Irregular verbs
About two hundred English verbs are irregular: they do not take -ed. Most fall into a handful of patterns, and the patterns are easier to hold than the list.
The short answer
An irregular verb does not form its past with -ed. It has three forms that must be known: the base (go), the past simple (went) and the past participle (gone). The table below groups them by pattern.
Which one do you need?
| Form | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| base — go | present, after to, after a modal | I go. I want to go. I can go. |
| past simple — went | a finished past action, on its own | I went yesterday. |
| past participle — gone | after have, has, had, and in the passive | I have gone. It was taken. |
Practice the choice
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Side by side
Three sentences for each form, taken from the 146 sentences this drill uses. The answer is highlighted.
gone
- Who has Mary gone to the concert with?
- Where has Peter gone for his vacation?
- How many times have they gone to the beach?
did
- Did he eat pizza for dinner last night?
done
- What has she done with her old toys?
- What have you done with your free time?
- What had he done when you saw him last night?
eaten
- What has Emily eaten for breakfast today?
- What had Sarah eaten for breakfast this morning?
- What had John eaten for dinner before he went to bed?
seen
- Have you seen your best friend lately?
- Has he seen his favorite band in concert?
- What have they seen at the art exhibition?
taken
- Have they taken their dream vacation?
given
- Who has Karen given the present to?
known
- How had you known the news before it was announced?
- How long have they known each other before they got married?
- How had Sarah and Kate known each other before they started working together?
broken
- When has he broken his phone?
- What has the cat broken this time?
spoken
- Who had she spoken to about the issue before she felt better?
- Who had Mark and Lisa spoken to before they made their decision?
written
- Has she written her essay yet?
begun
- When has David begun his guitar lessons?
driven
- How had John driven to work yesterday?
- Why had she driven her car to work instead of taking the bus?
- How had she driven all the way to the airport without realizing she forgot her passport?
forgotten
- Have you forgotten your passport for the trip?
- How had Jane forgotten her phone number before she lost her phone?
flown
- How many times has she flown to Paris?
drunk
- What had he drunk before he came to visit you?
sung
- Has she sung her favorite song already?
ridden
- Have you ever ridden in a hot air balloon?
Why irregular verbs have three forms
Only the second form stands alone. The third never does: it needs have, has, had in front of it, or a form of be in the passive. That is the whole of the rule, and nearly every mistake with irregular verbs is the two swapped.
I saw it. — past simple, on its own. I have seen it. — participle, after have.
The irregular verb patterns
Grouping beats memorising a flat list. These patterns cover most of the irregular verbs you will meet.
Irregular verbs where all three forms are the same
cut — cut — cut, put — put — put, let — let — let, hit — hit — hit, shut — shut — shut, cost — cost — cost, hurt — hurt — hurt, set — set — set, spread — spread — spread, read — read — read
Read is spelled the same three times but the last two are said like red.
Irregular verbs where the past and participle match
buy — bought — bought, bring — brought — brought, think — thought — thought, catch — caught — caught, teach — taught — taught, build — built — built, send — sent — sent, spend — spent — spent, lose — lost — lost, leave — left — left, feel — felt — felt, keep — kept — kept, sleep — slept — slept, meet — met — met, sit — sat — sat, stand — stood — stood, understand — understood — understood, hold — held — held, tell — told — told, sell — sold — sold, find — found — found, hear — heard — heard, make — made — made, pay — paid — paid, say — said — said, have — had — had, win — won — won
Irregular verbs where the base and participle match
come — came — come, become — became — become, run — ran — run
Irregular verbs with three different forms
be — was/were — been, go — went — gone, do — did — done, eat — ate — eaten, see — saw — seen, take — took — taken, give — gave — given, know — knew — known, grow — grew — grown, throw — threw — thrown, fly — flew — flown, draw — drew — drawn, show — showed — shown, break — broke — broken, speak — spoke — spoken, choose — chose — chosen, freeze — froze — frozen, steal — stole — stolen, wake — woke — woken, write — wrote — written, drive — drove — driven, ride — rode — ridden, rise — rose — risen, begin — began — begun, drink — drank — drunk, sing — sang — sung, ring — rang — rung, swim — swam — swum, forget — forgot — forgotten, get — got — got/gotten, wear — wore — worn, tear — tore — torn, fall — fell — fallen, hide — hid — hidden, bite — bit — bitten
The irregular verbs worth learning in groups
Four verbs change i — a — u and nothing else: begin, drink, sing, ring, swim. Say them together once and they stay together.
Another set ends the participle in -en over a vowel change: break, speak, choose, freeze, steal, wake, write, drive, ride, rise.
get and gotten
Got is standard in British English for both the past and the participle. American English keeps gotten for the participle when it means obtained or became: he has gotten better. Have got meaning possess stays got on both sides of the Atlantic.
Mistakes to avoid
Wrong: I have went there. correct: I have gone there.
After have comes the past participle, not the past simple. Went never follows have.
Wrong: She has ate already. correct: She has eaten already.
Ate is the past simple; the participle is eaten.
Wrong: The window was broke. correct: The window was broken.
The passive takes the past participle. Broke is the past simple.
Wrong: He had drank too much. correct: He had drunk too much.
Drank is the past simple, drunk the participle. The same split runs through sing, ring, swim and begin.