Irregular Verbs
Learn the recognisable patterns among irregular verbs, a set of especially common ones worth knowing well, and a practical strategy for learning the rest.
Verbs that don’t follow the rule
Irregular verbs change their own way, not with -ed.
An irregular verb does not form its past form and past participle by adding -ed. Instead, it changes in its own way, and while these changes often follow recognisable patterns, they still need to be learned individually.
Go, went, gone shows three distinct forms. Eat, ate, eaten follows a similar shape. Put, put, put does not change at all across all three forms.
This lesson groups irregular verbs by pattern, highlights a set of especially common ones, and offers a practical way to approach learning them.
Before you begin
Irregular verbs are one of five topics on verb forms.
This lesson focuses on irregular verbs specifically. Verb forms as a whole include four other topics, each covered in its own lesson.
If you would like an overview of verb forms in general, begin with the Verb Forms page.
The central idea
A regular verb repeats one ending; an irregular verb does not.
Compare the three forms of a regular verb with the three forms of an irregular one.
01
Regular
work, worked, worked
02
Irregular
go, went, gone
The useful question is: does the same ending repeat across all three forms?
Worked appears twice, following the predictable -ed pattern. Went and gone are both different from go, and from each other.
Common patterns among irregular verbs
Most irregular verbs fall into one of a few recognisable shapes.
All three forms are identical
put, put, put
cut, cut, cut
hit, hit, hit
The past form and past participle match each other
buy, bought, bought
bring, brought, brought
think, thought, thought
All three forms are different
go, went, gone
eat, ate, eaten
see, saw, seen
A vowel change carries through all three forms
sing, sang, sung
drink, drank, drunk
swim, swam, swum
A few especially common irregular verbs
These verbs appear constantly in everyday English.
be → am/is/are, was/were, been
have → have/has, had, had
do → do/does, did, done
say → say, said, said
get → get, got, got (or gotten)
make → make, made, made
know → know, knew, known
A note on gotten
The past participle of get varies by region: gotten is common in American English, while got is more common in British English, for the past participle.
A practical learning strategy
Learning by pattern is easier than learning one long list.
There is no shortcut that removes the need to memorise irregular verbs, but grouping them by pattern, as shown above, makes them easier to remember than a single unordered list. Starting with the most frequently used irregular verbs, such as those listed above, covers a large share of everyday spoken and written English.
A useful decision guide
Ask which pattern this irregular verb might follow.
01
Do all three forms look identical?
Verbs like put and cut do not change at all.
02
Do the past form and past participle match each other?
Verbs like buy and think share one changed form for both.
03
Are all three forms different from one another?
Verbs like go and eat need all three forms memorised individually.
04
Is this one of the especially common irregular verbs?
These are worth learning first, since they appear so often.
Common mistakes
Regularizing an irregular verb is the most frequent slip.
An irregular verb is not given a regular -ed ending.
Not: She goed to the store.
Correct: She went to the store.
The past form is not used where the past participle is needed.
Not: She has ate breakfast already.
Correct: She has eaten breakfast already.
The past participle is not used where the simple past form is needed.
Not: She seen the film last week.
Correct: She saw the film last week.
Check your understanding
Which form correctly completes each sentence?
Choose the correct answer for each sentence.
He __________ his coffee before leaving.
✅ Exactly! “Drink” is irregular, with “drank” as its past form.
❎ Not quite. “Drink” does not follow the regular -ed pattern.
Compare this to “sing” becoming “sang”.
I have __________ her for many years.
✅ Exactly! “Known” is the past participle needed after “have”.
❎ Not quite. “Knew” is the past form, not the past participle.
What comes right before this word?
She __________ the paper into small pieces yesterday.
✅ Exactly! “Cut” stays the same across all three forms.
❎ Not quite. “Cut” belongs to the group of irregular verbs that never change.
Compare this to “put, put, put”.
Choose the best explanation
Select the sentence that explains the mistake correctly.
Why is “She goed to the store.” not correctly formed?
✅ Exactly! “Go” is one of many irregular verbs that do not take the regular -ed ending.
❎ Not quite. Focus on the verb “goed” itself.
Why is “She has ate breakfast already.” not correctly formed?
✅ Exactly! “Eat” has three distinct forms, and “eaten” is required after “has”.
❎ Not quite. “Has” correctly matches the singular subject “she”.
Quick review
Irregular verbs change their own way, often in recognisable patterns.
An irregular verb does not form its past form and past participle by adding -ed.
Common patterns include verbs where all three forms match, where the past form and participle match each other, where all three forms differ, and where a vowel change runs through all three.
A small set of especially common irregular verbs, including be, have, do and say, are worth learning first.
There is no shortcut to memorising irregular verbs, but grouping them by pattern makes the task more manageable.
Remember
If the -ed pattern doesn’t fit, check the verb’s own three forms individually.
When a verb doesn’t follow the regular pattern, its base form, past form and past participle each need to be confirmed on their own, rather than assumed.