Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular and Irregular Verbs

 

Verbs are subdivided into two groups, regular verbs and irregular verbs, on the basis of how their past tense and past participles are formed. See below for tips on how to distinguish between them.

 

Regular Verbs

Most verbs are regular verbs. Regular verbs are those whose past tense and past participles are formed by adding a -d or an -ed to the end of the verb. 

"To roll" is a good example of a regular verb: 

· roll, rolled, rolled

Sometimes the last consonant must be doubled before adding the -ed ending. For example:

· plan, planned, planned 

 

Irregular Verbs

There is no formula to predict how an irregular verb will form its past-tense and past-participle forms. There are over 250 irregular verbs in English. Although they do not follow a formula, there are some fairly common irregular forms. Some of these forms are:

· break, broke, broken

· cut, cut, cut

· run, ran, run

· meet, met, met

· come, came, come

· repay, repaid, repaid

· swim, swam, swum

· be was/were been 

 

Distinguishing Regular and Irregular Verbs

Dictionaries are perhaps the most valuable tool one can use in distinguishing between regular and irregular verbs. If only one form of the verb is listed, the verb is regular. If the verb is irregular, the dictionary will list the principal parts of the other forms.

Regular Verbs

BASE FORM	SIMPLE PAST	PAST PARTICIPLE
Accept	Accepted	Accepted
Achieve	Achieved	Achieved
Add	Added	Added
Admire	Admired	Admirer
Admit	Admitted	Admitted
Adopt	Adopted	Adopted
Advise	Advised	Advised
Agree	Agreed	Agreed
Allow	Allowed	Allowed
Announce	Announced	Announced
Appreciate	Appreciated	Appreciated
Approve	Approved	Approved
Argue	Argued	Argued
Arrive	Arrived	Arrived
Ask	Asked	Asked
Assist	Assisted	Assisted
Attack	Attacked	Attacked
Bake	Baked	Baked
Beg	Begged	Begged
Behave	Behaved	Behaved
Boil	Boiled	Boiled
Borrow	Borrowed	Borrowed
Brush	Brushed	Brushed
Bury	Buried	Buried
Call	Called	Called
Challenge	Challenged	Challenged
Change	Changed	Changed
Chase	Chased	Chased
Cheat	Cheated	Cheated
Cheer	Cheered	Cheered
Chew	Chewed	Chewed
Clap	Clapped	Clapped
Clean	Cleaned	Cleaned
Collect	Collected	Collected
Compare	Compared	Compared
Complain	Complained	Complained
Confess	Confessed	Confessed
Construct	Constructed	Constructed
Control	Controlled	Controlled
Copy	Copied	Copied
Count	Counted	Counted
Create	Created	Created
Cry	Cried	Cried
Cycle	Cycled	Cycled
Damage	Damaged	Damaged
Dance	Danced	Danced
Deliver	Delivered	Delivered
Destroy	Destroyed	Destroyed
Divide	Divided	Divided
Drag	Dragged	Dragged
Earn	Earned	Earned
Employ	Employed	Employed
Encourage	Encouraged	Encouraged
Enjoy	Enjoyed	Enjoyed
Establish	Established	Established
Estimate	Estimated	Estimated
Exercise	Exercised	Exercised
Expand	Expanded	Expanded
Explain	Explained	Explained
Fry	Fried	Fried
Gather	Gathered	Gathered
Greet	Greeted	Greeted
Guess	Guessed	Guessed
Harass	Harassed	Harassed
Hate	Hated	Hated
Help	Helped	Helped
Hope	Hoped	Hoped
Identify	Identified	Identified
Interrupt	Interrupted	Interrupted
Introduce	Introduced	Introduced
Irritate	Irritated	Irritated
Joke	Joked	Joked
Jump	Jumped	Jumped
Kick	Kicked	Kicked
Kill	Killed	Killed
Kiss	Kissed	Kissed
Laugh	Laughed	Laughed
Lie	Lied	Lied
Like	Liked	Liked
Listen	Listened	Listened
Love	Loved	Loved
Marry	Married	Married
Measure	Measured	Measured
Move	Moved	Moved
Murder	Murdered	Murdered
Need	Needed	Needed
Obey	Obeyed	Obeyed
Offend	Offended	Offended
Offer	Offered	Offered
Open	Opened	Opened
Paint	Painted	Painted
Park	Parked	Parked
Phone	Phoned	Phoned
Pick	Picked	Picked
Play	Played	Played
Pray	Prayed	Prayed
Print	Printed	Printed
Pull	Pulled	Puled
Punch	Punched	Punched
Punish	Punished	Punished
Purchase	Purchased	Purchased
Push	Pushed	Pushed
Question	Questioned	Questioned
Race	Raced	Raced
Relax	Relaxed	Relaxed
Remember	Remembered	Remembered
Reply	Replied	Replied
Retire	Retired	Retired
Return	Returned	Returned
Rub	Rubbed	Rubbed
Scold	Scolded	Scolded
Select	Selected	Selected
Smoke	Smoked	Smoked
Snore	Snored	Snored
Stare	Stared	Stared
Start	Started	Started
Study	Studied	Studied
Talk	Talked	Talked
Thank	Thanked	Thanked
Travel	Traveled	Traveled
Trouble	Troubled	Troubled
Type	Typed	Typed
Use	Used	Used
Visit	Visited	Visited
Wait	Waited	Waited
Walk	Walked	Walked
Want	Wanted	Wanted
Warn	Warned	Warned
Wink	Winked	Winked
Worry	Worried	Worried
Yell	Yelled	Yelled

Irregular Verbs

BASE FORM	SIMPLE PAST	PAST PARTICIPLE
Be	Was, Were	Been
Beat	Beat	Beaten
Become	Became	Become
Begin	Began	Begun
Bet	Bet	Bet
Bite	Bit	Bitten
Break	Broke	Broken
Bring	Brought	Brought
Build	Built	Built
Burn	Burnt	Burnt
Buy	Bought	Bought
Catch	Caught	Caught
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Come	Came	Come
Cut	Cut	Cut
Dig	Dug	Dug
Do	Did	Done
Dream	Dreamt	Dreamt
Drink	Drank	Drunk
Drive	Drove	Driven
Eat	Ate	Eaten
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Feel	Felt	Felt
Fight	Fought	Fought
Find	Found	Found
Fly	Flew	Flown
Forget	Forgot	Forgotten
Forgive	Forgave	Forgiven
Get	Got	Got
Give	Gave	Given
Go	Went	Gone
Grow	Grew	Grown
Hang	Hung	Hung
Have	Had	Had
Hear	Heard	Heard
Hide	Hid	Hidden
Hit	Hit	Hit
Hold	Held	Held
Hurt	Hurt	Hurt
Keep	Kept	Kept
Know	Knew	Known
Learn	Learnt	Learnt
Leave	Left	Left
Lend	Lent	Lent
Lose	Lost	Lost
Make	Made	Made
Meet	Met	Met
Pay	Paid	Paid
Put	Put	Put
Read	Read	Read
Ride	Rode	Ridden
Ring	Rang	Rung
Run	Ran	Run
Say	Said	Said
See	Saw	Seen
Sell	Sold	Sold
Send	Sent	Sent
Sing	Sang	Sung
Sleep	Slept	Slept
Speak	Spoke	Spoken
Stand	Stood	Stood
Sweep	Swept	Swept
Swim	Swam	Swum
Take	Took	Taken
Teach	Taught	Taught
Tear	Tore	Torn
Tell	Told	Told
Think	Thought	Thought
Throw	Threw	Threw
Understand	Understood	Understood
Wake	Woke	Waken
Wear	Wore	Worn
Weep	Wept	Wept
Win	Won	Won
Write	Wrote	Written

 

 Sources :

http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/irregularverbs/ ( Accessed on 04 May 2015 )

http://www.englishleap.com/grammar/list-of-irregular-verbs ( Accessed on 04 May 2015 )

http://www.englishleap.com/grammar/list-of-regular-verbs ( Accessed on 04 May 2015 )