Do you know what irregular verbs are? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on irregular verbs, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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November 11, 2021
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Common Questions
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What are irregular verbs?
According to Grammar Monster, an irregular verb is a verb that does not conjugate in a standard way. This verb does not form the simple past tense or past participle by adding “-ed” or “-d” to the base form like regular verbs do. These can be formed differently in American English versus British English. An irregular verb can be either a weak verb or a strong verb. A verb is weak when its past forms end “–d” or “-t”. If people do not know irregular verb forms it can lead to a lot of spelling errors because people may not know how to form the end of the word.
What are examples of irregular verbs?
Irregular verbs can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of irregular verbs that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these and irregular verbs examples from Canvas and see how many you can identify!
- ride – rode – ridden
- drink – drank – drunk
- eat – ate – eaten
- take – took – taken
- creep – creeped – crept
- draw – drew – drawn
- swim – swam – swum
- mean – meant – meant
- choose – chose – chosen
- begin – began – begun
- see – saw – has seen
- speak – spoke – spoken
- sell – sold – sold
- say – said – said
- feel – felt – felt
- go – went – gone
- meet – met – met
- go – went – has gone
- get – got – gotten
- make – made – made
- forget – forgot – forgotten
- come – came – has come
- fall – fell – fallen
- give – gave – given
- keep – kept – kept
- leave – left – left
- have – had – had
- say – said – has said
- blow – blew – blown
- find – found – found
- tell – told – told
- hear – heard – heard
- think – thought – has thought
- understand – understood – understood
- bring – brought – brought
- make – made – has made
- run – ran – run
- write – wrote – written
- fly – flew – flown
- know – knew – has known
- lose – lost – lost
- teach – taught – taught
- know – knew – known
- buy – bought – bought
- rise – rose – risen
- take – took – has taken
- become – became – become
- fight – fought – fought
- think – thought – thought
- drive – drove – driven
- come – came – come
- break – broke – broken
- put – put – put
- be – was/were – has been
- quit – quit – quit
- read – read – read
- send – sent – sent
- see – saw – seen
- pay – paid – paid
- do – did – done
- arise – arose – arisen
- be – was/were – been
- beat – beat – beaten
- bend – bent – bent
- bet – bet – bet
- bind – bound – bound
- bite – bit – bitten
- bleed – bled – bled
- breed – bred – bred
- build – built – built
- catch – caught – caught
- cost – cost – cost
- cut – cut – cut
- deal – dealt – dealt
- dig – dug – dug
- feed – fed – fed
- forbid – forbade – forbidden
- forgive – forgave – forgiven
- freeze – froze – frozen
- get – got – got ()
- gotten ()
- grow – grew – grown
- hide – hid – hidden
- hit – hit – hit
- hold – held – held
- hurt – hurt – hurt
- lay – laid – laid
- lead – led – led
- lend – lent – lent
- let – let – let
- lie – lay – lain
- light – lit – lit
- ring – rang – rung
- set – set – set
- shake – shook – shaken
- shine – shone – shone
- shoot – shot – shot
- show – showed – shown
- shut – shut – shut
- sing – sang – sung
- sink – sank – sunk
- sit – sat – sat
- sleep – slept – slept
- slide – slid – slid
- spend – spent – spent
- spin – spun – spun
- spread – spread – spread
- stand – stood – stood
- steal – stole – stolen
- stick – stuck – stuck
- sting – stung – stung
- strike – struck – struck
- swear – swore – sworn
- sweep – swept – swept
- swing – swung – swung
- tear – tore – torn
- throw – threw – thrown
- wake – woke – woken
- wear – wore – worn
- win – won – won
- withdraw – withdrew – withdrawn
- smell – smelled – smelt
- shrink – shrank – shrunk
What are other grammatical terms?
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
- genitive
- head
- abstract
- vocative
- nominative
- object | direct object | indirect object
- imperative (imper.)
- first person
- intensifier
- determiner
- non-referential
- construed (const., constr.)
- accusative
- positive
- anaphoric
- past participle
- masculine
- copular verb | copula
- prefix
- preposition (prep.)
- noun (n.)
- superlative
- that-clause
- demonstrative
- apposition
- singular
- third-person
- mass noun
- attributive
- agree | agreement
- part of speech
- direct speech
- periphrasis | periphrastic
- protasis
- helping verb
- sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- gender
- impersonal (impers.)
- passive infinitive
- interrogative
- noun phrase
- finite
- combination
- interjection
- transitive
- phrase (phr.)
- verb (v.)
- filler
- main clause
- definite article
- cataphoric
- participle | past participle | present participle
- suffix
- direct object
- possessive
- progressive
- collocation | collocate
- number
- instrumental
- feminine
- adjective
- pleonasm | pleonastic
- case
- double object
- postmodify | postmodifier
- combining form (comb. form)
- similative
- active
- prepositional passive
- modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- stem
- neuter
- perfect
- plural
- relative
- indirect passive
- agent noun
- pronoun (pron.)
- declarative
- complement
- construction
- indirect speech
- adverbial | adverbially
- nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- count noun
- compound | compounding
- concrete
- past tense
- possessive adjective
- inflection | inflected | inflectional
- clause
- prepositional phrase
- article
- conjunction (conj.)
- proper noun | proper name
- comparative
- person
- collective noun
- apodosis and protasis
- zero
- modify | modifier
- conditional
- intransitive
- adverb (adv.)
- phrasal verb
- indefinite
- auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- mood
- possessive pronoun
- special use
- pro-form
- quasi-
- verbal noun
- main verb
- simple
- indirect object
- parenthetical | parenthetically
- bare infinitive
- prepositional object
- predicative
- subjunctive
- element
- ellipsis | elliptical
- premodify | premodifier
- second person
- causative
- subject
- personal pronoun
- objective
- absolute (absol.)
- appositive
- optative
- complementary
- participial adjective
- dual
- locative
- present tense
- to-infinitive
- common noun
- infinitive
- subjective
- unmarked genitive
- indirect question
- passive
- non-finite
- parasynthetic
- reflexive
- indicative
- cognate object
- present participle
- direct question
- subordinate clause
- gerund
- dative
- morpheme
- anticipatory
- base form
- tense
- antecedent
Overall, irregular verbs form the simple past and past participle differently than is usual.
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