Irregular verbs for advanced students of English - English Grammar Step by Step

English Grammar Step by Step

UNIT 8
IRREGULAR VERBS

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INFINITIVE
SIMPLE PAST
PAST PARTICIPLE

abide

abode, abided

arise

arose

arisen

awake

awoke

awoken

was, were

been

bear

bore

borne, born

beat

beaten

become

became

become

befall

befell

befallen

beget

begot

begotten

begin

began

begun

behold

beheld

bend

bent

beseech

besought, beseeched

beset

bespeak

bespoke

bespoke(n)

bestride

bestrode

bestridden

bet

bet, betted

bid

bid, bade

bid, bidden

bind

bound

bite

bit

bitten

bleed

bled

blow

blew

blown

break

broke

broken

breed

bred

bring

brought

broadcast

build

built

burn

burnt, burned

burst

buy

bought

cast

catch

caught

choose

chose

chosen

cling

clung

come

came

come

cost

cost, costed

countersink

countersank

countersunk

creep

crept

crossbreed

crossbred

cut

deal

dealt

dig

dug

did

done

draw

drew

drawn

dream

dreamt, dreamed

drink

drank

drunk

drive

drove

driven

dwell

dwelt, dwelled

eat

ate

eaten

fall

fell

fallen

feed

fed

feel

felt

fight

fought

find

found

flee

fled

fling

flung

fly

flew

flown

forbear

forbore

forborne

forbid

forbad(e)

forbidden

forecast

forecast, forecasted

forego

forewent

forgone

foresee

foresaw

foreseen

foretell

foretold

forget

forgot

forgotten

forgive

forgave

forgiven

forgo

forwent

forgone

forsake

forsook

forsaken

forswear

forswore

forsworn

freeze

froze

frozen

get

got

give

gave

given

went

gone

grind

ground

grow

grew

grown

hang

hung, hanged

have

had

hear

heard

heave

hove, heaved

hide

hid

hidden

hit

hold

held

hurt

inlay

inlaid

interweave

interwove

interwoven

keep

kept

kneel

knelt, kneeled

knit

knitted, knit

know

knew

known

lade

laded

laden

lay

laid

lead

led

lean

leant, leaned

leap

leapt, leaped

learn

learnt, learned

leave

left

lend

lent

let

lie

lay

lain

light

lit, lighted 1

lit, lighted

lip-read

lose

lost

make

made

mean

meant

meet

met

miscast

misdeal

misdealt

mishear

misheard

mishit

mislay

mislaid

mislead

misled

misread

misspell

misspelt, misspelled

misspend

misspent

mistake

mistook

mistaken

misunderstand

misunderstood

outbid

outdo

outdid

outdone

outgrow

outgrew

outgrown

outrun

outran

outrun

outsell

outsold

outshine

outshone

overbid

overcome

overcame

overcome

overdo

overdid

overdone

overdraw

overdrew

overdrawn

overeat

overate

overeaten

overfeed

overfed

overfly

overflew

overflown

overhang

overhung

overhear

overheard

overlay

overlaid

overpay

overpaid

override

overrode

overridden

overrun

overran

overrun

oversee

oversaw

overseen

oversell

oversold

overshoot

overshot

oversleep

overslept

overspend

overspent

overtake

overtook

overtaken

overthrow

overthrew

overthrown

overwind

overwound

partake

partook

partaken

pay

paid

prepay

prepaid

proofread

put

quit

quit, quitted 2

quit, quitted

read

rebind

rebound

rebuild

rebuilt

recast

redo

redid

redone

redraw

redrew

redrawn

remake

remade

rend

rent

repay

repaid

rerun

reran

rerun

resell

resold

reset

resit

resat

retake

retook

retaken

retell

retold

rethink

rethought

rewind

rewound

rewrite

rewrote

rewritten

rid

ride

rode

ridden

ring

rang

rung

rise

rose

risen

run

ran

run

saw

sawed

sawn

say

said

see

saw

seen

seek

sought

sell

sold

send

sent

set

sew

sewed

sewn

shake

shook

shaken

shed

shine

shone, shined

shoe

shod

shoot

shot

show

showed

shown

shrink

shrank

shrunk

shut

sing

sang

sung

sink

sank

sunk

sit

sat

slay

slew

slain

sleep

slept

slide

slid

sling

slung

slink

slunk

slit

smell

smelt, smelled

smite

smote

smitten

speak

spoke

spoken

speed

speeded, sped

spell

spelt, spelled

spend

spent

spill

spilt, spilled

spin

spun

spit

spat

split

spoil

spoilt, spoiled

spread

spring

sprang

sprung

stand

stood

steal

stole

stolen

stick

stuck

sting

stung

stink

stank, stunk (US)

stunk

strew

strewed

strewn, strewed

stride

strode

stridden

strike

struck

string

strung

strive

strove

striven

swear

swore

sworn

sweep

swept

swell

swelled

swollen

swim

swam

swum

swing

swung

take

took

taken

teach

taught

tear

tore

torn

tell

told

think

thought

throw

threw

thrown

thrust

tread

trod

trodden

unbend

unbent

unbind

unbound

underbid

undercut

underfeed

underfed

undergo

underwent

undergone

underlie

underlay

underlain

underpay

underpaid

undersell

undersold

understand

understood

undertake

undertook

undertaken

underwrite

underwrote

underwritten

undo

undid

undone

unfreeze

unfroze

unfrozen

unmake

unmade

unsay

unsaid

unwind

unwound

uphold

upheld

upset

wake

woke

woken

waylay

waylaid

wear

wore

worn

weave

wove

woven

wed

wed, wedded

weep

wept

win

won

wind

wound

withdraw

withdrew

withdrawn

withhold

withheld

withstand

withstood

wring

wrung

write

wrote

written

Remarks:

a The verb be has two forms in the simple past tense: I, he, she, it→was; you, we, they→were. For further information, see unit unit 6, part 1, section 2.

b The past participle of get is got in British English, but gotten in American English.

c A verb such undergo has two elements under + go. In this case, we form the simple past and the past participle in the same way as the verb go without under:

go→went→gone

undergo→underwent→undergone

An exception to this rule is get:

get→got→got

forget→forgot→forgotten

But in America, people say gotten, as we have already seen above.

d Burn, dream, dwell, kneel, lean, leap, learn, smell, spell, spill and spoil can be regular or irregular. In British English, we usually prefer the irregular form (burnt, dreamt, and so forth). Americans use the regular ones, that is to say, the ones with -ed. As we have seen above, a verb such as misspell should be treated as spell, that is, Americans would say misspelled; but British people, misspelt.

They are also pronounced differently:

dreamt /dremt/

dreamed /dri:md/

(Also kneel, lean and leap. Since leap ends in a voiceless sound, -ed is pronounced /t/: leaped (/li:pt/), but leapt (/lept/).)

spelt /spelt/

spelled /speld/

(Also burn, dwell, learn, smell, spill and spoil.)

e Abide, cost, hang, heave, knit, shine, speed, and a few other verbs, can be regular or irregular, according to the sense we use them. Bid has two forms; each of them with different meanings. If you are in doubt about which form to use, look the verb up in a dictionary.

f Lie is regular when it means "not to tell the truth", but it is irregular when its meaning is "to be in or put your body into a horizontal position":

She lied to me. (= She didn't tell me the truth.)

She lay down a bit, as she felt sick. (= She put her body into a horizontal position.)

g The infinitive of the verb read is pronounced /ri:d/; the simple past and the past participle, /red/.

h Note that the past participle of bear in be born: He was born in 1920, that is, He was brought into the world in 1920.

i Modal verbs are not included in this list because they are defective, that is, they have not all the forms. For instance, we may say I can play football (present ability), or I could play football (past ability); but we may not say I have could play football since I was a child; we have to say I have been able to play football since I was a child. For further information about these verbs, see unit 22.

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1 In British English, the simple past and the past participle is usually lit. Lighted is used before nouns: a lighted cigarette.

2 Especially in British English.

Author: Miquel Molina i Diez