Irregular Verbs: Patterns That Make Them Easier to Learn

Why English has irregular verbs, how to group them by pattern rather than memorising a long list, and the differences between British and American forms.

English verbs form their past tense by adding -ed (walk, walked, walked). But some of the most common verbs don't follow that rule: go, went, gone. These are irregular verbs, and learners need to know them. The good news is that many follow patterns.

Why they exist

Irregular verbs come from older forms of English that predate the -ed rule. Many are the most frequently used verbs in the language, which is why they've kept their old forms: people use them so often that they're memorised, not regularised.

The three forms

Every verb has three main forms:

Base form: sing
Past simple: sang
Past participle: sung (used with have: I have sung)

Regular verbs have the same past simple and past participle; irregular verbs vary.

Group 1: all three forms the same

cut, cut, cut
put, put, put
hit, hit, hit
set, set, set
shut, shut, shut
let, let, let
hurt, hurt, hurt
cost, cost, cost

Group 2: past and participle the same

-ought / -aught endings:

bring, brought, brought
buy, bought, bought
think, thought, thought
fight, fought, fought
teach, taught, taught
catch, caught, caught

-ent endings:

send, sent, sent
spend, spent, spent
lend, lent, lent
bend, bent, bent

Other:

make, made, made
have, had, had
say, said, said
sit, sat, sat
stand, stood, stood
find, found, found
get, got, got (American often gotten)

Group 3: a vowel change (i-a-u)

sing, sang, sung
ring, rang, rung
drink, drank, drunk
swim, swam, swum
begin, began, begun
sink, sank, sunk

Group 4: -ew / -own

know, knew, known
grow, grew, grown
throw, threw, thrown
fly, flew, flown
draw, drew, drawn
blow, blew, blown

Group 5: -en participles

take, took, taken
give, gave, given
eat, ate, eaten
fall, fell, fallen
break, broke, broken
speak, spoke, spoken
write, wrote, written
drive, drove, driven

The most irregular

be: am/is/are, was/were, been
go: go, went, gone
do: do, did, done

British and American differences

learnt / learned, spelt / spelled, dreamt / dreamed, burnt / burned: British English uses both; American English prefers the -ed forms.
got versus gotten: American English uses gotten for "obtained".
dived versus dove, proved versus proven: both forms exist in various regions.

How to learn them

Learn by group, not alphabetically.
Focus on the most common first, perhaps thirty verbs.
Say all three forms aloud, as a rhythm: sing, sang, sung.
Use them in sentences, with have for the participle.
Review regularly, with cards or a quiz.

Common errors

I have went → I have gone
She seen it → She saw it / She has seen it
He brung it → He brought it
They swimmed → They swam

Dictionary tip

Good dictionaries list the irregular forms right beside the base verb, so you can check quickly.

Practice

Choose one group, and write a short story using all the verbs in past simple, then rewrite it in present perfect.

Check irregular verb forms with English Dictionary →