English Grammar

Regular and Irregular Verbs in English with Examples

Regular and Irregular Verbs in English with Examples

In English, verbs are divided into two main types: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Understanding the difference between these types can help improve your language skills. Both are crucial for forming sentences correctly and are widely used in both written and spoken English.

What Are Regular Verbs?

In English grammar, regular verbs are verbs that follow a predictable pattern when forming their past tense and past participle forms. For basic grammar learners, this means that regular verbs are easier to learn and use because they add the ending “-ed” to the base form of the verb to show something happened in the past.

Rules for Regular Verbs

Regular verbs are verbs that follow a set pattern to form their past tense and past participle. In English, most regular verbs form these by adding “-ed” or “-d” to the base form of the verb. Here’s a guide to understanding these rules with examples.

Basic Rule: Add “-ed”
For most regular verbs, simply add “-ed” to make the past tense.

  • playplayed, jumpjumped, workworked, askasked

Verbs Ending in “e”: Add “-d”
If a verb already ends in “e,” just add “-d” instead of “-ed.”

  • loveloved, movemoved, dancedanced, bakebaked

Verbs Ending in Consonant + “y”: Change “y” to “i” and Add “-ed”
When a verb ends with a consonant + “y,” change the “y” to “i” and add “-ed.”

  • crycried, carrycarried, fryfried, trytried

Note: If the verb ends in vowel + “y,” like play or enjoy, just add “-ed” without changing anything.

Verbs Ending in Short Vowel + Consonant: Double the Consonant and Add “-ed”
If a verb has a short vowel (like “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” or “u”) and ends in a single consonant, double the consonant first, then add “-ed.”

  • stopstopped, planplanned, hughugged, begbegged

Verbs Ending in Long Vowel + Consonant: Just Add “-ed”
If a verb ends with a long vowel sound (like need or fail) and a consonant, just add “-ed.”

  • needneeded, failfailed, cleancleaned, rainrained

List of Regular Verbs

Base Form Past Tense Past Participle
Accept Accepted Accepted
Add Added Added
Ask Asked Asked
Bake Baked Baked
Call Called Called
Clean Cleaned Cleaned
Close Closed Closed
Collect Collected Collected
Cook Cooked Cooked
Dance Danced Danced
Deliver Delivered Delivered
Dry Dried Dried
Enjoy Enjoyed Enjoyed
Erase Erased Erased
Fix Fixed Fixed
Help Helped Helped
Jump Jumped Jumped
Kiss Kissed Kissed
Laugh Laughed Laughed
Learn Learned Learned
Listen Listened Listened
Look Looked Looked
Love Loved Loved
Move Moved Moved
Need Needed Needed
Open Opened Opened
Paint Painted Painted
Play Played Played
Post Posted Posted
Practice Practiced Practiced
Pull Pulled Pulled
Push Pushed Pushed
Rain Rained Rained
Reach Reached Reached
Relax Relaxed Relaxed
Remember Remembered Remembered
Reply Replied Replied
Share Shared Shared
Shop Shopped Shopped
Show Showed Showed
Smoke Smoked Smoked
Start Started Started
Stay Stayed Stayed
Stop Stopped Stopped
Talk Talked Talked
Touch Touched Touched
Travel Traveled Traveled
Visit Visited Visited
Wait Waited Waited
Walk Walked Walked
Watch Watched Watched
Regular Verbs in English with Examples

Regular Verbs in English with Examples

What Are Irregular Verbs?

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the standard rule of adding “-ed” to form the past tense or past participle. Unlike regular verbs, they have unique past forms that can vary significantly from their base forms. Because irregular verbs don’t follow a predictable pattern, they have to be memorized individually.

Rules for Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the standard rules for forming their past tense and past participle. While there are no strict rules like with regular verbs, some common patterns can help you understand how irregular verbs change:

Completely Different Forms

Some irregular verbs change completely when moving from the base form to the past tense and past participle.

    • Base Form: go → Past Tense: went → Past Participle: gone
    • Base Form: eat → Past Tense: ate → Past Participle: eaten

Similar Forms

A few irregular verbs have the same form in the present, past, and past participle.

    • Base Form: put → Past Tense: put → Past Participle: put
    • Base Form: cut → Past Tense: cut → Past Participle: cut

Vowel Changes

Many irregular verbs change the vowel in the past tense and past participle.

    • Base Form: sing → Past Tense: sang → Past Participle: sung
    • Base Form: begin → Past Tense: began → Past Participle: begun

No Change

Some irregular verbs do not change at all when moving to the past tense.

    • Base Form: hurt → Past Tense: hurt → Past Participle: hurt
    • Base Form: read (pronounced “reed”) → Past Tense: read (pronounced “red”) → Past Participle: read (pronounced “red”)

List of Irregular Verbs

Base Form Past Tense Past Participle
Arise Arose Arisen
Be Was/Were Been
Become Became Become
Begin Began Begun
Bend Bent Bent
Bite Bit Bitten
Blow Blew Blown
Break Broke Broken
Bring Brought Brought
Build Built Built
Buy Bought Bought
Catch Caught Caught
Choose Chose Chosen
Come Came Come
Cost Cost Cost
Cut Cut Cut
Deal Dealt Dealt
Do Did Done
Draw Drew Drawn
Drink Drank Drunk
Drive Drove Driven
Eat Ate Eaten
Fall Fell Fallen
Feel Felt Felt
Find Found Found
Fly Flew Flown
Forget Forgot Forgotten
Forgive Forgave Forgiven
Freeze Froze Frozen
Get Got Gotten
Give Gave Given
Go Went Gone
Grow Grew Grown
Have Had Had
Hear Heard Heard
Hide Hid Hidden
Hit Hit Hit
Hold Held Held
Keep Kept Kept
Know Knew Known
Leave Left Left
Lose Lost Lost
Make Made Made
Meet Met Met
Pay Paid Paid
Read Read Read
Ride Rode Ridden
Ring Rang Rung
Rise Rose Risen
Run Ran Run
Say Said Said
Irregular Verbs in English with Examples

Irregular Verbs in English with Examples

Regular vs Irregular Verbs

Understanding the difference between regular and irregular verbs is essential for mastering English grammar. Here’s a simple explanation:

Feature Regular Verbs Irregular Verbs
Definition Verbs that follow a predictable pattern when changing tense Verbs that don’t follow a predictable pattern when changing tense
Formation of Past Tense Add -ed or -d to the base form Changes vary, often with a different word or vowel change
Past Participle Form Same as past tense form (usually ends in -ed or -d) May be different from both base and past tense forms
Examples Base: walk → Past: walked Base: go → Past: went → Past Participle: gone
Consistency Consistent rules apply to most regular verbs No set rules; forms must be memorized individually
Ease of Learning Easier to learn due to predictable pattern Harder to learn; requires memorization
Examples of Each Regular: play, talk, cleanplayed, talked, cleaned Irregular: see, take, singsaw, took, sang
Common Ending Pattern Ends in -ed for past and past participle Varies greatly; often involves vowel or full word changes
Usage in English More common in simpler, newer verbs Often found in older, core vocabulary verbs

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When learning about regular and irregular verbs, there are some common mistakes to watch out for. Here are a few tips to help avoid these errors:

  • Adding “-ed” to Irregular Verbs: Not all past tenses use “-ed.” For example, “go” becomes “went,” not “goed.”
  • Using Base Form Instead of Past Tense: For instance, saying “He sing yesterday” instead of “He sang yesterday.”
  • Confusing Regular and Irregular Patterns: Regular verbs take “-ed” (like “played”), but irregular verbs have unique changes. Don’t mix these up.
  • Pronouncing “-ed” Incorrectly: For verbs like “wanted,” the “-ed” sounds like “id,” while in “played,” it sounds like “d.”

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