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/bornforbear – forbore/forbare – forborne/forbornoverbear – overbore/overbare – overborne/overbornunderbear – underbore/underbare – underborne/underborn | Strong, class 4 | The spelling born is used in passive or adjectival contexts relating to birth. |
| beat – beat – beaten/beatbrowbeat – browbeat – browbeaten/browbeatoverbeat – overbeat – overbeaten/overbeat | Strong, class 7 | |
| become – became – becomemisbecome – misbecame – misbecome | Strong, class 4 | |
| beget – begot/begat – begot/begottenmisbeget – misbegot/misbegat – misbegotten/misbegot | Strong, class 5 | |
| begin – began – begun | Strong, class 3 | |
| bend – bent – bentoverbend – overbent – overbentunbend – 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/bettedunderbet – 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 – bidoutbid – outbid – outbidoverbid – overbid – overbidrebid – rebid – rebidunderbid – 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 – boundunbind – 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 – blownoverblow – overblew – overblown | Strong, class 7 | |
| break – broke – brokenoutbreak – outbroke – outbrokenrebreak – rebroke – rebroken | Strong, class 4 | |
| breed – bred – bredinbreed – inbred – inbredinterbreed – interbred – interbredoverbreed – 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.1 |
| build – built – builtoverbuild – overbuilt – overbuiltrebuild – rebuilt – rebuiltunderbuild – underbuilt – underbuilt | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
| burn – burned/burnt – burned/burntsunburn – 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 – boughtoverbuy – overbought – overboughtunderbuy – 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 – castbroadcast – broadcast – broadcastdowncast – downcast – downcastforecast – forecast – forecastmiscast – miscast – miscastovercast – overcast – overcastpodcast – podcast – podcastprecast – precast – precastrecast – recast – recastsimulcast – simulcast – simulcasttelecast – telecast – telecasttypecast – typecast – typecastundercast – undercast – undercastupcast – upcast – upcastwebcast – 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 – chosenmischoose – 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/clothedoverclothe – overclad/overclothed – overclad/overclothedunclothe – unclad/unclothed – unclad/unclothedunderclothe – 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)2 |
| comb – combed – combed/kempt | ||
| come – came – comeforthcome – forthcame – forthcomeovercome – 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 – cutclearcut – clearcut – clearcutcrosscut – crosscut – crosscutintercut – intercut – intercutrecut – recut – recutundercut – 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 – dealtmisdeal – misdealt – misdealtredeal – redealt – redealt | Weak, class 1 | With vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
| dig – dug – dugunderdig – underdug – underdug | Past form dug developed by analogy with stick–stuck;3 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 – donebedo (bedoes) – bedid – bedonemisdo (misdoes) – misdid – misdoneoutdo (outdoes) – outdid – outdoneoverdo (overdoes) – overdid – overdoneredo (redoes) – redid – redoneunderdo (underdoes) – underdid – underdoneundo (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 – drawnbedraw – bedrew – bedrawndowndraw – downdrew – downdrawnoutdraw – outdrew – outdrawnoverdraw – overdrew – overdrawnredraw – redrew – redrawnunderdraw – underdrew – underdrawnupdraw – updrew – updrawnwithdraw – withdrew – withdrawn | Strong, class 6 | Related to draft/draught |
| dream – dreamed/dreamt – dreamed/dreamtbedream – 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 – drivenbedrive – bedrove – bedrivenoverdrive – overdrove – overdriventest-drive – test-drove – test-drivenunderdrive – underdrove – underdriven | Strong, class 1 | Related to drift |
| dwell – dwelt/dwelled – dwelt/dwelledbedwell – bedwelt/bedwelled – bedwelt/bedwelledoutdwell – outdwelt/outdwelled – outdwelt/outdwelled | Weak | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| earn – earned/earnt – earned/earnt | Weak, class 2 | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| eat – ate – eatenforfret – forfretted – forfretted/forfrettenfret – fretted/frate – fretted/frettenouteat – outate – outeatenovereat – overate – overeatenundereat – underate – undereaten | Strong, class 5 | Past tense usually /eɪt/ though sometimes /ɛt/ in British English |
| fall – fell – fallenbefall – befell – befallen | Strong, class 7 | |
| feed – fed – fedbottle-feed – bottle-fed – bottle-fedbreastfeed – breastfed – breastfedforce-feed – force-fed – force-fedhand-feed – hand-fed – hand-fedmisfeed – misfed – misfedoverfeed – overfed – overfedself-feed – self-fed – self-fedspoon-feed – spoon-fed – spoon-fedunderfeed – underfed – underfed | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| feel – felt – feltforefeel – forefelt – forefelt | Weak, class 1 | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
| fight – fought – foughtbefight – befought – befoughtoutfight – outfought – outfought | Strong, class 3 | |
| find – found – foundrefind – refound – refound | Strong, class 3 | |
| fit – fitted/fit – fitted/fitmisfit – 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 – flownoutfly – outflew – outflownoverfly – overflew – overflowntest-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 – frozenquick-freeze – quick-froze – quick-frozenrefreeze – refroze – refrozenunfreeze – unfroze – unfrozen | Strong, class 2 | |
| get – got – got/gottenbeget – begot/begat – begot/begottenforget – 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 | With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
| give – gave – givenforgive – forgave – forgivenmisgive – misgave – misgivenovergive – overgave – overgiven | Strong, class 5 | |
| glide – glided/glid – glided/glid/glidden | Regular | Originally strong, class 1 |
| go – went – goneforego – forewent – foregoneforgo – forwent – forgoneundergo – underwent – undergone | Suppletive | See go |
| grind – ground – ground | Strong, class 3 | |
| grow – grew – grownoutgrow – outgrew – outgrownovergrow – overgrew – overgrownregrow – regrew – regrown | Strong, class 7 | |
| hang – hung/hanged – hung/hangedoverhang – 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 – heardbehear – beheard – beheardforehear – foreheard – foreheardmishear – misheard – misheardouthear – outheard – outheardoverhear – overheard – overheardrehear – reheard – reheardunhear – 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 – hitmishit – mishit – mishitoverhit – overhit – overhitunderhit – 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 – heldbehold – beheld – behelduphold – upheld – upheldwithhold – withheld – withheld | Strong, class 7 | |
| hurt – hurt – hurt | Weak | French loanword with coalescence of dentals |
| keep – kept – keptmiskeep – miskept – miskeptoverkeep – overkept – overkeptunderkeep – underkept – underkept | Weak, class 1 | With vowel shortening |
| ken – kenned/kent – kenned/kentbeken – bekenned/bekent – bekenned/bekentforeken – forekenned/forekent – forekenned/forekentmisken – miskenned/miskent – miskenned/miskentoutken – outkenned/outkent – outkenned/outkent | Weak | With devoiced ending (or regular); Northern England English and Scottish dialect word |
| kneel – knelt/kneeled – knelt/kneeled | Weak | With vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
| knit – knit/knitted – knit/knittedbeknit – beknit/beknitted – beknit/beknittedhand-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/ladedoverlade – overladed – overladen/overladed | Strong, class 6 | Or regular; past participle laden is common adjectivally |
| lay – laid – laidbelay – belaid – belaidinlay – inlaid – inlaidmislay – mislaid – mislaidoverlay – overlaid – overlaidwaylay – waylaid – waylaid | Weak | Irregular in spelling only |
| lead – led – ledmislead – misled – misledofflead – offled – offledonlead – onled – onledoutlead – outled – outledoverlead – overled – overledunderlead – underled – underled | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| lean – leaned/leant – leaned/leant | Weak | 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/learntmislearn – mislearned/mislearnt – mislearned/mislearntoverlearn – overlearned/overlearnt – overlearned/overlearntrelearn – relearned/relearnt – relearned/relearntunlearn – 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 – letsublet – sublet – subletunderlet – underlet – underlet | Strong, class 7 | |
| lie – lay – lainoverlie – overlay – overlainunderlie – underlay – underlain | Strong, class 5 | Regular when meaning "tell an untruth" |
| light – lit/lighted – lit/lightedalight – alit/alighted – alit/alightedbacklight – backlit/backlighted – backlit/backlightedgreen-light – green-lit/green-lighted – green-lit/green-lightedrelight – relit/relighted – relit/relighted | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening (or regular) |
| lose – lost – lost | Weak | With devoiced ending and vowel shortening; originally strong, class 2 |
| make – made – maderemake – remade – remadeunmake – 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.;4 see English modal verbs |
| ought – (no other forms) | Defective | Originally a preterite; see English modal verbs |
| pay – paid – paidoverpay – overpaid – overpaidprepay – prepaid – prepaidrepay – repaid – repaidunderpay – 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/provenreprove – reproved – reproved/reproven | Weak | French loanword with the alternative past participle proven by analogy with some strong verbs |
| put – put – putinput – input – inputoutput – 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 – lipreadmisread – misread – misreadproofread – proofread – proofreadreread – reread – rereadsight-read – sight-read – sight-read | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
| reave – reaved/reft – reaved/reftbereave – 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 – riddenoutride – outrode – outriddenoverride – overrode – overridden | Strong, class 1 | |
| ring – rang – rung | Strong, class 3 | By analogy; regular when meaning "surround", etc. |
| rise – rose – risenarise – arose – arisenuprise – uprose – uprisen | Strong, class 1 | |
| rive – rived/rove – rived/riven | Strong class 1 | From Old Norse; later regularized;5 now rarely used |
| run – ran – runoutrun – outran – outrunoverrun – overran – overrunrerun – reran – rerunspeedrun – speedran – speedrununderrun – underran – underrun | Strong, class 3 | |
| saw – sawed – sawed/sawn | Weak | Sawn by analogy with strong verbs6 |
| say (says /sɛz/) – said – saidmissay – missaid – missaidsoothsay – soothsaid – soothsaid | Weak | With vowel shortening in said /sɛd/ and in the third person present says /sɛz/ |
| see – saw – seenforesee – foresaw – foreseenmissee – missaw – misseenoversee – oversaw – overseensightsee – sightsaw – sightseenundersee – undersaw – underseen | Strong, class 5 | |
| seek – sought – soughtbeseek – besought – besought | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
| sell – sold – soldoutsell – outsold – outsoldoversell – oversold – oversoldresell – resold – resoldundersell – undersold – undersoldupsell – upsold – upsold | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut; related to sale |
| send – sent – sentmissend – missent – missentresend – resent – resent | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| set – set – setbeset – beset – besetoffset – offset – offsetpreset – preset – presetreset – reset – resetupset – upset – upset | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| sew – sewed – sewn/sewedhandsew – handsewed – handsewn/handsewedoversew – oversewed – oversewn/oversewed | Weak | Sewn by analogy with strong verbs |
| shake – shook – shakenovershake – 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/shatshite – shited/shit – shited/shit | Strong, class 1 | The form shite is chiefly Scottish and Irish. |
| shoe – shod/shoed – shodden/shod/shoedreshoe – reshod/reshoed – reshodden/reshod/reshoed | Weak | With vowel shortening (or regular); shodden by analogy with strong verbs |
| shoot – shot – shotmisshoot – misshot – misshotovershoot – overshot – overshotreshoot – reshot – reshotundershoot – undershot – undershot | Strong, class 2 | |
| show – showed – shown/showedreshow – reshowed – reshown | Weak | With participle shown perhaps by analogy with sown (from sow) |
| shrink – shrank/shrunk – shrunk/shrunkenovershrink – overshrank/overshrunk – overshrunk/overshrunken | Strong, class 3 | Shrunken is mostly used adjectivally |
| shut – shut – shutreshut – reshut – reshut | Weak, class 1 | With coalescence of dentals |
| sing – sang – sungresing – resang – resung | Strong, class 3 | |
| sink – sank/sunk – sunk/sunken | Strong, class 3 | The form sunken appears in some adjectival uses |
| sit – sat – satbabysit – babysat – babysathousesit – housesat – housesatresit – resat – resat | Strong, class 5 | |
| slay – slew/slayed – slain/slayed | Strong, class 6 | Or regular |
| sleep – slept – sleptoversleep – overslept – oversleptundersleep – underslept – underslept | Weak | With vowel shortening; originally strong, class 7 |
| slide – slid – slid/sliddenbackslide – backslid – backslid/backsliddenoverslide – 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 – spokenbespeak – bespoke – bespoken*forespeak – forespoke – forespoken*forspeak – forspoke – forspokenmisspeak – 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/speltmisspell – misspelled/misspelt – misspelled/misspelt | Weak | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| spend – spent – spentmisspend – misspent – misspentoutspend – outspent – outspentoverspend – overspent – overspent | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| spill – spilled/spilt – spilled/spiltoverspill – overspilled/overspilt – overspilled/overspilt | Weak | With devoiced ending (or regular) |
| spin – spun – spunoutspin – outspun – 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 – spreadoutspread – outspread – outspreadoverspread – overspread – overspreadunderspread – underspread – underspread | Weak | With coalescence of dentals |
| spring – sprang/sprung – sprung/*spranghandspring – handsprang/handsprung – handsprung/*handsprang | Strong, class 3 | |
| stand – stood – stoodforstand – forstood – forstoodmisunderstand – misunderstood – misunderstoodoverstand – overstood – overstoodunderstand – understood – understoodupstand – upstood – upstoodwithstand – withstood – withstood | Strong, class 6 | |
| stave – stove/staved – stove/staved/stoven | Weak | Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs7 |
| 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/strewedbestrew – bestrewed – bestrewn/bestrewedoverstrew – overstrewed – overstrewn/overstrewed | Weak | Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
| stride – strode – striddenbestride – bestrode – bestriddenoutstride – outstrode – outstriddenoverstride – overstrode – overstridden | Strong, class 1 | |
| strike – struck – struck/strickenoverstrike – overstruck – overstruck/overstricken | Strong, class 1 | The form stricken is limited to certain adjectival and specialist uses |
| string – strung/*stringed – strung/*stringedhamstring – hamstrung/*hamstringed – hamstrung/*hamstringedoverstring – overstrung/*overstringed – overstrung/*overstringed | Weak | Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
| strip – stripped – stripped | ||
| strive – strove/strived – striven/strivedoutstrive – outstrove – outstrivenoverstrive – overstrove – overstriven | Strong, class 1 | Or regularized |
| swear – swore – swornforswear – forswore – forswornoutswear – outswore – outsworn | Strong, class 6 | |
| sweat – sweated/sweat – sweated/sweat | Weak | Usually regular; possible past form sweat with coalescence of dentals |
| sweep – swept – sweptupsweep – upswept – upswept | Weak | 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 – swumoutswim – outswam/*outswum – outswum | Strong, class 3 | |
| swing – swang/swung – swungoverswing – overswang/overswung – overswung | Strong, class 3 | |
| take – took – takenbetake – betook – betakenmistake – mistook – mistakenovertake – overtook – overtakenpartake – partook – partakenretake – retook – retakenundertake – 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 – tornuptear – uptore – uptorn | Strong, class 4 | |
| tell – told – toldforetell – foretold – foretoldforthtell – forthtold – forthtoldmistell – mistold – mistold | Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) | With Rückumlaut; related to tale |
| think – thought – thoughtoutthink – outthought – outthoughtrethink – 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) pattern8 |
| throw – threw – thrownoutthrow – outthrew – outthrownoverthrow – overthrew – overthrownunderthrow – underthrew – underthrownupthrow – upthrew – upthrown | Strong, class 7 | |
| thrust – thrust/*thrusted – thrust/*thrustedoutthrust – outthrust – outthrust | Weak | With coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
| tread – trod – trodden/trodretread – 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/wakedawake – awoke – awoken | Strong, class 6 | |
| wear – weared/wore – weared/wornoutwear – outweared/outwore – outweared/outwornoverwear – overweared/overwore – overweared/overworn | Weak | Fell into a strong pattern by analogy with bear |
| weave – wove – woveninterweave – interwove – interwoven | Strong, class 7 | |
| wed – wed/wedded – wed/weddedmiswed – miswed/miswedded – miswed/misweddedrewed – 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/wettedoverwet – overwet/overwetted – overwet/overwetted | Weak | 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 – woundrewind – rewound – rewoundunwind – 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 – writtencowrite – cowrote – cowrittenghostwrite – ghostwrote – ghostwrittenhandwrite – handwrote – handwrittenmiswrite – miswrote – miswrittenoverwrite – overwrote – overwrittenrewrite – rewrote – rewrittenunderwrite – 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
See also: English irregular verbs § Verbs with irregular present tenses
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
- Complete List of 638 English Irregular Verbs with their forms in different tenses.
- Mind Our English: Strong and weak by Ralph Berry.
- English Irregular Verb List A comprehensive list of English irregular verbs, including their base form, past simple, past participle, 3rd person singular, and the present participle / gerund.
- Database of all irregular verbs with complete conjugation and audio.
References
Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford University Press, p. 331: The present system of brenġan occurs occasionally W-S, Kt., Ru., but it is in regular use only in North., being elsewhere replaced by that of the strong verb bringan, which has in OE no strong past, but occasionally pass. part. brungen ↩
Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for "clothe" and "clad". /wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary ↩
The strong-type past form dug arose as a past participle in the 16th century, by analogy with stuck, and was used as a past tense from the 18th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "dig". /wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary ↩
The use of need for needs, which has become the norm in contexts where the verb is used analogously to the modal verbs, became common in the 16th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "need" (verb). /wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary ↩
Regularized (weak-type) forms of this verb are found from the 16th century onward. There is also an obsolete verb rive meaning arrive, for which weak-type forms are attested earlier. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for "rive". /wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary ↩
Strong-type past forms of this verb were sometimes used in the 15th century; the past participle sawn is a survival of this. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "saw". /wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary ↩
The forms stove and stoven are found from the 18th century onward. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "stave". /wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary ↩
The strong-type past forms leading to thrave (Northern) and throve are attested from the 13th and 14th centuries onward, and weak forms (leading to thrived) from the 14th. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "thrive". /wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary ↩