Irregular Verbs: List, Meaning, Rules, Examples, and Exercises with Answers

Irregular Verbs in English Grammar are the verbs that do not follow the standard conjugation rules to change their verb forms into the past tense and past participle. As there is no one rule, this verb type changes its forms in unpredictable ways. Therefore, you will have to memorize the different forms of verbs of irregular verbs. For instance, ‘go’ becomes ‘went’ and ‘gone’; ‘run’ becomes ‘ran’ and ‘run’, ‘bring’ becomes ‘brought’ and ‘brought’, and so on.

Examples:

• He drove his sister to the airport early this morning. (drive)
• He has spoken to the manager about the issue. (speak)
• I knew the answer but forgot to write it on the paper. (know)
• The bird flew out of the open window. (fly)
• We went to the science museum last Saturday. (go)

The table below consists of 20 commonly used English Irregular Verbs:

Base Form (V1)	Past Simple (V2)	Past Participle (V3)
Go	Went	Gone
Eat	Ate	Eaten
Write	Wrote	Written
Come	Came	Come
See	Saw	Seen
Fly	Flew	Flown
Give	Gave	Given
Begin	Began	Begun
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Sing	Sang	Sung
Drink	Drank	Drunk
Wear	Wore	Worn
Bend	Bent	Bent
Bite	Bit	Bitten
Bring	Brought	Brought
Cost	Cost	Cost
Do	Did	Done
Feed	Fed	Fed
Get	Got	Got
Hit	Hit	Hit

As discussed earlier, irregular verbs do not have a specific rule for their verb forms. They need to be memorized and practiced. However, irregular verbs can be grouped into different categories based on how their base form, simple past form, and past participle form are spelled.

Read this section to understand the rules of irregular verbs to help you remember them easily.

Rule 1: Some Irregular Verbs Have the Same Spelling in All Forms

Some irregular verbs in grammar have the same base form, past tense form, and past participle form. These verbs do not change at all in any tense. These verbs are the easiest to remember.

Examples:

Base Form (V1)	Past Simple (V2)	Past Participle (V3)
Put	Put	Put
Hid	Hid	Hid
Let	Let	Let
Shut	Shut	Shut
Cut	Cut	Cut
Spread	Spread	Spread
Burst	Burst	Burst
Hurt	Hurt	Hurt
Cost	Cost	Cost

Rule 2: Some Irregular Verbs Have the Same Simple Past & Past Participle Form

Some irregular verbs have the same second and third forms of the verb; however, the base form is different.

Base Form (V1)	Past Simple (V2)	Past Participle (V3)
Send	Sent	Sent
Say	Said	Said
Build	Built	Built
Feel	Felt	Felt
Sell	Sold	Sold
Hear	Heard	Heard
Buy	Bought	Bought
Leave	Left	Left
Keep	Kept	Kept

Rule 3: Some Irregular Verbs Have Different Spellings in All Verb Forms

These irregular verbs have different base form, simple past form, and past participle form. They are quite difficult to learn and require more practice to remember.

Base Form (V1)	Past Simple (V2)	Past Participle (V3)
Begin	Began	Begun
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Sing	Sang	Sung
Wake	Woke	Woken
Write	Wrote	Written
Speak	Spoke	Spoken
See	Saw	Seen
Overtake	Overtook	Overtaken

Also Read:

• Rules of Transitive Verbs
• Rules of Intransitive Verbs in English

Regular and Irregular Verbs are the two types of verbs in English Grammar. Check out the table below to know the meaning and difference between these verbs.

Basis	Regular Verbs	Irregular Verbs
Meaning	Verbs to which –d or –ed is added to form their past tense and past participle.	Verbs with no fixed pattern to form their past tense and past participle.
Past Tense Form	Formed by adding ‘–d’ or ‘–ed’ to the base form.	No fixed rule; can change completely or remain same
Past Participle Form	Same as the past tense form	Can be the same as the past tense form or completely different from the base and past form.
Spelling Pattern	Regular Verbs follow a regular spelling pattern (adding suffix).	Spelling may change in different patterns.
Example	Walk -> Walked -> Walked	Ring -> Rang -> Rung

Examples of Regular Verbs

Base Form (V1)	Past Simple (V2)	Past Participle (V3)
Play	Played	Played
Talk	Talked	Talked
Clean	Cleaned	Cleaned
Jump	Jumped	Jumped
Call	Called	Called

Examples of Irregular Verbs

Base Form (V1)	Past Simple (V2)	Past Participle (V3)
Catch	Caught	Caught
Cling	Clung	Clung
Kneel	Knelt	Knelt
Meet	Met	Met
Swear	Swore	Sworn

Now that you have learnt the rules and meaning of irregular verbs, along with some examples, let’s understand how to use these verbs in a sentence to write a meaningful sentence or participate in a meaningful conversation:

1. At first, find out the tense of the sentence. Check whether the sentence is in the present, past, or perfect.

Example:

• A sentence is in present perfect tense if it includes 'has’ or ‘have’.
• A sentence is in simple past tense  if it includes 'yesterday'.

2. After identifying the tense, select the correct form of the irregular verb. Remember the following rules for use the correct form of verb.

Tense	Verb Form
Present Tense	Base Form
Past Tense	Past Form
Perfect Tense	Past Participle

Example:

• A sentence is written in present tense and the verb is ‘speak’. In this case, use the base form of verb, 'speak'.
• A sentence is written in perfect tense and the verb is ‘steal’. In this case, use the past participle form of verb, 'stolen'.

3. After deciding which verb form to used in the sentence, place the verb form correctly in that sentence. To do so, ensure that the verb agrees with the subject of the English sentence and matches the helping verb (if it exists).

4. Lastly, read out the sentence and check whether or not it sounds right. Most of the time, if you make any mistake, you can tell it by reading the sentence as it will sound off.

Examples:

1. The manager spoke to me after I have went to his office. (Incorrect)

              The manager spoke to me after I had gone to his office. (Correct)

2. She writed the report before the deadline. (Incorrect)

              She wrote the report before the deadline. (Correct)

3. I have saw that documentary before. (Incorrect)

              I have seen that documentary before. (Correct)

4. He take the wrong file and didn’t notice. (Incorrect)

              He took the wrong file and didn’t notice. (Correct)

Also Read:

English Grammar Rules for Interjections

Exceptions to Direct & Indirect Speech

Different Kinds of Prepositions

Check out some of the best books for English Irregular Verbs:

Book Name	Author’s Name
Conjugation of Verbs & Exercises with Regular and Irregular Verbs	Janggikor Wigger
Irregular Verbs. The Ultimate Guide: That's easy. Just Practise!	Bryan Feldman
Regular and Irregular Verbs: English Verb Forms	Manik Joshi
A Guide to English Irregular Verbs for ESL Learners	Thomas Celentano

These books include a vast list of irregular verbs to learn from.

Also Read:

English Books for Moods	Grammar Books on Articles
Subject and Predicate: Meaning & Books	Active and Passive Voice English Grammar Books

1. I have seen that movie three times already.
2. She wrote a beautiful poem for the competition.
3. I took excellent notes during the lecture.
4. My mother has given me some good advice.
5. The glass broke when it fell off the table.
6. They chose the blue paint for their room.
7. They ate lunch at a new café near school.
8. He sang at the school assembly last week.
9. I have never swum in the ocean before.
10. Someone stole my bicycle from the garage.