Irregular Verbs

A list of irregular verbs in English with notes and conjugation information

What Are Irregular Verbs?

Regular verbs follow a standard conjugation pattern, with the past tense and past participle forms both taking the suffix -ed:

to create / created / (have) created

to listen / listened / (have) listened

to look / looked / (have) looked

Irregular verbs do not follow this pattern. Their past tense and past participle forms may not take the suffix -ed, and these forms may also be different from each other. They do not necessarily follow a predictable pattern. And for many irregular verbs, there is more than one accepted past tense and/or past participle form:

to do / did / (have) done

to feel / felt / (have) felt

to see / saw / (have) seen

There are so many frequently used irregular verbs in English that regular speakers of the language are used to conjugating them without thinking. However, errors are quite common, especially with more obscure verbs that we don’t encounter very often, so it is helpful to be able to look these verbs up when we’re not sure of the correct form.

About This List

The list on this page is a more or less comprehensive list of irregular verbs in contemporary American English. Some of these verbs are less commonly used than others, of course, but you may encounter all of them in your reading. I put this list together very carefully to ensure its accuracy, but please let me know if you find anything you think may be incorrect. For verbs with more than one acceptable form, the most common form is listed first, with archaic, rarely used, or questionable forms in parentheses. (In some cases, more than one form is quite common, but when in doubt, use the first form listed.) Special attention should be paid to verbs marked with an asterisk, which are commonly used verbs that for various reasons tend to give students some difficulty.

In your writing, keep in mind that for verbs with both traditional irregular forms and regular forms (e.g., dreamt vs. dreamed), the traditional form tends to convey a greater sense of formality, antiquity, and poetry, while the regular form conveys informality, modernity, and colloquiality, as in everyday conversation—and perhaps more Americanness as well.

In the list below, the first form given for each verb is the infinitive form (without to), followed by the past tense form and the past participle form. (The easiest way to distinguish the past participle form is to mentally add have or has before it.) Present tense and present participle forms almost always follow the regular conjugation pattern, so they are not listed here.

A – B

alight
alighted (alit)
alighted (alit)

*arise
arose
arisen

awake[1]
awoke, awaked
awoken, awaked

*be
was/were[2]
been

*bear
bore
borne (born)[3]

*beat
beat
beaten (beat)

*become
became
become

beget
begot
begotten

begin
began
begun

bend
bent
bent

bereave
bereaved, bereft
bereaved, bereft

beseech
beseeched (besought)
beseeched (besought)

*bet
bet (betted)
bet (betted)

bid
bade, bid
bidden, bid (bade)

bide
bode, bided[4]
bided

bind
bound
bound

bite
bit
bitten

bleed
bled
bled

*bless
blessed (blest)
blessed (blest)

blow
blew
blown

break
broke
broken

breed
bred
bred

*bring
brought
brought

*broadcast
broadcast, broadcasted
broadcast, broadcasted

*build
built
built

burn
burned, burnt
burned, burnt

*burst
burst
burst

bust
busted (bust)
busted (bust)

buy
bought
bought

C – E

*can
could
N/A

*cast
cast
cast

catch
caught
caught

*choose
chose
chosen

cleave (“to adhere, stick”)
cleaved, clove (clave)
cleaved

cleave (“to split”)
cleaved (cleft, clove)
cleaved (cleft, cloven)[5]

cling
clung
clung

clothe
clothed, clad
clothed, clad

*come
came
come

*cost
cost
cost

*creep
crept
crept

crow
crowed (crew)
crowed (crew)

*cut
cut
cut

deal
dealt
dealt

dig
dug
dug

dive
dove, dived
dived (dove)

do
did
done

draw
drew
drawn

*dream
dreamed, dreamt
dreamed, dreamt

*drink
drank
drunk

drive
drove
driven

drown[6]
drowned
drowned

*dwell
dwelled, dwelt
dwelled, dwelt

eat
ate
eaten

F – J

fall
fell
fallen

feed
fed
fed

feel
felt
felt

fight
fought
fought

find
found
found

flee
fled
fled

fling
flung
flung

fly
flew
flown

forbid
forbade (forbad)
forbidden

*forecast
forecast (forecasted)
forecast (forecasted)

forget
forgot
forgotten (forgot)

forgive
forgave
forgiven

forsake
forsook
forsaken

*found (“to establish”)[7]
founded
founded

freeze
froze
frozen

get
got
gotten, got

gild
gilded, gilt
gilded, gilt

give
gave
given

*go
went
gone

grind
ground
ground

grow
grew
grown

hang
hung
hung

*hang (“to kill by hanging”)
hanged
hanged

have
had
had

hear
heard
heard

heave
heaved (hove)
heaved (hove)

hew
hewed
hewed, hewn

hide
hid
hidden, hid

*hit
hit
hit

hold
held
held

*hurt
hurt
hurt

K – Q

keep
kept
kept

kneel
knelt, kneeled
knelt, kneeled

knit
knitted, knit
knitted, knit

know
knew
known

*lay
laid
laid

*lead
led
led

leap
leaped, leapt
leaped, leapt

*learn
learned (learnt)
learned (learnt)

leave
left
left

*lend
lent
lent

let
let
let

lie (“to tell an untruth”)[8] 
lied
lied

*lie (“to rest or recline”)
lay
lain

light
lit, lighted
lit, lighted

lose
lost
lost

make
made
made

*may
might
N/A

mean
meant
meant

meet
met
met

mow
mowed
mowed, mown

pay
paid
paid

pen
penned
penned (pent)[9]

*plead
pleaded, pled (plead)
pled, pleaded (plead)

podcast[10]
podcast, podcasted
podcast, podcasted

prove
proved
proven, proved

*put
put
put

quit
quit (quitted)[11]
quit (quitted)

[1] Don’t confuse to awake with the regular verb to awaken.

[2] To be is the only verb in English with singular and plural past tense forms. It is also noteworthy in that it has three present tense forms: is (singular), are (plural), and am (used with the subject “I.”)

[3] When used in the passive voice to mean “given birth to,” born is far more common: “She was born on November 7th, 1971.”  This also holds true for its common use as an attributive adjective: “American-born,” “born of experience,” etc. In the active voice, however, as in other uses of the word, borne is far more common: “She has borne three children.”

[4] In this verb’s most common use, in the phrase “to bide one’s time,” bided is more widely used.

[5] Cleft is the standard form in the expression “cleft palate.”

[6] Although to drown is a regular verb, its similarity to verbs like known and drawn may cause confusion.

[7] Although to found is a regular verb, it is sometimes confused with to find.

[8] Although lie in this sense is a regular verb, it is included here to make the distinction between the different conjugation patterns clear.

[9] Pent is not normally used as a verb, but it is used quite commonly as an adjective in the expression “pent up.” According to some sources, it is not a form of to pen at all, but a form of the obsolete verb to pend.

[10] The usage of podcast may not be fully established because it is a relatively new word, but its conjugation pattern seems to follow that of all of the verbs that end in –cast (e.g., broadcast).

[11] My experience suggests that although the form quitted is sometimes used to mean left, as in “quitted the room” (but notquitted my job”), it is rarely used in other senses of the word.

R – Sh

read
read
read

rid
rid (ridded)
rid (ridded)

ride
rode
ridden

ring
rang
rung

rise
rose
risen

run
ran
run

saw (“to cut with a saw”)
sawed
sawn, sawed

say
said[12]
said

*see
saw
seen

*seek
sought
sought

sell
sold
sold

send
sent
sent

*set
set
set

sew
sewed
sewn, sewed

shake
shook
shaken

shall
should
N/A

shear
sheared
shorn, sheared

shed
shed
shed

*shine
shone, shined[13]
shone, shined

shoe
shod (shoed)
shod (shoed)

shoot
shot
shot

show
showed
shown, showed

*shrink
shrank (shrunk)
shrunk, shrunken

*shut
shut
shut

Si – Sp

*sing
sang
sung

*sink
sank
sunk

sit
sat
sat

*slay
slew (slayed)[1]
slain

sleep
slept
slept

slide
slid
slid

sling
slung
slung

slink
slunk (slinked)
slunk

slit
slit
slit

smell
smelled, smelt
smelled, smelt

smite
smote
smitten, smote

sow
sowed
sown, sowed

speak
spoke
spoken

speed
sped, speeded
sped, speeded

spend
spent
spent

*spill
spilled (spilt)
spilled (spilt)[2]

spin
spun
spun

spit
spat
spat

*split
split
split

spoil
spoiled (spoilt)
spoiled (spoilt)

*spread
spread
spread

*spring
sprang, sprung
sprung

St – T

stand
stood
stood

steal
stole
stolen

stick
stuck
stuck

sting
stung
stung

stink
stank, stunk
stunk

*stride
strode
stridden

strike
struck
struck (stricken)[16]

string
strung
strung

*strive
strove (strived)
striven, strived

swear
swore
sworn

*sweat
sweated, sweat
sweated, sweat

sweep
swept
swept

swell
swelled
swelled, swollen[17]

swim
swam
swum

*swing
swung
swung

take
took
taken

teach
taught
taught

*tear[18]
tore
torn

*telecast
telecast, telecasted
telecast, telecasted

tell
told
told

think
thought
thought

throw
threw
thrown

*thrust
thrust
thrust

tread
trod (treaded)
trodden, trod

U – Z

understand
understood
understood

wake
woke, waked
woken, waked

wear
wore
worn

weave
wove, weaved
woven, weaved

webcast[19]
webcast, webcasted
webcast, webcasted

wed
wedded (wed)
wedded (wed)

weep
wept
wept

wet
wet, wetted
wet, wetted

win
won
won

wind (“to coil”)
wound (winded)
wound (winded)

wring
wrung
wrung

write
wrote
written

[12] Be sure to pronounce this as “sed,” not “sayed.”

[13] Shone is the correct form to use for all intransitive uses of the word: “the stars shone brightly,” “his face shone with excitement.” Strictly speaking, shined should only be used in the sense of to polish, as in “he shined my shoes,” although you may hear it commonly used in other senses, such as “shined the flashlight on me.”

[14] Normally, slayed only occurs in the more informal usage “to greatly amuse,” as in “the comedian slayed the audience.”

[15] Spilt is still quite common as an attributive adjective, as in “spilt milk.”

[16] Stricken is common as an adjective: “guilt-stricken parents,” “disease-stricken populace.”

[17] As an adjective, swollen is much more common than swelled: “swollen gums.”

[18] Don’t confuse this verb with the regular verb that is pronounced /teer/ and means “to fill with tears.”

[19] The usage of webcast may not be fully established because it is a relatively new word, but its conjugation pattern seems to follow that of all of the verbs that end in –cast (e.g., broadcast).

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© 2006 and 2019 C. Brantley Collins, Jr.