To learn irregular English verbs quickly, practise what happened yesterday, what has happened already, and what has not happened yet. The difference between went and gone, wrote and written, or drank and drunk matters because past simple and past participle forms do different grammatical jobs. A learner who knows “I went yesterday” and “I have gone already” can describe real events more accurately than someone who only reads a long verb table.
If you searched for irregular verbs in English, past tense verbs list, irregular verbs with examples, past simple and past participle, or how to learn irregular verbs fast, this guide provides sixty distinct irregular verbs, correct forms, original example sentences, grammar explanations, group-based memory drills, a seven-day plan and a twenty-question quiz.
Quick answer — four steps: Learn a verb in one useful sentence. Compare its base, past simple and past participle. Hide the list and retrieve the correct form from a time-based cue. Use it in a new sentence the next day. For example: write–wrote–written; “I wrote the email yesterday”; “I have written the email.” Avoid writed and have wrote in standard English.
What are irregular verbs and how do you use them?
Most regular English verbs add -ed or a related spelling to form the past and past participle: work–worked–worked, play–played–played. Irregular verbs use other patterns. Some change vowels, some replace the word form entirely, some have the same spelling throughout.
The past simple commonly describes a completed past event: “She went to the clinic yesterday.” A past participle is used with perfect constructions and passive constructions: “She has gone to the clinic”; “The file was written yesterday.” Do not assume the participle can simply replace the past tense.
The Cambridge Dictionary irregular verbs table provides a comprehensive reference with the three principal forms. The British Council past-simple reference explains when simple past is used and how negatives and questions work. The list below is a selected learning resource, not a measured list of the sixty most frequent English verbs.
Sixty useful irregular English verbs with forms and original sentences
Read the base, past and participle forms in order. Then read the sentence and say another sentence from your own experience. The first example uses past simple; later sections explain how to use participles.
Group 1: Six indispensable verbs
- 1. be — was/were — been — used for state, identity and descriptions. We were ready before the meeting.
- 2. have — had — had — possession or experience. We had a short meeting yesterday.
- 3. do — did — done — actions and auxiliary grammar. She did the work before lunch.
- 4. go — went — gone — movement or travel. We went to the museum on Saturday.
- 5. come — came — come — movement towards someone or somewhere. My colleague came early.
- 6. get — got — got/gotten — receiving, becoming and other senses. I got the confirmation this morning.
What to notice: These six verbs are frequent in useful conversations, but none has just one meaning. Get may mean receive, become or arrive in different expressions. Be changes with the subject: I was, they were. With go, distinguish past went from participle gone. A good memory card includes the complete sentence and the time being described.
Group 2: Actions, giving and reporting
- 7. make — made — made — creating or completing. We made a decision on Friday.
- 8. take — took — taken — carrying, choosing or travelling. She took the earlier train.
- 9. give — gave — given — providing or transferring. He gave me a receipt.
- 10. put — put — put — placing. I put the file on the desk.
- 11. say — said — said — reporting spoken words. She said the appointment was confirmed.
- 12. tell — told — told — communicating to a person. I told the receptionist about the problem.
What to notice: Put has the same written form across these three columns; take does not. Say and tell have different grammar: “She said hello” but “She told me the news”. When you use a verb form, check its object and preposition, not only the spelling.
Group 3: Speaking, seeing and thinking
- 13. speak — spoke — spoken — talking or using a language. We spoke to the support team.
- 14. hear — heard — heard — perceiving sound. I heard the announcement.
- 15. see — saw — seen — perceiving visually. I saw the notice yesterday.
- 16. read — read — read — understanding written words. I read the instructions last night.
- 17. know — knew — known — possessing information. She knew the answer.
- 18. think — thought — thought — forming an opinion or idea. We thought the route was shorter.
What to notice: Read is especially tricky because its spelling is unchanged: the present-tense pronunciation commonly uses the vowel in reed, while the past and participle use the vowel in red. Speak, spoke, spoken must not be replaced by the regular form speaked. Hear these expressions in sentences with reliable dictionary audio.
Group 4: Understanding and transactions
- 19. understand — understood — understood — grasping meaning. I understood the main question.
- 20. feel — felt — felt — experiencing emotion or sensation. She felt relieved afterwards.
- 21. buy — bought — bought — purchasing. He bought two notebooks.
- 22. pay — paid — paid — making payment. They paid by card.
- 23. sell — sold — sold — selling. The shop sold the last blue jacket.
- 24. send — sent — sent — transmitting something. I sent the revised document.
What to notice: A financial action needs an accurate verb. Bought and sold describe opposite sides of a purchase; paid reports payment. Sent means transmission, not necessarily successful delivery or receipt. Understood describes comprehension, which is different from simply hearing or reading words.
Group 5: Moving things and making choices
- 25. bring — brought — brought — taking something towards a destination. I brought the form to reception.
- 26. spend — spent — spent — using time or money. We spent an hour studying.
- 27. eat — ate — eaten — consuming food. They ate together after work.
- 28. drink — drank — drunk — consuming liquid. She drank some water.
- 29. choose — chose — chosen — selecting. We chose the quieter route.
- 30. find — found — found — locating or discovering. I found the missing keys.
What to notice: Eat–ate–eaten and drink–drank–drunk have distinct past and participle forms. “She drank some water” is simple past; “She has drunk some water” uses the participle. Chosen follows has/have/had in perfect constructions or can appear in passive grammar.
Group 6: Keeping, leaving and starting
- 31. lose — lost — lost — misplacing or no longer having. She lost her umbrella.
- 32. keep — kept — kept — retaining. I kept the receipt.
- 33. leave — left — left — departing. The bus left at six.
- 34. meet — met — met — encountering or gathering. I met a new colleague.
- 35. hold — held — held — organising an event or holding physically. The team held a meeting.
- 36. begin — began — begun — starting. The lecture began on time.
What to notice: “The bus left” reports a departure. “The meeting began” reports a start. “The meeting has begun” links a completed start to the present. If a plan is still only proposed, do not use an irregular past verb to imply it already happened.
Group 7: Changing, building and travelling
- 37. break — broke — broken — becoming damaged. The handle broke yesterday.
- 38. build — built — built — constructing. They built a simple model.
- 39. write — wrote — written — producing text. I wrote a report.
- 40. drive — drove — driven — operating a vehicle. She drove to the station.
- 41. ride — rode — ridden — travelling on a bicycle or animal. He rode his bicycle to work.
- 42. fly — flew — flown — travelling by air. They flew to another city.
What to notice: Break–broke–broken often describes accidental damage. Write–wrote–written links to reports and messages. In a professional update, “I wrote the report” and “I have written the report” are related but highlight different time perspectives.
Group 8: Movement, sleep and clothing
- 43. run — ran — run — moving quickly on foot. She ran to catch the bus.
- 44. sit — sat — sat — being seated. He sat near the window.
- 45. stand — stood — stood — being upright. We stood in the queue.
- 46. sleep — slept — slept — resting in sleep. I slept well last night.
- 47. wake — woke — woken — ending sleep. She woke up early.
- 48. wear — wore — worn — having clothing on. He wore a blue shirt.
What to notice: Run–ran–run is not a form of rise–rose–risen. Wake–woke–woken concerns ending sleep. Wore is simple past while worn is the participle. Learn a realistic scene for each instead of memorising only their alphabetical position.
Group 9: Change, teaching and memory
- 49. fall — fell — fallen — moving downwards. The book fell from the shelf.
- 50. rise — rose — risen — increasing. The price rose last month.
- 51. teach — taught — taught — helping someone learn. She taught the new process.
- 52. learn — learnt/learned — learnt/learned — acquiring knowledge. I learned a useful phrase.
- 53. catch — caught — caught — catching or boarding. We caught the last train.
- 54. forget — forgot — forgotten — failing to remember. I forgot the appointment.
What to notice: Learned and learnt are both accepted in different English varieties and contexts. Fall–fell–fallen and rise–rose–risen are intransitive in the simple examples: something falls or rises. Catch–caught–caught can mean catch a ball or catch a bus; the context chooses the meaning.
Group 10: Forgiveness and unchanged forms
- 55. forgive — forgave — forgiven — ceasing to hold a wrong against someone. She forgave the mistake.
- 56. cut — cut — cut — dividing with a tool. He cut the paper.
- 57. hit — hit — hit — striking. The ball hit the wall.
- 58. let — let — let — permitting. The manager let us leave early.
- 59. set — set — set — placing or establishing. We set a date for the review.
- 60. cost — cost — cost — having a price. The ticket cost ten dollars.
What to notice: Cut, hit, let, set and cost often remain unchanged in base, past and participle forms for the senses illustrated. That does not mean their grammar is irrelevant: a third-person present form may still add -s, as in “It costs ten dollars.” Some senses of cost have specialised alternatives, so use verified examples for technical contexts.
The critical difference: past simple versus past participle
Imagine you buy a ticket. Yesterday, you can say “I bought a ticket.” That is a simple-past sentence with a completed event. If someone asks whether you’ve finished buying it, you might say “I have bought a ticket already.” Here, bought is a past participle but happens to have the same form as the past simple.
Now consider write: “I wrote the report yesterday” uses past simple. “I have written the report” uses the participle. The forms are different, so “I have wrote the report” is not standard English.
Compare take–took–taken, see–saw–seen, choose–chose–chosen and begin–began–begun. These are particularly useful because a learner may correctly remember the past form and wrongly reuse it after have.
The phrase “past participle” names a grammatical form, not a guarantee of a specific tense. Participles also occur in passive constructions: “The documents were sent yesterday”; “The decision has been made.”
Five helpful irregular-verb patterns
1. No visible change
Put–put–put, cut–cut–cut, hit–hit–hit and set–set–set are examples where the written form stays the same across base, past simple and participle in the senses given. But putting still takes double t and the third-person present is puts.
A useful sentence pair is “I put the bag on the shelf yesterday” versus “I put it there every day”. The time expression or surrounding grammar indicates which meaning is intended.
2. Past simple and participle match
Buy–bought–bought, send–sent–sent, keep–kept–kept, think–thought–thought and have–had–had belong to this useful group.
You can write “I sent the report” and “I have sent the report” without changing sent. But the larger sentences still differ in their grammar and time relationship.
3. Three distinct forms
Write–wrote–written, take–took–taken, drink–drank–drunk, choose–chose–chosen and begin–began–begun have distinct base, past and participle forms.
Learn them in sentence triplets. “I write reports”; “I wrote a report yesterday”; “I have written the report.” Changing time provides a clearer memory cue than reciting three sounds without meaning.
4. Past changes, participle returns to the base
Come–came–come, become–became–become (another useful verb), and run–ran–run illustrate a pattern in which the participle is the same as the base. “She came yesterday”; “She has come today.” “I ran last week”; “I have run before.”
Do not mistake run as the past simple just because the participle matches the base. The subject’s time perspective determines the form.
5. Multiple accepted variants
Some verbs have more than one accepted form. Learned/learnt, burned/burnt, dreamed/dreamt and others may vary across English varieties and meanings. In American English, gotten is common for certain participle meanings of get, while British English generally uses got.
A learner should use a consistent standard appropriate to the audience, but not mark all legitimate variants wrong. Check a reliable learner’s dictionary when a variation affects the intended sentence.
Why you should learn irregular verbs in meaning groups
Alphabetical lists are useful for quick reference, but speaking often depends on situations. When talking about yesterday’s journey, you need went, left, took, drove, met and came. When describing work, you need wrote, sent, made, did, spoke and thought.
Grouping the verbs by purpose helps you retrieve them from the event you want to report. Instead of asking “What’s the third form of fly?”, ask “The team travelled by air last week. How would you describe it?” Answer: “They flew last week.”
The best recall prompt specifies the grammar. “Tell me about yesterday” should cue flew. “Ask whether the journey has been completed” can cue “They have flown to the destination.” Meaning and time should guide the form.
An original travel story with irregular verbs
“Yesterday, Aisha woke up early and took the train to the airport. She met a colleague near the entrance. They bought a snack and drank some water before the flight. Later, they flew to another city and went straight to the hotel. Aisha wrote a message to her team after she got to her room.”
All past events are fictional teaching examples. The story makes the verbs work together in a meaningful sequence. It also lets you practice pronunciation and time words.
Rewriting the story in the present perfect
You cannot simply replace all verbs with have + participle and keep every past-time expression. Standard English generally does not combine a present-perfect statement with a completed past-time reference such as “yesterday” in the same direct way.
A suitable current-status version might say: “Aisha has taken the flight and has arrived at the hotel. She has written to her team.” The information is framed as a present update, not a detailed account of events at a specific time yesterday.
This is an important aspect of vocabulary: knowing the word form is not enough. You need to know when the whole construction fits.
Original work dialogue: using correct past forms
Manager: “Did you send the revised report yesterday?”
Assistant: “Yes, I sent it before lunch.”
Manager: “Have you spoken to the finance team?”
Assistant: “I spoke to them this morning. They said they would check the final total.”
Manager: “Have they made a decision?”
Assistant: “Not yet. We haven’t received approval.”
The distinction between sent and received is important. Sending a document is not the same as the recipient reading, approving or acknowledging it. Accurate verbs help people understand actual project status.
Why ‘did you sent’ is incorrect
When a question uses the past auxiliary did, the main verb normally stays in its base form: “Did you send it?”, not “Did you sent it?” The past tense is expressed by did.
Similarly, negatives use didn’t + base verb: “I didn’t go”, “She didn’t see it”, “We didn’t make a decision.” The past form is not usually repeated after didn’t.
See Cambridge’s guide to common verb errors for examples.
How to form positive, negative and question sentences
Take buy–bought–bought as an example.
Positive past: “I bought a ticket.”
Negative past: “I didn’t buy a ticket.”
Past question: “Did you buy a ticket?”
Present perfect positive: “I have bought a ticket.”
Present perfect negative: “I haven’t bought a ticket.”
Present perfect question: “Have you bought a ticket?”
The form bought appears in both simple past and present perfect, but the auxiliary determines the structure. Practise this mini-pattern with send, write, make, take and choose. Every question is a chance to retrieve the word in real grammar.
When a verb has more than one meaning
Several irregular verbs in this guide have multiple senses. Get can mean receive, become, arrive or understand in different constructions. Take can mean carry, choose, consume or perform an action. Hold can mean grip, contain, organise or remain at a particular state.
Avoid putting a single translation on a flashcard and assuming it covers every use. Start with one important meaning and record a natural phrase: get a message, take a train, hold a meeting. When you encounter a second sense, make a new example.
The Cambridge Dictionary entries for the individual verbs provide pronunciation and contextual examples. Check how the verb is used with objects and prepositions rather than relying solely on the three-form list.
A fifteen-minute irregular-verb routine
Minutes 1–3: Retrieve yesterday’s verbs with the list hidden. Answer one simple-past prompt and one participle prompt for each.
Minutes 4–6: Learn five new verbs in a meaning group such as travel or work. Make one original sentence per verb.
Minutes 7–9: Turn sentences into questions and negatives. “She went” becomes “Did she go?” and “She didn’t go.”
Minutes 10–12: Tell a short true or fictional past story with at least three target verbs. Check their forms.
Minutes 13–14: Describe which actions are completed now using have/has + past participle, without forcing specific past-time phrases into an unsuitable structure.
Minute 15: Mark the missed forms and schedule a later review. Weak verbs deserve more attention than forms you already use naturally.
This routine practises forms in meaningful contexts. A learner can know the table yet still say “I have wrote”; practising sentences repairs that gap.
A seven-day plan to learn irregular verbs quickly
Day 1 — Foundations: learn be, have, do, go, come and get. Make past-time sentences and check was/were.
Day 2 — Action verbs: learn make, take, give, put, say and tell. Practise a transaction or meeting story.
Day 3 — Communication: study speak, hear, see, read, know and think. Check the different pronunciation of read in the past.
Day 4 — Work and shopping: practise buy, pay, sell, send, bring and spend. Use correct objects and time expressions.
Day 5 — Movement and change: study begin, break, write, drive, run and fall. Compare base, past and participle forms.
Day 6 — Mixed questions: use didn’t + base verb and have/has + participle across a mix of old verbs.
Day 7 — Transfer test: tell an unfamiliar story or report a real past task without looking at the list. Check missed forms and revisit them after a few days.
The seven days are a starting cycle, not a guarantee that all sixty verbs have been mastered. Adjust the number of new items to your available time and ability to recall.
Twenty irregular-verb quiz questions
Cover the answers and complete each sentence with the correct form.
1. Yesterday, I ___ to the station. (go) → went. 2. She has ___ the report. (write) → written. 3. We ___ dinner at six. (eat, past) → ate. 4. I have ___ the earlier option. (choose) → chosen. 5. They ___ the documents yesterday. (send) → sent. 6. Have you ___ the new colleague? (meet) → met. 7. I ___ the answer this morning. (know, past) → knew. 8. She ___ the bus. (take, past) → took. 9. He has ___ the payment. (make) → made. 10. We ___ the problem last night. (understand, past) → understood. 11. The train ___ at six. (leave, past) → left. 12. She has ___ early today. (come) → come. 13. He ___ his keys. (lose, past) → lost. 14. They have ___ the model. (build) → built. 15. I ___ the person yesterday. (see) → saw. 16. She has ___ about the result. (think) → thought. 17. The presentation ___ on time. (begin, past) → began. 18. We have ___ several useful lessons. (learn) → learnt/learned. 19. Did she ___ the ticket? (buy) → buy. 20. I didn’t ___ the final answer. (hear) → hear.
For questions 19 and 20, the base verb follows did/didn’t. This is one of the most common repairs needed in beginner English.
Ten common irregular-verb mistakes and how to repair them
- “I have went.” Use “I have gone.”
- “She have wrote.” Use “She has written.”
- “They did bought it.” Use “They bought it” or “They did buy it” for emphasis.
- “Did you saw it?” Use “Did you see it?”
- “He didn’t knew.” Use “He didn’t know.”
- “The film begun yesterday.” Use “The film began yesterday.”
- “We have spoke already.” Use “We have spoken already.”
- “I teached the class.” Use “I taught the class.”
- “She has drank water.” Use “She has drunk water.”
- “He writed the email.” Use “He wrote the email.”
The most effective repair is specific. If you say did went, practise did + base verb; if you say have took, practise have + participle. Copying the entire table again may not address the mistake.
Frequently asked questions
What is an irregular verb?
A verb whose past simple or past participle does not follow the usual regular -ed pattern, such as go–went–gone.
How can I memorise irregular verbs quickly?
Group them by practical meaning and sound patterns, test the three forms from sentence cues, and use them in new situations after a gap.
What is the difference between past tense and past participle?
Past simple is used to describe past events in relevant constructions, while the past participle combines with auxiliaries in perfect and passive structures, among other uses.
Why do we say ‘I went’ but ‘I have gone’?
Because went is the past simple and gone is the past participle of go.
Is it ‘did you went’ or ‘did you go’?
Did you go? The auxiliary did marks the past, so the main verb normally stays in its base form.
Is learnt or learned correct?
Both forms are accepted in English; preferences vary by region and style.
Is ‘gotten’ an English word?
Yes. It is used as a participle in American English for certain meanings of get. British English generally favours got.
Why does ‘read’ look the same in past tense?
Its spelling remains read, but common present and past pronunciations differ. Use a dictionary recording to check the sound.
Are irregular verbs more important than regular verbs?
Both are needed. Many highly useful verbs are irregular, so they deserve practice, but the best priorities depend on your communication needs.
Should I memorise all sixty before speaking?
No. Use a small set in meaningful sentences immediately and expand as recall becomes dependable.
Reliable sources and next steps
The Cambridge Dictionary table of irregular verbs documents principal forms. The Cambridge typical errors guide explains mistakes such as begun for past simple and did + past form. The British Council past simple guide explains ordinary past-tense uses, negatives and questions.
For a broader vocabulary foundation, read 100 Common English Verbs With Examples. To use verbs naturally with other words, continue to Common English Collocations. To practise different sentence structures, visit English Sentence Patterns for Beginners and the Vocabulary Learning Hub.
Start now: choose five irregular verbs you need for talking about yesterday. Say one complete past sentence, one negative or question, and one correct participle example for each. Test again tomorrow with the list hidden.