broken
Fly	Flew	Flown
Ring	Rang	Rung
Give	Gave	Given
Ride	Rode	Ridden
Rise	Rose	Risen
Take	Took	Taken
Shrink	Shrank	Shrunk
Strive	Strove	Striven
Throw	Threw	Thrown
Write	Wrote	Written
Show	Showed	Shown
Know	Knew	Known
Shake	Shook	Shaken
Bite	Bit	Bitten
Begin	Began	Begun

An Alternative Method to Learn Irregular Verbs and Their Conjugation

There is one other way in which you can learn irregular verbs easily by categorising words according to their change in spelling. Have a look at the following table to understand how.

Base Verb	Simple Past Form	Past Participle Form
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Ow/Aw’ → ‘Ew’ → ‘Own/Awn’
Blow	Blew	Blown
Throw	Threw	Thrown
Know	Knew	Known
Grow	Grew	Grown
Draw	Drew	Drawn
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Ise’ → ‘Ose’ → ‘Isen’
Arise	Arose	Arisen
Rise	Rose	Risen
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Ive’ → ‘Ove/Ave’ → ‘Iven’
Strive	Strove	Striven
Give	Gave	Given
Forgive	Forgave	Forgiven
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Et’ → ‘Ot’ → ‘Otten’
Get	Got	Gotten
Forget	Forgot	Forgotten
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Ide/Ite’ → ‘Ode/Ote/Id/It’ → ‘Idden/Itten’
Ride	Rode	Ridden
Write	Wrote	Written
Bite	Bit	Bitten
Hide	Hid	Hidden
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Ink/Ing/In’ → ‘Ank/Ang/An’ → ‘Unk/Ung/Un’
Sink	Sank	Sunk
Drink	Drank	Drunk
Sing	Sang	Sung
Ring	Rang	Rung
Spring	Sprang	Sprung
Begin	Began	Begun
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Ake’ → ‘Ook’ → ‘Aken’
Take	Took	Taken
Shake	Shook	Shaken
Mistake	Mistook	Mistaken
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Eak/Ake/Eal’ → ‘Oke/Ole’ → ‘Oken/Olen’
Break	Broke	Broken
Speak	Spoke	Spoken
Wake	Woke	Woken
Steal	Stole	Stolen
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Ear’ → ‘Ore’ → ‘Orn/Orne’
Wear	Wore	Worn
Tear	Tore	Torn
Bear	Bore	Borne
Irregular Verbs Ending in ‘Oose’ → ‘Ose’ → ‘Osen’
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Irregular Verbs With ‘Ought/Aught’ in the Simple Past and Past Participle Form
Seek	Sought	Sought
Think	Thought	Thought
Catch	Caught	Caught
Buy	Bought	Bought
Fight	Fought	Fought
Bring	Brought	Brought
Teach	Taught	Taught

Irregular Verbs List

Have, Say, Make, Lose, Bring, Think, Catch, Keep, Hold, Find, Teach, Buy, Tell, Put, Know, Begin, Drink, Write, Speak, Grow, Get, Go, Come, Become,  See, Go, Know, Get, Give, Tell, Come, Run, Send, Win, Steal, Speak, Swim etc. 

Irregular Verbs Examples

Set 1 – Irregular Verbs with the Same Spelling across All Forms

Regular Verbs vs. Irregular Verbs 

Regular Verbs	Irregular Verbs
2nd form can be made easily by adding ‘ed’	You can not predict the 2nd form easily.
2nd form is formed by adding ‘ed’ to the first form.  Examples: Care – cared, add – added	2nd form is formed by changing the vowel in the middle of the verb.  Examples: Tell – Told, do – did
2nd and 3rd forms are always alike.	2nd  and 3rd forms are not alike.
It has four form verbs.	It has five or three form verbs.
Unlimited in number.	Limited in number, approximately over 200.

Irregular Verb Exercise 

1. Someone has __________ (use the past participle form of steal) my purse. 

2. Have you ________ (  use the past participle form of do) this work? 

3. The innocent girl ___________ ( use the past simple form of break) the toy by mistake. 

4. I was _________ ( use the past participle form of losing) my mobile. 

5. Today Rahul _________ ( use the past simple form of buy) a new car. 

6. After working two days, some workers _______ ( use the past simple form of leave) the job. 

7. The drunk man ________ ( use the past simple form of hit) the bike. 

8. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was ___________ ( use the past participle form of fight) for freedom. 

9. Argentina _______ ( use the past simple form of win) the FIFA 2022 Cup. 

10. Has the class _________ ( use the past participle form of begin) yet? 

Answer :  

1. Stolen 

2. Done 

3. Broke 

4. Lost 

5. Bought 

6. Left 

7. Hit 

8. Fought

9. Won

10. Begun 

Irregular Verbs in English- FAQs

Q1. What are irregular verbs? 

Irregular verbs do not follow the normal rule of grammar. Irregular verbs differ from regular verbs in that way you can not predict the past form or 2nd form of a verb from its first or base form. As it does not follow normal rules, you have to memorize these verbs. 

Q2. What is the definition of irregular verbs? 

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the usual rules of grammar. The forms of irregular verbs can not be changed by adding ‘ed’ or ‘d’ to the end. 

Q3. What are the 4 types of irregular verbs? 

• Type 1: Verbs with the same base form, past simple and past participle. 
• Type 2: Verbs with the same past simple and past participle. 
• Type 3: verbs with the same Base form and Past participle. 
• Type 4: Verbs with different Base forms, Past simple and Past participle. 

Q4. What are examples of irregular verbs?  

Have, Say, Make, Lose, Bring, Think, Catch, Keep, Hold, Find, Teach, Buy, Tell, Put, Know, Begin, Drink, Write, Speak, Grow, Get, Go, Come, Become,  See, Go, Know, Get, Give, Tell, Come, Run, Send, Win, Steal, Speak, Swim etc. 

Q5. What is V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 list?

In the context of verb conjugation, we use five distinct forms denoted as V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5. V1 represents the base form of the verb, V2 is the simple past form, V3 is the past participle form, V4 is the third-person singular present form, and V5 is the present participle form.