Group Two – The Common PastĪs the name we have given them suggests, for these verbs the two past forms (past simple and past participle) are the same but the base form differs. Practice using these by putting them into sentences using the base form, simple past and past participle. Other verbs which fit into this constant group include ‘let’, ‘cost’, ‘put’ and so on. Let us take the verb ‘hurt’.īase form: ‘I have just hurt my leg.’ Past simple: ‘Yesterday, I hurt my leg.’ Past Participle (passive tense here): ‘My leg was hurt.’ (adjective use) ‘My hurt leg was painful.’ These are irregular verbs where the same form is used in the base, past simple and past participle. Sadly, there is no way beyond the hard grafts of learning and practising because, as the name suggests, irregular verbs do not follow a pattern. We have called each group by a name which will help us to remember them. Irregular Verbsīut these are not! Because, like oddly shaped piece of furniture which does not fit easily into a room, so the 200 or so irregular verbs do not fit easily into a sentence.Ī top tip is to learn irregular verbs in four separate groups. The same is true for ‘arrive’, for ‘wait’ and so forth, (We still add ‘ing’ when we use the gerund, and add ‘to’ when turning it into).ĭo, for example, the verb ‘call’ is ‘call’ in its base form, then ‘called’ in both the past simple and past participle. If the verb ends in a ‘y’ we change the last letter to an ‘I’ and then add the ‘ed’. We simply add ‘ed’ – ‘d’ if the verb already ends in an ‘e’ to turn the verb from its base form to the past simple or past participle form. We would expect it to be ‘singed’, but the word changes to ‘sung’. The other, though, starts to go wrong in the past participle. The second of these, ‘finish’ follows the rules to a tee and is therefore a regular verb. We have worked on two verbs in these examples, ‘sing’ and ‘finish’. ‘It was finished.’įinally, we can use the verb as an adjective, ‘The song is finished.’ We can use the passive form, which is preceded by an auxiliary (or helping) verb such as ‘was’. Usually, but not always, the addition of ‘ed’ turns the verb into the present perfect. The first is called the present perfect.Īs we can see, the action has just happened, it is in the present. The truth is that you won't master English without studying them.Get started for free It’s Finished – The Part Participleįinally, we can use all verbs in three basic past participle forms. There's no real trick to learning how to use irregular verbs. So, if you're learning or teaching English, you must embrace them. Somewhat counter-intuitively, the most common verbs in English are irregular. Here is a Venn diagram that explains how verbs are classified: Similarly, the terms "regular verb" and "weak verb" are not synonyms. The terms "irregular verb" and "strong verb" are not synonyms (i.e., they do not mean the same). Infographic Explaining Strong, Weak, Regular, and Irregular Verbs Here are some examples of strong and weak irregular verbs: Irregular Verbs Can Be Strong or Weak VerbsĪn irregular verb can be either a weak verb (when its past forms end "-d" or "-t") or a strong verb. Some irregular verbs do not change their forms for the simple past tense and the past participle: The second form (e.g., learnt, dreamt) is more common in British English. The following verbs can be regular or irregular: Here is a fuller list of the most common irregular verbs in English: see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think.Aside from these three (which deserve a special status for being both main or auxiliary verbs), the top 10 irregular verbs in English are: The most common irregular verbs in English are be, have, and do. Show Me More Regular Verbs The Most Common Irregular Verbs Notice that the regular verbs add just "-ed" or "-d": Show Me More Irregular Verbs Irregular Verbs vs Regular VerbsĬompare the past forms of the irregular verbs above with the past forms of these regular verbs. With an irregular verb, the past form and past participle are often different (but not always). Ironically, the most commonly used verbs in English are all irregular: Click on the green letters to spell the past tense and then the past participle of the irregular verb shown.
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