List of English irregular verbs
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This is a list of irregular verbs in the English language.
Past tense irregular verbs
For each verb listed, the citation form (the bare infinitive) is given first, with a link to the relevant Wiktionary entry. This is followed by the simple past tense (preterite), and then the past participle. If there are irregular present tense forms (see below), these are given in parentheses after the infinitive. (The present participle and gerund forms of verbs, ending in -ing, are always regular. In English, these are used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns.) In the case of modal verbs the present and preterite forms are listed, since these are the only forms that exist, with the present form identical for all persons.
The right-hand column notes whether the verb is weak or strong and whether it belongs to a subclass, and links to descriptions elsewhere. Information about the development of these verbs generally can be found at English irregular verbs; details of the etymology and usage of specific verbs can be found by consulting Wiktionary.
In some cases, there are two or more possibilities for a given form. In the table, the preferred or more common usage is generally listed first, though for some words the usage is nearly equal for the two choices. Sometimes the usage depends on the dialect. In many cases, such as spell (spelt vs. spelled), learn (learnt vs. learned), and spill (spilt vs. spilled), American English and Canadian English normally use the regular form, while British English, Australian English, New Zealand English and South African English tend to favour the irregular. In other cases, such as dive (dived vs. dove) and sneak (sneaked vs. snuck), the opposite is true. The irregular form tends to indicate duration, whereas the regular form often describes a short-term action (The fire burned for weeks. vs. He burnt his finger.), and in American English, the regular form is associated with the literal sense of a verb, while the irregular form with a figurative one.
The preterite and past participle forms of irregular verbs follow certain patterns. These include ending in -t (e.g. build, bend, send), stem changes (whether it is a vowel, such as in sit, win or hold, or a consonant, such as in teach and seek, that changes), or adding the [n] suffix to the past participle form (e.g. drive, show, rise). English irregular verbs are now a closed group, which means that newly formed verbs are always regular and do not adopt any of the irregular patterns.
This list contains only those verb forms which are listed in the major dictionaries as being standard usage in modern English. There are also many thousands of archaic, non-standard and dialect variants. Modern English still has remnants of formerly irregular verbs in other parts of speech. Most obviously, adjectives like misshapen, beholden, or forlorn fossilize what were originally the past participles of the verbs shape and behold, and Old English forleosan. However, forleosan has fallen out of use and shape is now regular, so these verbs are not listed, and behold, while still irregular, can no longer be listed this participle form.
| Verb forms | Verb class | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| be (am, is, are) – was, were – been | Suppletive | See Indo-European copula |
| bear – bore – borne/born forbear – forbore/forbare – forborne/forborn overbear – overbore/overbare – overborne/overborn underbear – underbore/underbare – underborne/underborn | Strong, class 4 | The spelling born is used in passive or adjectival contexts relating to birth. |
| beat – beat – beaten/beat browbeat – browbeat – browbeaten/browbeat overbeat – overbeat – overbeaten/overbeat | Strong, class 7 | |
| become – became – become misbecome – misbecame – misbecome | Strong, class 4 | |
| beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten misbeget – misbegot/misbegat – misbegotten/misbegot | Strong, class 5 | |
| begin – began – begun | Strong, class 3 | |
| bend – bent – bent overbend – overbent – overbent unbend – unbent – unbent | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
| beseech – beseeched/besought – beseeched/besought | Regular | Originally weak, class 1, subclass (ii) with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
| bet – bet/betted – bet/betted underbet – underbet/underbetted – underbet/underbetted | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| beware –(no other forms) | Defective | Formed from be with predicate adjective, used as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive only. Inflected forms (bewares, bewared, bewaring) are considered obsolete. |
| bid[in auctions etc.]– bid – bid outbid – outbid – outbid overbid – overbid – overbid rebid – rebid – rebid underbid – underbid – underbid | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| bid[meaning to request or say]– bid/bade – bid/bidden | Strong, class 5 | |
| bide – bided/bode – bided/bidden | Strong, class 1 | |
| bind – bound – bound unbind – unbound – unbound | Strong, class 3 | |
| bite – bit – bitten | Strong, class 1 | |
| bleed – bled – bled | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| blend – blent/blended – blent/blended | Weak | Regular or with devoiced ending |
| bless – blessed/blest – blessed/blest | Weak | Regular with alternative (archaic) spelling |
| blow – blew – blown overblow – overblew – overblown | Strong, class 7 | |
| break – broke – broken outbreak – outbroke – outbroken rebreak – rebroke – rebroken | Strong, class 4 | |
| breed – bred – bred inbreed – inbred – inbred interbreed – interbred – interbred overbreed – overbred – overbred | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| bring – brought – brought | Weak, class 1, subclass (i) | The past and past participle show the effects of the Germanic spirant law. The present form descends originally from a separate strong verb built on the same root. |
| build – built – built overbuild – overbuilt – overbuilt rebuild – rebuilt – rebuilt underbuild – underbuilt – underbuilt | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
| burn – burned/burnt – burned/burnt sunburn – sunburned/sunburnt – sunburned/sunburnt | Weak | Regular or with devoiced ending |
| burst – burst – burst | Strong, class 3 | |
| bust – busted/bust – busted/bust | Strong, class 3 | Or regular |
| buy – bought – bought overbuy – overbought – overbought underbuy – underbought – underbought | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
| can[auxiliary verb]– could –(none) | Preterite-present | Defective; see English modal verbs |
| cast – cast – cast broadcast – broadcast – broadcast downcast – downcast – downcast forecast – forecast – forecast miscast – miscast – miscast overcast – overcast – overcast podcast – podcast – podcast precast – precast – precast recast – recast – recast simulcast – simulcast – simulcast telecast – telecast – telecast typecast – typecast – typecast undercast – undercast – undercast upcast – upcast – upcast webcast – webcast – webcast | Weak | Old Norse loanword with coalescence of dentals. Many of the prefixed forms can also take -ed. |
| catch – caught – caught | Weak | French loanword conjugated perhaps by analogy with teach–taught; regular forms are now dialectal |
| chide – chode/chid/chided – chidden/chid/chided | Strong, class 1 | Or regular |
| choose – chose – chosen mischoose – mischose – mischosen | Strong, class 2 | |
| clad – clad – clad | Developed from clad, the past form of clothe (see below) | |
| cleave[meaning to split]– cleft/clove/cleaved – cleft/cloven/cleaved | Strong, class 2 | Or weak with vowel shortening; regular when meaning "adhere" |
| cling – clung – clung | Strong, class 3 | |
| clothe – clad/clothed – clad/clothed overclothe – overclad/overclothed – overclad/overclothed unclothe – unclad/unclothed – unclad/unclothed underclothe – underclad/underclothed – underclad/underclothed | Weak | The regular clothed is from OE claþian, while clad (weak with coalescence of dentals) is from OE clæþan (both OE verbs having similar meaning) |
| comb – combed – combed/kempt | ||
| come – came – come forthcome – forthcame – forthcome overcome – overcame – overcome (see also under become) | Strong, class 4 | |
| cost[intransitive sense]– cost/costed – cost/costed | Weak | French loanword with coalescence of dentals; regular when meaning "calculate the cost of" |
| creep – crept/creeped – crept/creeped | Weak | With vowel shortening (or regular); originally strong, class 2 |
| cut – cut – cut clearcut – clearcut – clearcut crosscut – crosscut – crosscut intercut – intercut – intercut recut – recut – recut undercut – undercut – undercut | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| dare (dares/dare) – dared/durst/dare – dared/durst | Preterite-present | Now most often regular except in the use of dare in place of dares in some contexts; see English modal verbs |
| deal – dealt – dealt misdeal – misdealt – misdealt redeal – redealt – redealt | Weak, class 1 | With vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
| dig – dug – dug underdig – underdug – underdug | Past form dug developed by analogy with stick–stuck; originally weak | |
| dive – dived/dove – dived/dove | Weak | The alternative dove (found mainly in American usage) arose by analogy with strong verbs |
| do (does/dʌz/) – did – done bedo (bedoes) – bedid – bedone misdo (misdoes) – misdid – misdone outdo (outdoes) – outdid – outdone overdo (overdoes) – overdid – overdone redo (redoes) – redid – redone underdo (underdoes) – underdid – underdone undo (undoes) – undid – undone | Irregular since Proto-Germanic | Past tense formed by reduplication; past participle from Old English gedon; related to deed |
| dow – dowed/dought – dowed/dought | Related to doughty | |
| draw – drew – drawn bedraw – bedrew – bedrawn downdraw – downdrew – downdrawn outdraw – outdrew – outdrawn overdraw – overdrew – overdrawn redraw – redrew – redrawn underdraw – underdrew – underdrawn updraw – updrew – updrawn withdraw – withdrew – withdrawn | Strong, class 6 | Related to draft/draught |
| dream – dreamed/dreamt – dreamed/dreamt bedream – bedreamed/bedreamt – bedreamed/bedreamt | Weak | With vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
| dress – dressed/drest – dressed/drest | Weak | With alternative (archaic) spelling |
| drink – drank – drunk | Strong, class 3 | Related to drench |
| drive – drove – driven bedrive – bedrove – bedriven overdrive – overdrove – overdriven test-drive – test-drove – test-driven underdrive – underdrove – underdriven | Strong, class 1 | Related to drift |
| dwell – dwelt/dwelled – dwelt/dwelled bedwell – bedwelt/bedwelled – bedwelt/bedwelled outdwell – outdwelt/outdwelled – outdwelt/outdwelled | Weak, class 1 | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| earn – earned/earnt – earned/earnt | Weak, class 2 | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| eat – ate – eaten forfret – forfretted – forfretted/forfretten fret – fretted/frate – fretted/fretten outeat – outate – outeaten overeat – overate – overeaten undereat – underate – undereaten | Strong, class 5 | Past tense usually /eɪt/ though sometimes /ɛt/ in British English |
| fall – fell – fallen befall – befell – befallen | Strong, class 7 | |
| feed – fed – fed bottle-feed – bottle-fed – bottle-fed breastfeed – breastfed – breastfed force-feed – force-fed – force-fed hand-feed – hand-fed – hand-fed misfeed – misfed – misfed overfeed – overfed – overfed self-feed – self-fed – self-fed spoon-feed – spoon-fed – spoon-fed underfeed – underfed – underfed | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| feel – felt – felt forefeel – forefelt – forefelt | Weak, class 1 | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
| fight – fought – fought befight – befought – befought outfight – outfought – outfought | Strong, class 3 | |
| find – found – found refind – refound – refound | Strong, class 3 | |
| fit – fitted/fit – fitted/fit misfit – misfitted/misfit – misfitted/misfit | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| flee – fled – fled | Weak | With vowel shortening; originally strong, class 2 |
| fling – flung – flung | Strong, class 3 | By analogy |
| fly – flew – flown outfly – outflew – outflown overfly – overflew – overflown test-fly – test-flew – test-flown | Strong, class 2 | Regular when meaning "hitting a fly ball in baseball" |
| forbid – forbid/forbade/forbad – forbidden | Strong, class 5 | |
| forget – forgot – forgotten | Strong, class 5 | |
| forsake – forsook – forsaken | Strong, class 6 | |
| freeze – froze – frozen quick-freeze – quick-froze – quick-frozen refreeze – refroze – refrozen unfreeze – unfroze – unfrozen | Strong, class 2 | |
| get – got – got/gotten beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten forget – forgot – forgotten | Strong, class 5 | Past participle is got in British usage (except in fossilized phrases such as "ill-gotten"), and gotten in American (but see have got) |
| gild – gilded/gilt – gilded/gilt | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
| gird - girded/girt - girded/girt | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
| give – gave – given forgive – forgave – forgiven misgive – misgave – misgiven overgive – overgave – overgiven | Strong, class 5 | |
| glide – glided/glid – glided/glid/glidden | Regular | Originally strong, class 1 |
| go – went – gone forego – forewent – foregone forgo – forwent – forgone undergo – underwent – undergone | Suppletive | See go |
| grind – ground – ground | Strong, class 3 | |
| grow – grew – grown outgrow – outgrew – outgrown overgrow – overgrew – overgrown regrow – regrew – regrown | Strong, class 7 | |
| hang – hung/hanged – hung/hanged overhang – overhung – overhung | Strong, class 7 | Regularized alternative hanged was influenced by OE causative hangian, and is used chiefly for hanging as a means of execution |
| have (has) – had – had | Weak | Had results from contraction, from OE hæfde; third person present has also results from contraction |
| hear – heard – heard behear – beheard – beheard forehear – foreheard – foreheard mishear – misheard – misheard outhear – outheard – outheard overhear – overheard – overheard rehear – reheard – reheard unhear – unheard – unheard | Weak, class 1 | Originally with vowel shortening (the modern pronunciation of heard in RP has the long vowel /ɜː/) |
| help – helped/holp – helped/holpen | Regular | Originally strong, class 3 |
| hew – hewed – hewed/hewn | Strong, class 7 | Or regular |
| hide – hid – hidden | Weak | With vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals; influenced by strong verbs |
| hit – hit – hit mishit – mishit – mishit overhit – overhit – overhit underhit – underhit – underhit | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| hoist – hoisted/hoist – hoisted/hoist | Weak | Hoist was originally the past form of the now archaic verb hoise |
| hold – held – held behold – beheld – beheld uphold – upheld – upheld withhold – withheld – withheld | Strong, class 7 | |
| hurt – hurt – hurt | Weak | French loanword with coalescence of dentals |
| keep – kept – kept miskeep – miskept – miskept overkeep – overkept – overkept underkeep – underkept – underkept | Weak, class 1 | With vowel shortening |
| ken – kenned/kent – kenned/kent beken – bekenned/bekent – bekenned/bekent foreken – forekenned/forekent – forekenned/forekent misken – miskenned/miskent – miskenned/miskent outken – outkenned/outkent – outkenned/outkent | Weak, class 1 | With devoiced ending (or regular); Northern England English and Scottish dialect word |
| kneel – knelt/kneeled – knelt/kneeled | Weak, class 2 | With vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
| knit – knit/knitted – knit/knitted beknit – beknit/beknitted – beknit/beknitted hand-knit – hand-knit/hand-knitted – hand-knit/hand-knitted | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals (or regular); related to knot |
| know – knew – known | Strong, class 7 | |
| lade – laded – laden/laded overlade – overladed – overladen/overladed | Strong, class 6 | Or regular; past participle laden is common adjectivally |
| lay – laid – laid belay – belaid – belaid inlay – inlaid – inlaid mislay – mislaid – mislaid overlay – overlaid – overlaid waylay – waylaid – waylaid | Weak | Irregular in spelling only |
| lead – led – led mislead – misled – misled offlead – offled – offled onlead – onled – onled outlead – outled – outled overlead – overled – overled underlead – underled – underled | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| lean – leaned/leant – leaned/leant | Weak, class 2 | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening (or regular) |
| leap – leaped/leapt – leaped/leapt | Weak | With vowel shortening (or regular); originally strong, class 7 |
| learn – learned/learnt – learned/learnt mislearn – mislearned/mislearnt – mislearned/mislearnt overlearn – overlearned/overlearnt – overlearned/overlearnt relearn – relearned/relearnt – relearned/relearnt unlearn – unlearned/unlearnt – unlearned/unlearnt | Weak, class 2 | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| leave – left – left | Weak, class 1 | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
| lend – lent – lent | Weak | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
| let – let – let sublet – sublet – sublet underlet – underlet – underlet | Strong, class 7 | |
| lie – lay – lain overlie – overlay – overlain underlie – underlay – underlain | Strong, class 5 | Regular when meaning "tell an untruth" |
| light – lit/lighted – lit/lighted alight – alit/alighted – alit/alighted backlight – backlit/backlighted – backlit/backlighted green-light – green-lit/green-lighted – green-lit/green-lighted relight – relit/relighted – relit/relighted | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening (or regular) |
| lose – lost – lost | Weak, class 2 | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
| make – made – made remake – remade – remade unmake – unmade – unmade | Weak | Made formed by contraction from "maked" |
| may – might –(none) | Preterite-present | Defective; see English modal verbs |
| mean – meant – meant | Weak, class 1 | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
| meet – met – met | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| melt – melted – melted/molten | Strong, class 3 | Regular, but molten survives in adjectival use |
| mix – mixed/mixt – mixed/mixt | Weak | Regular with alternative (mostly archaic) spelling |
| mow – mowed – mowed/mown | Strong, class 7 | Regular in past tense and sometimes in past participle. |
| must –(no other forms) | Defective | Originally a preterite; see English modal verbs |
| need (needs/need) – needed – needed | Weak | Regular except in the use of need in place of needs in some contexts, by analogy with can, must, etc.; see English modal verbs |
| ought –(no other forms) | Defective | Originally a preterite; see English modal verbs |
| pay – paid – paid overpay – overpaid – overpaid prepay – prepaid – prepaid repay – repaid – repaid underpay – underpaid – underpaid | Weak | Irregular in spelling only. |
| pen – penned/pent – penned/pent | Weak | With devoiced ending, but usually regular; pent is sometimes used when the verb has the meaning "to enclose", and mainly adjectivally |
| plead – pled/pleaded – pled/pleaded | Weak | French loanword with coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening. |
| prove – proved – proved/proven reprove – reproved – reproved/reproven | Weak | French loanword with the alternative past participle proven by analogy with some strong verbs |
| put – put – put input – input – input output – output – output | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| bequeath – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequod – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequethen | Strong, class 5 | Past tense quoth is literary or archaic; other parts of that verb are obsolete; bequeath is normally regularized in -ed |
| quit – quit/quitted – quit/quitted | Weak | French loanword with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
| read /riːd/ – read /rɛd/ – read /rɛd/ lipread – lipread – lipread misread – misread – misread proofread – proofread – proofread reread – reread – reread sight-read – sight-read – sight-read | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| reave – reaved/reft – reaved/reft bereave – bereaved/bereft – bereaved/bereft | Weak, class 2 | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening; the verb bereave is usually regular, but bereft survives as past participle, with distinct meanings |
| rend – rent – rent | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
| rid – rid/ridded – rid/ridden/ridded | Weak | With coalescence of dentals, or regular; ridden by analogy with strong verbs |
| ride – rode – ridden outride – outrode – outridden override – overrode – overridden | Strong, class 1 | |
| ring – rang – rung | Strong, class 3 | By analogy; regular when meaning "surround", etc. |
| rise – rose – risen arise – arose – arisen uprise – uprose – uprisen | Strong, class 1 | |
| rive – rived/rove – rived/riven | Strong class 1 | From Old Norse; later regularized; now rarely used |
| run – ran – run outrun – outran – outrun overrun – overran – overrun rerun – reran – rerun speedrun – speedran – speedrun underrun – underran – underrun | Strong, class 3 | |
| saw – sawed – sawed/sawn | Weak | Sawn by analogy with strong verbs |
| say (says/sɛz/) – said – said missay – missaid – missaid soothsay – soothsaid – soothsaid | Weak | With vowel shortening in said /sɛd/ and in the third person present says /sɛz/ |
| see – saw – seen foresee – foresaw – foreseen missee – missaw – misseen oversee – oversaw – overseen sightsee – sightsaw – sightseen undersee – undersaw – underseen | Strong, class 5 | |
| seek – sought – sought beseek – besought – besought | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
| sell – sold – sold outsell – outsold – outsold oversell – oversold – oversold resell – resold – resold undersell – undersold – undersold upsell – upsold – upsold | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut; related to sale |
| send – sent – sent missend – missent – missent resend – resent – resent | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| set – set – set beset – beset – beset offset – offset – offset preset – preset – preset reset – reset – reset upset – upset – upset | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| sew – sewed – sewn/sewed handsew – handsewed – handsewn/handsewed oversew – oversewed – oversewn/oversewed | Weak | Sewn by analogy with strong verbs |
| shake – shook – shaken overshake – overshook – overshaken | Strong, class 6 | |
| shall – should – (none) | Preterite-present | Defective; see English modal verbs, and shall and will |
| shave – shaved – shaved/shaven | Strong, class 6 | Now often regularized in past tense and sometimes in past participle |
| shear – sheared/shore – shorn/sheared | Strong, class 4 | Or regular |
| shed – shed – shed | Strong, class 7 | |
| shine – shone/shined – shone/shined | Strong, class 1 | |
| shit – shit/shitted/shat – shit/shitted/shat shite – shited/shit – shited/shit | Strong, class 1 | The form shite is chiefly Scottish and Irish. |
| shoe – shod/shoed – shodden/shod/shoed reshoe – reshod/reshoed – reshodden/reshod/reshoed | Weak | With vowel shortening (or regular); shodden by analogy with strong verbs |
| shoot – shot – shot misshoot – misshot – misshot overshoot – overshot – overshot reshoot – reshot – reshot undershoot – undershot – undershot | Strong, class 2 | |
| show – showed – shown/showed reshow – reshowed – reshown | Weak | With participle shown perhaps by analogy with sown (from sow) |
| shrink – shrank/shrunk – shrunk/shrunken overshrink – overshrank/overshrunk – overshrunk/overshrunken | Strong, class 3 | Shrunken is mostly used adjectivally |
| shrive – shrove/shrived – shriven/shrived | Strong, class 1 | |
| shut – shut – shut reshut – reshut – reshut | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| sing – sang – sung resing – resang – resung | Strong, class 3 | |
| sink – sank/sunk – sunk/sunken | Strong, class 3 | The form sunken appears in some adjectival uses |
| sit – sat – sat babysit – babysat – babysat housesit – housesat – housesat resit – resat – resat | Strong, class 5 | |
| slay – slew/slayed – slain/slayed | Strong, class 6 | Or regular |
| sleep – slept – slept oversleep – overslept – overslept undersleep – underslept – underslept | Weak | With vowel shortening; originally strong, class 7 |
| slide – slid – slid/slidden backslide – backslid – backslid/backslidden overslide – overslid – overslid/overslidden | Strong, class 1 | |
| sling – slung – slung | Strong, class 3 | |
| slink – slunk/slinked/slank – slunk/slinked/slank | Strong, class 3 | |
| slit – slit – slit/slitten | Strong, class 1 | |
| smell – smelled/smelt – smelled/smelt | Weak | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| smite – smote/smit – smitten/smitted | Strong, class 1 | Largely archaic; smitten is quite commonly used adjectivally |
| sneak – sneaked/snuck – sneaked/snuck | Weak | Alternative form snuck (chiefly American) by analogy with strong verbs |
| sow – sowed – sown/sowed | Strong, class 7 | With weak past tense sowed |
| speak – spoke – spoken bespeak – bespoke – bespoken *forespeak – forespoke – forespoken *forspeak – forspoke – forspoken misspeak – misspoke – misspoken | Strong, class 5 | |
| speed – sped/speeded – sped/speeded | Weak, class 1 | With vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
| spell – spelled/spelt – spelled/spelt misspell – misspelled/misspelt – misspelled/misspelt | Weak | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| spend – spent – spent misspend – misspent – misspent outspend – outspent – outspent overspend – overspent – overspent | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| spill – spilled/spilt – spilled/spilt overspill – overspilled/overspilt – overspilled/overspilt | Weak, class 1 | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| spin – spun/span – spun outspin – outspun/outspan – outspun | Strong, class 3 | |
| spit – spat/spit – spat/spit | Weak | With coalescence of dentals (for past form spit, which is common in America), or spat by analogy with strong verbs; regular when meaning "of roast on a spit" |
| split – split – split | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| spoil – spoiled/spoilt – spoiled/spoilt | Weak | French loanword with devoiced ending (or regular) |
| spread – spread – spread outspread – outspread – outspread overspread – overspread – overspread underspread – underspread – underspread | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| spring – sprang/sprung – sprung/*sprang handspring – handsprang/handsprung – handsprung/*handsprang | Strong, class 3 | |
| stand – stood – stood forstand – forstood – forstood misunderstand – misunderstood – misunderstood overstand – overstood – overstood understand – understood – understood upstand – upstood – upstood withstand – withstood – withstood | Strong, class 6 | |
| stave – stove/staved – stove/staved/stoven | Weak | Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
| steal – stole – stolen | Strong, class 4 | |
| stick – stuck – stuck | Weak | Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong, class 3 |
| sting – stang/stung – stung | Strong, class 3 | |
| stink – stank/stunk – stunk | Strong, class 3 | |
| strew – strewed – strewn/strewed bestrew – bestrewed – bestrewn/bestrewed overstrew – overstrewed – overstrewn/overstrewed | Weak | Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
| stride – strode – stridden bestride – bestrode – bestridden outstride – outstrode – outstridden overstride – overstrode – overstridden | Strong, class 1 | |
| strike – struck – struck/stricken overstrike – overstruck – overstruck/overstricken | Strong, class 1 | The form stricken is limited to certain adjectival and specialist uses |
| string – strung/*stringed – strung/*stringed hamstring – hamstrung/*hamstringed – hamstrung/*hamstringed overstring – overstrung/*overstringed – overstrung/*overstringed | Weak | Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
| strive – strove/strived – striven/strived outstrive – outstrove – outstriven overstrive – overstrove – overstriven | Strong, class 1 | Or regularized |
| swear – swore – sworn forswear – forswore – forsworn outswear – outswore – outsworn | Strong, class 6 | |
| sweat – sweated/sweat – sweated/sweat | Weak, class 1 | Usually regular; possible past form sweat with coalescence of dentals |
| sweep – swept – swept upsweep – upswept – upswept | Weak, class 1 | With vowel shortening; replaced OE strong class 7 verb swápan, with the same meaning, but the form is not a regular development from it |
| swell – swelled/swole – swollen/swelled | Strong, class 3 | With regularized forms |
| swim – swam/*swum – swum outswim – outswam/*outswum – outswum | Strong, class 3 | |
| swing – swang/swung – swung overswing – overswang/overswung – overswung | Strong, class 3 | |
| take – took – taken betake – betook – betaken mistake – mistook – mistaken overtake – overtook – overtaken partake – partook – partaken retake – retook – retaken undertake – undertook – undertaken *uptake – uptook – uptaken *withtake – withtook – withtaken | Strong, class 6 | |
| teach – taught – taught | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
| tear – tore – torn uptear – uptore – uptorn | Strong, class 4 | |
| tell – told – told foretell – foretold – foretold forthtell – forthtold – forthtold mistell – mistold – mistold | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut; related to tale |
| think – thought – thought outthink – outthought – outthought rethink – rethought – rethought | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
| thrive – throve/thrived/*thrave – thriven/thrived | Strong class 1 | Of Old Norse origin (now archaic) or weak (regular) pattern |
| throw – threw – thrown outthrow – outthrew – outthrown overthrow – overthrew – overthrown underthrow – underthrew – underthrown upthrow – upthrew – upthrown | Strong, class 7 | |
| thrust – thrust/*thrusted – thrust/*thrusted outthrust – outthrust – outthrust | Weak | With coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
| tread – trod – trodden/trod retread – retrod/*retread/*retreaded/*retrodden – retrodden/retrod/*retread/*retreaded | Strong, class 5 | Or regular |
| vex – vexed/vext – vexed/vext | Regular | With alternative (archaic) spelling |
| wake – woke/waked – woken/waked awake – awoke – awoken | Strong, class 6 | |
| wear – weared/wore – weared/worn outwear – outweared/outwore – outweared/outworn overwear – overweared/overwore – overweared/overworn | Weak, class 1 | Fell into a strong pattern by analogy with bear |
| weave – wove – woven interweave – interwove – interwoven | Strong, class 7 | |
| wed – wed/wedded – wed/wedded miswed – miswed/miswedded – miswed/miswedded rewed – rewed/rewedded – rewed/rewedded | Weak, class 2 | With coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
| weep – wept/weeped – wept/weeped | Weak | With vowel shortening (or regular); originally strong, class 7 |
| wend – wended/went – wended/went | Weak, class 1 | Originally with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending, but now regular; went is used as the past of go |
| wet – wet/wetted – wet/wetted overwet – overwet/overwetted – overwet/overwetted | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
| will – would –(none) | Preterite-present | Defective; see English modal verbs, and shall and will; in non-auxiliary uses the verb is regular |
| win – won – won | Strong, class 3 | |
| wind /waɪnd/ – wound – wound rewind – rewound – rewound unwind – unwound – unwound | Strong, class 3 | The identically spelt verb wind /wɪnd/, with meanings connected with air flow and breathlessness, is regular |
| work – worked/wrought – worked/wrought | Weak | Now regular, formerly with Rückumlaut and metathesis of r and o |
| wreak – wreaked/wrought – wreaked/wrought | Weak | Usually regular; wrought (which is in fact from work) has come sometimes to be identified with this verb (perhaps by analogy with seek–sought). |
| wring – wrang/wrung – wrung | Strong, class 3 | |
| write – wrote – written cowrite – cowrote – cowritten ghostwrite – ghostwrote – ghostwritten handwrite – handwrote – handwritten miswrite – miswrote – miswritten overwrite – overwrote – overwritten rewrite – rewrote – rewritten underwrite – underwrote – underwritten | Strong, class 1 | |
| writhe – writhed/wrothe – writhed/writhen | Regular | Originally strong, class 1 |
| zinc – zinced/zinked/zincked – zinced/zinked/zincked | Regular | With spelling complications because of the final letter C |
Present tense irregular verbs
Though the list of verbs irregular in the preterite or past participle is long, the list of irregular present tense verbs is very short. Excepting modal verbs like "shall", "will", and "can" that do not inflect at all in the present tense, there are only four of them, not counting compounds including them:
- be: I am, thou art, you are, he is, we are, they are. The contracted/reduced forms, used in unstressed positions and in particular as auxiliary verbs, are as follows: I’m, you’re, he’s, we’re, they’re.
- do (and compounds such as undo and redo): I do, you do, he does, we do, they do, where "does" is pronounced /ˈdʌz/ (instead of /ˈduːz/), in contrast to the /ˈduː/ used for the infinitive and the other present tense forms. The reduced forms of the verb do are pronounced /du/, /də/, /d/, or /dəz/, /dz/ for does and usually appear only in questions. The contracted forms of do are used only in the negative: I do not = I don't, you do not = you don't, he does not = he doesn't, we do not = we don't, they do not = they don't.
- have: I have, you have, he has, we have, they have. If used as an auxiliary verb in the present perfect, past perfect or future perfect, its contracted forms can be used: I’ve, you’ve, he’s, we’ve, they’ve.
- say (and compounds such as gainsay and naysay): I say, you say, he says, we say, they say, where "says" has the standard pronunciation /sɛz/ (instead of /seɪz/), in contrast to the /seɪ/ used for the infinitive and other present tense forms.
External links
- Wiktionary's category of English irregular verbs
- with their forms in different tenses.
- by Ralph Berry.
- A comprehensive list of English irregular verbs, including their base form, past simple, past participle, 3rd person singular, and the present participle / gerund.
- with complete conjugation and audio.