Irregular Verbs
A list of irregular verbs in English with notes and conjugation informationWhat 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 not “quitted 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).
© 2006 and 2019 C. Brantley Collins, Jr.