Let's look at the different kinds of action verbs! Transitive Active. Certain action verbs called transitive active verbs transfer action to something called a direct object. Joe kicked the ball. Transitive Passive. This type of action verb transfers its action to the subject. Intransitive Complete.
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Dozens and dozens of English verbs have irregular past tense forms, as well as irregular past participles. If you are studying English grammar you may want to memorize the common irregular past and past participles listed here. This list is not exhaustive by any means, but these are common verbs English speakers use every day.
Lucky for you, English present participles, except for the occasional change from the letter y to the letter i, are fairly straightforward. Just add ing.
If you have questions about a particular verb, check your dictionary. In the following table, the first column is the infinitive form of the verb. (The infinitive is the “to + verb” form — to laugh, to cry, to learn grammar, and so on.) The second column is the simple past tense. The third column is the past participle, which is combined with has (singular) or have (plural) to form the present perfect tense. The past participle is also used with had to form the past perfect tense.
Verb | Past | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
bear | bore | borne |
become | became | become |
begin | began | begun |
bite | bit | bitten |
break | broke | broken |
bring | brought | brought |
catch | caught | caught |
choose | chose | chosen |
come | came | come |
do | did | done |
drink | drank | drunk |
drive | drove | driven |
eat | ate | eaten |
fall | fell | fallen |
feel | felt | felt |
fly | flew | flown |
freeze | froze | frozen |
get | got | got or gotten |
go | went | gone |
know | knew | known |
lay | laid | laid |
lead | led | led |
lend | lent | lent |
lie | lay | lain |
lose | lost | lost |
ride | rode | ridden |
ring | rang | rung |
rise | rose | risen |
run | ran | run |
say | said | said |
see | saw | seen |
set | set | set |
shake | shook | shaken |
sing | sang | sung |
sink | sank or sunk | sunk |
sit | sat | sat |
sleep | slept | slept |
speak | spoke | spoken |
steal | stole | stolen |
swim | swam | swum |
take | took | taken |
throw | threw | thrown |
wear | wore | worn |
win | won | won |
write | wrote | written |
This is a list of irregular verbs in the English language.
Past tense irregular verbs[edit]
For each verb listed, the citation form (the bare infinitive) is given first, with a link to the relevant Wiktionary entry. This is followed by the simple past tense (preterite), and then the past participle. If there are irregular present tense forms (see below), these are given in parentheses after the infinitive. (The present participle and gerund forms of verbs, ending in -ing, are always regular. In English, these are used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns.) In the case of modal verbs the present and preterite forms are listed, since these are the only forms that exist.
The right-hand column notes whether the verb is weak or strong and whether it belongs to a subclass, and links to descriptions elsewhere. Information about the development of these verbs generally can be found at English irregular verbs; details of the etymology and usage of specific verbs can be found by consulting Wiktionary.
In some cases, there are two or more possibilities for a given form. In the table, the preferred or more common usage is generally listed first, though for some words the usage is nearly equal for the two choices. Sometimes the usage depends on the dialect. In many cases, such as spell (spelt vs. spelled), learn (learnt vs. learned), and spill (spilt vs. spilled), American English normally uses the regular form, while British English tends to favor the irregular. In other cases, such as dive (dived vs. dove) and sneak (sneaked vs. snuck), the opposite is true. Australian, New Zealand and South African English tend to follow the British practice, while Canadian English often sides with the American usage.
The table includes selected archaic or dialectal forms, marked * (some of these forms may also be present in specialist uses).
Verb forms | Verb class and notes |
---|---|
ache/*ake – ached/*oke – ached/*aken | Strong, class 6; now regular. |
bake – baked/*book – baked/*baken | Strong, class 6; now regular except in Northern English dialects. |
be (am, is, are/*be) – was, were – been | Suppletive. See Indo-European copula. |
bear – bore/*bare – borne/born
| Strong, class 4. The spelling born is used in passive or adjectival contexts relating to birth. |
beat – beat – beaten/beat
| Strong, class 7 |
become – became – become
| Strong, class 4 |
*beget – begot/*begat – begot/begotten
| Strong, class 5 |
begin – began – begun | Strong, class 3 |
bend – bent/*bended – bent/*bended
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
beseech – beseeched/*besought – beseeched/*besought | Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law (now regularized) |
bet – bet/betted – bet/betted
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
betide – betided/*betid – betided/*betid | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
beware – (no other forms) | Defective; formed from be with predicate adjective, used as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive only. Inflected forms (bewares, bewared, bewaring) are considered obsolete. |
bid[in auctions etc.] – bid – bid
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
bid[meaning to request or say] – bid/*bade – bid/*bidden | Strong, class 5 |
bide – bided/bode – bided/bidden
| Strong, class 1 |
bind – bound – bound/*bounden
| Strong, class 3 |
bite – bit – bitten
| Strong, class 1 |
bleed – bled – bled | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
blend – blended/*blent – blended/*blent | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
bless – blessed/*blest – blessed/*blest | Weak, regular with alternative (archaic) spelling |
blow – blew – blown
| Strong, class 7 |
break – broke/*brake – broken/*broke
| Strong, class 4 |
breed – bred – bred
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
bring – brought – brought | Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
build – built – built
| Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
burn – burned/burnt – burned/burnt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
burst – burst/*brast – burst/*bursten | Strong, class 3 |
bust – busted/bust – busted/bust | Strong, class 3 (or regular) |
buy – bought – bought/*boughten
| Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
can[auxiliary verb] – could – (none) | Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs |
cast – cast – cast
| Weak with coalescence of dentals. Many of the prefixed forms can also take -ed. |
catch – caught/*catched – caught/*catched | Weak, French loanword conjugated perhaps by analogy with teach–taught; regular forms are now dialectal. |
chide – chided/chid/*chode – chided/chid/chidden | Strong, class 1 |
choose – chose – chosen
| Strong, class 2 |
clad – clad – clad | Developed from clad, the past form of clothe (see below). |
clap – clapped/*clapt – clapped/*clapt | |
cleave[meaning to split] – cleft/clove/cleaved/*clave – cleft/cloven/cleaved | Strong, class 2, sometimes switching to weak with vowel shortening. When meaning 'adhere' the verb is regular. |
*clepe – cleped/clepen/*clept – cleped/*clept/*clepen/*yclept | Weak with vowel shortening, or regular. Obsolete or dialectal. |
cling – clung/*clang – clung | Strong, class 3 |
clothe – clad/clothed – clad/clothed
| Weak; the regular clothed is from OE claþian, while clad (weak with coalescence of dentals) is from OE clæþan (both OE verbs having similar meaning).[1] |
comb – combed – combed/kempt | |
come – came – come/comen
| Strong, class 4 |
cost[intransitive sense] – cost/costed – cost/costed | Weak with coalescence of dentals. Regular when meaning 'calculate the cost of'. |
creep – crept/creeped/*crope – crept/creeped/*cropen | Originally strong, class 2; switched to weak with vowel shortening (or regular) |
crow – crowed/crew – crowed/*crown | Strong, class 7. Now usually regular, but crew can still be used of a cock's crowing. |
cut – cut – cut
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
dare (dares/dare) – dared/*durst – dared | Preterite-present, now regular except in the use of dare in place of dares in some contexts. See English modal verbs |
deal – dealt – dealt
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
dig – dug/*digged – dug/*digged
| Originally weak; past form dug developed by analogy with stick–stuck[2] |
dive – dived/dove – dived/dove | Weak, the alternative dove (found mainly in American usage) arising by analogy with strong verbs |
do (does /dʌz/) – did – done
| Irregular since Proto-Germanic: past tense formed by reduplication. Past participle from Old Englishgedon. Related to deed. |
dow – dowed/dought – dowed/dought | Related to doughty. |
drag – dragged/*drug – dragged/*drug | Strong, class 6, now usually regular; drug is used in some dialects |
draw – drew – drawn
| Strong, class 6; related to draft/draught |
dream – dreamed/dreamt/*drempt – dreamed/dreamt/*drempt
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
dress – dressed/*drest – dressed/*drest | Weak with alternative (archaic) spelling |
drink – drank/*drunk/*drinked – drunk/*drank/*drinked/*drunken
| Strong, class 3; related to drench |
drive – drove/*drave – driven
| Strong, class 1; related to drift |
dwell – dwelt/dwelled – dwelt/dwelled
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
earn – earned/earnt – earned/earnt | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
eat – ate/*et – eaten
| Strong, class 5. Past tense usually /eɪt/, sometimes /ɛt/ in British English. |
fall – fell/*felled – fallen/*felled
| Strong, class 7 |
feed – fed – fed
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
feel – felt – felt
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
fight – fought – fought/*foughten
| Strong, class 3 |
find – found/*fand – found/*founden
| Strong, class 3 |
fit – fitted/fit – fitted/fit
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
flee – fled – fled | Originally strong, class 2, switched to weak with vowel shortening |
fling – flung – flung | By analogy with strong, class 3 |
fly – flew – flown
| Strong, class 2. Regular when used for hitting a fly ball in baseball. |
forbid – forbid/forbade/forbad – forbidden | Strong, class 5 |
forget – forgot/*forgat – forgotten/*forgot | Strong, class 5 |
*forlese – forlore – forlorn | Past participle remains in use adjectivally. |
forsake – forsook – forsaken | Strong, class 6 |
freeze – froze – frozen
| Strong, class 2 |
get – got/*gat – got/gotten
| Strong, class 5. Past participle is got in British usage (except in fossilized phrases such as 'ill-gotten'), and gotten in American (but see have got). |
gild – gilded/gilt – gilded/gilt | Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
gird – girded/*girt – girded/*girt
| Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
give – gave – given
| Strong, class 5 |
go – went – gone
| Suppletive. See article on the verb go. |
*grave – grove/graved – graven/graved | Strong, class 6. Past participle graven remains in use adjectivally, as in graven images in archaic language, e.g. from the 17th century. The verb engrave is regular. |
grind – ground/grinded – ground/grinded/*grounden | Strong, class 3 |
grow – grew/*growed – grown/*growed
| Strong, class 7 |
hang – hung/hanged – hung/hanged
| Strong, class 7. Regularized alternative hanged was influenced by OE causativehangian, and is used chiefly for hanging as a means of execution. |
have (has) – had – had | Weak; had results from contraction, from OE haefd. Third person present has also a result of contraction. |
hear – heard – heard
| Weak, originally with vowel shortening (the modern pronunciation of heard in RP has the long vowel /ɜː/) |
heave – heaved/*hove – heaved/*hove/*hoven
| Strong, class 6, now usually regular except in nautical uses |
help – helped/*holp – helped/*holpen | Originally strong, class 6, but now weak. |
hew – hewed/*hew – hewed/hewn
| Strong, class 7 (or regular) |
hide – hid – hidden/*hid | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals, influenced by strong verbs |
hit – hit – hit
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
hoist – hoisted/hoist – hoisted/hoist | Weak, hoist was originally the past form of the now archaic verb hoise |
hold – held – held/*holden
| Strong, class 7 |
hurt – hurt – hurt | Weak with coalescence of dentals |
keep – kept – kept
| Weak with vowel shortening |
ken – kenned/kent – kenned/kent
| Northern and Scottish dialect word. Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
kneel – knelt/kneeled – knelt/kneeled | Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
knit – knit/knitted – knit/knitted
| Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular); related to knot |
know – knew – known/*knowen
| Strong, class 7 |
lade – laded – laden/laded
| Strong, class 6, often regularized (past participle laden is common adjectivally) |
laugh – laughed/*laught/*laugh'd/*low – laughed/*laught/*laugh'd/*laughen | Originally strong, now weak, regular, with alternative (archaic) spelling |
lay – laid/*layed – laid/*layed
| Weak, irregular in spelling only |
lead – led – led
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
lean – leaned/leant – leaned/leant | Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
leap – leaped/leapt/*lept/*lope – leaped/leapt/*lopen
| Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening (or regular) |
learn – learned/learnt – learned/learnt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
leave – left – left/*laft
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
lend – lent – lent
| Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
let – let/*leet – let/*letten
| Strong, class 7 |
lie – lay – lain
| Strong, class 5. Regular in the meaning 'tell an untruth'. |
light – lit/lighted – lit/lighted
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
lose – lost – lost | Originally strong, class 2, now weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
make – made – made
| Weak; made formed by contraction from 'maked' |
may – might – (none) | Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs |
mean – meant – meant | Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
meet – met – met | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
melt – melted/*molt – melted/molten | Strong, class 3. Now regularized, but molten survives in adjectival uses. |
mix – mixed/*mixt – mixed/*mixt | Weak, regular, with alternative (mostly archaic) spelling |
mow – mowed – mowed/mown | Strong, class 7. Now regularized in past tense and sometimes in past participle. |
must – (no other forms) | Defective; originally a preterite. See English modal verbs |
need (needs/need) – needed – needed | Weak, regular except in the use of need in place of needs in some contexts, by analogy with can, must, etc.[3] See English modal verbs |
ought – (no other forms) | Defective; originally a preterite. See English modal verbs |
pay – paid/*payed – paid/*payed
| Weak, irregular in spelling only. The spelling payed is used in the meaning of letting out a rope etc. |
pen – penned/pent – penned/pent | Weak with devoiced ending, but usually regular; pent is sometimes used when the verb has the meaning 'to enclose', and mainly adjectivally |
plead – pled/pleaded – pled/pleaded | French loanword, weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals. In North America, this verb is usually irregular. |
prove – proved – proved/proven
| French loanword, weak, with the alternative past participle proven by analogy with some strong verbs |
put – put – put/*putten
| Weak with coalescence of dentals. Past participle form putten is characteristic for Yorkshire and Lancashire dialects. |
*queath/*quethe – queathed/quethed/quoth/quod – queathed/quethed/quoth/quethen
| Strong, class 5. Past tense quoth is literary or archaic; other parts of that verb are obsolete. Bequeath is normally regularized in -ed. |
quit – quit/quitted – quit/quitted | French loanword, weak, with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
reach – reached/*raught/*rought/*retcht – reached/*raught/*rought/*retcht | Weak, now regular (archaic raught from original conjugation like teach) |
read/riːd/ – read/rɛd/ – read/rɛd/ / *readen
| Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals |
*reave – reaved/reft – reaved/reft
| Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending. The verb bereave is usually regular, but bereft survives as past participle, with distinct meanings. |
rend – rent – rent | Weak with coalescence of dentals |
rid – rid/ridded – rid/ridden/ridded | Weak with coalescence of dentals, or regular; ridden by analogy with strong verbs. |
ride – rode/*rid – ridden/*rid
| Strong, class 1 |
ring – rang/*rung – rung | By analogy with strong, class 3. Regular when meaning 'surround', etc. |
rise – rose – risen
| Strong, class 1 |
rive – rived/rove – rived/riven | From Old Norse, originally followed pattern of strong class 1, later regularized.[4] Now rarely used. |
run – ran – run
| Strong, class 3 |
saw – sawed – sawed/sawn | Weak; sawn by analogy with strong verbs[5] |
say (says /sɛz/) – said – said
| Weak, with vowel shortening in said/sɛd/ and in the third person present says/sɛz/ |
see – saw – seen
| Strong, class 5 |
seek – sought – sought
| Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
seethe – seethed/*sod – seethed/*sodden | Strong, class 2. Now regular, but sodden survives in some adjectival uses. |
sell – sold – sold
| Weak with Rückumlaut |
send – sent – sent
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
set – set – set/*setten
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
sew – sewed – sewn/sewed/*sewen
| Weak; sewn by analogy with strong verbs |
shake – shook – shaken
| Strong, class 6 |
shall – should – (none) | Preterite-present; defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will |
shape – shaped/*shope – shaped/*shapen
| Originally strong, class 6, now regular, but with misshapen (and archaically shapen) still used adjectivally |
shave – shaved/*shove – shaved/shaven | Strong, class 6, now regular, but shaven sometimes used adjectivally |
shear – sheared/shore – shorn/sheared | Strong, class 4 (or regular) |
shed – shed – shed | Strong, class 7 |
shine – shone/shined – shone/shined
| Strong, class 1 |
shit – shit/shitted/shat – shit/shitted/shat/*shitten
| Strong, class 1. The form shite is chiefly Scottish and Irish. |
shoe – shod/shoed – shodden/shod/shoed
| Weak with vowel shortening (or regular); shodden by analogy with strong verbs |
shoot – shot – shot/*shotten
| Strong, class 2 |
show – showed/*shew – shown/showed/*shewed
| Weak, with participle shown perhaps by analogy with sown (from sow) |
shrink – shrank/shrunk – shrunk/shrunken
| Strong, class 3; shrunken is mostly used adjectivally |
*shrive – shrived/*shrove – shrived/*shriven | Strong, class 1 |
shut – shut – shut
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
sing – sang – sung/*sungen
| Strong, class 3 |
sink – sank/sunk – sunk/sunken | Strong, class 3. The form sunken appears in some adjectival uses. |
sit – sat/*sate – sat/*sitten
| Strong, class 5 |
slay – slew/slayed – slain/slayed | Strong, class 6 (or regular) |
sleep – slept – slept
| Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening |
slide – slid – slid/slidden
| Strong, class 1 |
sling – slung/*slang – slung | Strong, class 3 |
slink – slunk/slinked/slank – slunk/slinked/slank | Strong, class 3 |
slip – slipped/*slipt – slipped/*slipt
| Regular, with alternative (archaic) spelling |
slit – slit – slit/slitten | Strong, class 1 |
smell – smelled/smelt – smelled/smelt | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
smite – smote/*smit – smitten/smitted | Strong, class 1. Largely archaic; smitten is quite commonly used adjectivally. |
sneak – sneaked/snuck – sneaked/snuck/*snucked | Weak, alternative form snuck (chiefly American) by analogy with strong verbs |
sow – sowed/*sew – sown/sowed | Strong, class 7, with regularized past tense sowed |
speak – spoke/*spake – spoken/*spoke
| Strong, class 5 |
speed – sped/speeded – sped/speeded | Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
spell – spelled/spelt – spelled/spelt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
spend – spent – spent
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
spill – spilled/spilt – spilled/spilt
| Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
spin – spun/*span – spun
| Strong, class 3 |
spit – spat/spit – spat/spit | Weak with coalescence of dentals (for past form spit, which is common in America), or spat by analogy with strong verbs. (In the meaning of roast on a spit, the verb is regular.) |
split – split – split | Weak with coalescence of dentals |
spoil – spoiled/spoilt – spoiled/spoilt | Weak with devoiced ending (or regular) |
spread – spread/*spreaded – spread/*spreaded
| Weak with coalescence of dentals |
spring – sprang/sprung – sprung/*sprang
| Strong, class 3 |
stand – stood – stood/*standen
| Strong, class 6 |
starve – starved/*starf/*storve – starved/*storven | Strong, class 3 |
stave – stove/staved – stove/staved/*stoven | Originally weak; irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs.[6] |
stay – stayed/*staid – stayed/*staid | Regular, with alternative spelling staid (now limited to certain adjectival uses) |
steal – stole – stolen | Strong, class 4 |
stick – stuck/*sticked – stuck/*sticked | Originally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verbs |
sting – stung/*stang – stung | Strong, class 3 |
stink – stank/stunk – stunk | Strong, class 3 |
stretch – stretched/*straught/*straight – stretched/*straught/*straight | Weak, now regular; obsolete past form straught as with teach–taught |
strew – strewed – strewn/strewed
| Originally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verbs |
stride – strode/*strided – stridden/*strode/*strid/*stridded
| Strong, class 1 |
strike – struck – struck/stricken
| Strong, class 1. The form stricken is limited to certain adjectival and specialist uses. |
string – strung/*stringed – strung/*stringed
| Originally weak, irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
strip – stripped/stript – stripped/stript | |
strive – strove/strived – striven/strived
| Strong, class 1 (or regularized) |
swear – swore – sworn
| Strong, class 6 |
sweat – sweated/sweat – sweated/sweat | Weak, usually regular, possible past form sweat with coalescence of dentals |
sweep – swept/*sweeped – swept/*sweeped
| Weak with vowel shortening |
swell – swelled/*swole/*swelt – swollen/swelled
| Strong, class 3, with regularized forms |
*swelt – swelted/*swolt – swelted/*swolten | Strong, class 3 (or regularized). Archaic |
swim – swam/*swum – swum
| Strong, class 3 |
swing – swang/swung – swung/*swungen
| Strong, class 3 |
*swink – swank/swonk/*swinkt/swinked – swunk/swunken/swonken/*swinkt/swinked
| Strong, class 3 |
take – took/*taked – taken
| Strong, class 6 |
teach – taught/*teached – taught/*teached | Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
tear – tore – torn
| Strong, class 4 |
*tee – teed/tow – teed/town
| |
tell – told/*telled – told/*telled
| Weak with Rückumlaut; related to tale |
think – thought/*thinked – thought/*thinked
| Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
thrive – throve/thrived/*thrave – thriven/thrived | Of Old Norse origin; followed strong class 1 (now archaic) or weak (regular) pattern[7] |
throw – threw/*throwed – thrown/*throwed
| Strong, class 7 |
thrust – thrust/*thrusted – thrust/*thrusted
| Weak, with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
tread – trod/*tread/*treaded/*trodden – trodden/trod/*tread/*treaded
| Strong, class 5 (or regularized) |
vex – vexed/*vext – vexed/*vext | |
wake – woke/*waked – woken/*waked
| Strong, class 6 |
wax – waxed/*wex – waxed/*waxen | Strong, class 7, now regularized |
wear – weared/wore – weared/worn
| Originally weak, fell into a strong pattern by analogy with bear |
weave – wove – woven
| Strong, class 7 |
wed – wed/wedded – wed/wedded
| Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
weep – wept/weeped – wept/weeped
| Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening |
wend – wended/*went – wended/*went | Weak, once with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending, but now regular; went is used as the past of go |
wet – wet/wetted – wet/wetted
| Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
will – would – (none) | Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will. (In non-auxiliary uses the verb is regular.) |
win – won – won | Strong, class 3 |
wind – wound – wound
| Strong, class 3. (The identically spelt verb wind/wɪnd/, with meanings connected with air flow and breathlessness, is regular.) |
work – worked/*wrought – worked/*wrought
| Weak, now regular, formerly with Rückumlaut and metathesis of r and o |
*worth – worth/worthed – worth/worthed/worthen | Strong, class 3, or regularized |
wreak – wreaked/*wrought/*wrack/*wroke – wreaked/*wrought/*wreaken/*wroken | Weak, usually regular; wrought (which is in fact from work) has come sometimes to be identified with this verb (perhaps by analogy with seek–sought). Other forms by analogy with strong verbs. |
wring – wrang/wrung/*wringed – wrung/*wringed | Strong, class 3 |
write – wrote/*writ – written/*writ
| Strong, class 1 |
writhe – writhed/*wrothe – writhed/*writhen | Strong, class 1, now regularized |
zinc – zinced/zinked/zincked – zinced/zinked/zincked |
Present tense irregular verbs[edit]
Though the list of verbs irregular in the preterite or past participle is long, the list of irregular present tense verbs is very short. Excepting modal verbs like 'shall', 'will', and 'can' that do not inflect at all in the present tense, there are only four (only two if pronunciation is ignored):
- be: I am, thou art, you are, he is, we are, they are.
- do (and compounds such as 'undo' and 'redo'): I do, you do, he does, we do, they do where 'does' is pronounced /ˈdʌz/ in contrast to /ˈduː/, the pronunciation of the infinitive and the other present tense forms.
- have: I have, you have, he has, we have, they have.
- say (and compounds such as 'gainsay' and 'naysay'): I say, you say, he says, we say, they say where 'says' has the standard pronunciation /sɛz/ (in contrast to the /seɪ/ used for the infinitive and other present tense forms).
Forms Of Be Verb List List
References[edit]
Forms Of To Be
- ^Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for 'clothe' and 'clad'.
- ^The strong-type past form dug arose as a past participle in the 16th century, by analogy with stuck, and was used as a past tense from the 18th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'dig'.
- ^The use of need for needs, which has become the norm in contexts where the verb is used analogously to the modal verbs, became common in the 16th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'need' (verb).
- ^Regularized (weak-type) forms of this verb are found from the 16th century onward. There is also an obsolete verb rive meaning arrive, for which weak-type forms are attested earlier. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for 'rive'.
- ^Strong-type past forms of this verb were sometimes used in the 15th century; the past participle sawn is a survival of this. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'saw'.
- ^The forms stove and stoven are found from the 18th century onward. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'stave'.
- ^The strong-type past forms leading to thrave (Northern) and throve are attested from the 13th and 14th centuries onward, and weak forms (leading to thrived) from the 14th. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'thrive'.
External links[edit]
- Complete List of 638 English Irregular Verbs with their forms in different tenses.
- Mind Our English: Strong and weak by Ralph Berry
- English Irregular Verb List A comprehensive list of English irregular verbs, including their base form, past simple, past participle, 3rd person singular, and the present participle / gerund.
- TheIrregularVerbs All the irregular verbs of the English language. Conjugation, pronunciation, translation and examples.
- verbbusters Searchable reference of English irregular verbs and cognates, with audio.