Irregular Verb List
So you’re looking for an irregular verb list? Well look no further. English has so many irregular verbs that you begin to wonder if there are any regular ones. Don’t worry. There are still plenty of verbs whose past simple and past participle forms end in a simple -ed. But below you’ll find an alphabetical list of irregular verbs – those whose simple past and past participle forms do not end in -ed
What’s on an Irregular Verb List?
Obviously, you’re going to find irregular verbs on an irregular verb list. Usually, there are three columns on an irregular verb list. The first column is the base form of the verb. The base form is the verb in its purest form – not present, past or continuous, not even infinitive (no “to” preceding it). It’s just the verb, plain and simple.
The second column is usually the verb in its simple past form. This is the form you use when you talk about something that happened in the past – just one event, not relative to any other event. For example, in the following sentence, we see the verb “eat” in its past simple form:
- I ate 5 foot-long hot dogs.
The third column is the verb in its past participle form. The past participle is the form we use after "have" or "had" as in the present and past perfect examples here:
- We have been to Rome several times.
- I’ve gotten sick every winter since I was a kid.
- He had never flown in an airplane before his trip to Guatemala.
We also often use the past participle as an adjective:
- I’ve broken my arm 4 times. (verb)
- The stereo is broken. (adjective)
Irregular Verb List
The following list is no different. On it, the first verb you’ll see is the base form of the verb. In the middle is the simple past form, and the third form is the past participle.
- awake - awoke - awoken
- be - was/were - been
- beat - beat - beaten
- become - became - become
- begin - began - begun
- bend - bent - bent
- bet - bet - bet
- bid - bid - bid
- bite - bit - bitten
- blow - blew - blown
- break - broke - broken
- bring - brought - brought
- broadcast - broadcast - broadcast
- build - built - built
- burn - burned - burnt
- buy - bought - bought
- catch - caught - caught
- choose - chose - chosen
- come - came - come
- cost - cost - cost
- cut - cut - cut
- dig - dug - dug
- do - did - done
- draw - drew - drawn
- drive - drove - driven
- drink - drank - drunk
- eat - ate - eaten
- fall - fell - fallen
- feel - felt - felt
- fight - fought - fought
- find - found - found
- fly - flew - flown
- forget - forgot - forgotten
- forgive - forgave - forgiven
- freeze - froze - frozen
- get - got - gotten
- give - gave - given
- go - went - gone
- grow - grew - grown
- hang - hung - hung
- have - had - had
- hear - heard - heard
- hide - hid - hidden
- hit - hit - hit
- hold - held - held
- hurt - hurt - hurt
- keep - kept - kept
- know - knew - known
- lay - laid - laid
- lead - led - led
- leave - left - left
- lend - lent - lent
- let - let - let
- lie - lay - lain
- lose - lost - lost
- make - made - made
- mean - meant - meant
- meet - met - met
- pay - paid - paid
- put - put - put
- read - read - read
- ride - rode - ridden
- ring - rang - rung
- rise - rose - risen
- run - ran - run
- say - said - said
- see - saw - seen
- sell - sold - sold
- send - sent - sent
- show - showed - showed/shown
- shut - shut - shut
- sing - sang - sung
- sit - sat - sat
- sleep - slept - slept
- speak - spoke - spoken
- spend - spent - spent
- stand - stood - stood
- swim - swam - swum
- take - took - taken
- teach - taught - taught
- tear - tore - torn
- tell - told - told
- think - thought - thought
- throw - threw - thrown
- understand - understood - understood
- wake - woke - woken
- wear - wore - worn
- win - won - won
- write - wrote - written
It may look like a lot, but that’s not even all of them. It is, however, the vast majority of the more common irregular verbs used in American English, so just concentrate on learning this list, and you’ll be fine.