Verbs · three forms

English irregular verbs

200 verbs with meanings, grouped by similar forms — that makes them easier to remember.

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One form

28 verbs

Base form	Past Simple	Past Participle	Meaning
let	let	let	to allow someone to do something
put	put	put	to move something into a place
read	read	read	to look at words and understand them
hurt	hurt	hurt	to cause pain
set	set	set	to put something in a position; to fix a time
cut	cut	cut	to divide something with a knife or scissors
hit	hit	hit	to touch something hard and fast
cost	cost	cost	to have a price
quit	quit / quitted	quit / quitted	to stop doing something; to leave a job
shut	shut	shut	to close
fit	fit / fitted	fit / fitted	to be the right size
spread	spread	spread	to cover a larger area
upset	upset	upset	to make someone unhappy or worried
wet	wet / wetted	wet / wetted	to make something covered with water
bet	bet / betted	bet / betted	to risk money on what will happen
burst	burst	burst	to break open suddenly
split	split	split	to divide into parts
cast	cast	cast	to throw; to choose actors for roles
shed	shed	shed	to let something fall off, like leaves or skin
forecast	forecast / forecasted	forecast / forecasted	to say what will happen in the future, often about the weather
knit	knit / knitted	knit / knitted	to make clothes from wool with two long needles
broadcast	broadcast / broadcasted	broadcast / broadcasted	to send out a program on radio or TV
bid	bid	bid	to offer an amount of money for something, for example at an auction
thrust	thrust	thrust	to push suddenly and hard
reset	reset	reset	to put a device back to its starting settings
slit	slit	slit	to make a long narrow cut
wed	wed / wedded	wed / wedded	to marry (old-fashioned)
offset	offset	offset	to balance one thing against another

Two alike

91 verbs

Base form	Past Simple	Past Participle	Meaning
have	had	had	to own or hold something
say	said	said	to speak words
get	got	got / gotten	to receive or obtain something
think	thought	thought	to use your mind; to have an opinion
tell	told	told	to give information to someone by speaking
make	made	made	to create or produce something
leave	left	left	to go away from a place
buy	bought	bought	to get something by paying money
feel	felt	felt	to have an emotion or a physical sense of something
hear	heard	heard	to notice sounds with your ears
find	found	found	to discover something you were looking for
keep	kept	kept	to continue to have something
learn	learnt / learned	learnt / learned	to get knowledge or a skill by studying
lose	lost	lost	to no longer have something; to not win
meet	met	met	to come together with someone
understand	understood	understood	to know the meaning of something
sit	sat	sat	to rest with your bottom on a chair
win	won	won	to be first in a game or competition
pay	paid	paid	to give money for something
sleep	slept	slept	to rest with your eyes closed, usually at night
spend	spent	spent	to use money or time
bring	brought	brought	to carry something to a place
stand	stood	stood	to be on your feet
light	lit / lighted	lit / lighted	to make a fire or a candle start burning
catch	caught	caught	to take hold of something that is moving
send	sent	sent	to make a letter or message go to someone
teach	taught	taught	to help someone learn
mean	meant	meant	to have a particular sense, like a word does; to intend to say
hold	held	held	to have something in your hands
dream	dreamt / dreamed	dreamt / dreamed	to see pictures in your mind while you sleep; to hope for something
fight	fought	fought	to use force against someone
shoot	shot	shot	to fire a gun
sell	sold	sold	to give something to someone for money
deal	dealt	dealt	to handle a problem or a person
hang	hung / hanged	hung / hanged	to put something up so its top is fixed and the bottom is free
build	built	built	to make a house or another structure
lead	led	led	to go first and show others the way
stick	stuck	stuck	to fix something with glue; to become fixed
smell	smelt / smelled	smelt / smelled	to notice something with your nose
feed	fed	fed	to give food to a person or an animal
lay	laid	laid	to put something down carefully
lend	lent	lent	to let someone use something that they will give back
burn	burnt / burned	burnt / burned	to be on fire; to destroy with fire
strike	struck	struck	to hit hard
spell	spelt / spelled	spelt / spelled	to say or write the letters of a word in order
wind	wound	wound	to turn something around and around
seek	sought	sought	to look for something (formal)
speed	sped / speeded	sped / speeded	to move very fast
lean	leant / leaned	leant / leaned	to bend your body in one direction; to rest against something
spill	spilt / spilled	spilt / spilled	to let liquid fall out by accident
dig	dug	dug	to make a hole in the ground
flee	fled	fled	to run away from danger
bend	bent	bent	to make something curved
shine	shone / shined	shone / shined	to give out bright light
bind	bound	bound	to tie something tightly
bleed	bled	bled	to lose blood
slide	slid	slid	to move smoothly over a surface
sweep	swept	swept	to clean the floor with a brush
swing	swung	swung	to move backwards and forwards while hanging
creep	crept	crept	to move slowly and quietly
string	strung	strung	to put things like beads on a thread
sting	stung	stung	to hurt with a sharp point, like a bee
breed	bred	bred	to keep animals to produce young ones
spoil	spoilt / spoiled	spoilt / spoiled	to make something worse
leap	leapt / leaped	leapt / leaped	to make a big jump
misunderstand	misunderstood	misunderstood	to understand something wrongly
behold	beheld	beheld	to see or look at (old-fashioned)
spin	spun	spun	to turn around and around quickly
weep	wept	wept	to cry (formal)
rebuild	rebuilt	rebuilt	to make a building again after it was damaged
grind	ground	ground	to crush something into small pieces or powder
spit	spat / spit	spat / spit	to push liquid or food out of your mouth
dwell	dwelt / dwelled	dwelt / dwelled	to live in a place (formal); to keep thinking about something
repay	repaid	repaid	to give back money that you borrowed
mislead	misled	misled	to make someone believe something that is not true
cling	clung	clung	to hold onto something very tightly
withstand	withstood	withstood	to not be damaged by a force or a difficulty
uphold	upheld	upheld	to support a rule or a decision
kneel	knelt / kneeled	knelt / kneeled	to go down on your knees
wring	wrung	wrung	to twist wet cloth to get the water out
overhear	overheard	overheard	to hear by chance what other people are saying
withhold	withheld	withheld	to refuse to give something
fling	flung	flung	to throw something with force and without care
misspell	misspelt / misspelled	misspelt / misspelled	to write a word with the wrong letters
oversleep	overslept	overslept	to wake up later than you planned
remake	remade	remade	to make a film or a thing again
sling	slung	slung	to throw carelessly; to hang over your shoulder
mishear	misheard	misheard	to hear wrongly what someone said
mislay	mislaid	mislaid	to put something somewhere and forget where
overpay	overpaid	overpaid	to pay more than you should
retell	retold	retold	to tell a story again in your own words

i — a — u

9 verbs

Base form	Past Simple	Past Participle	Meaning
drink	drank	drunk	to take liquid into your mouth and swallow it
begin	began	begun	to start
sing	sang	sung	to make music with your voice
swim	swam	swum	to move through water using your arms and legs
ring	rang	rung	to make a sound like a bell; to phone
spring	sprang / sprung	sprung	to jump suddenly
sink	sank	sunk	to go down under water
stink	stank / stunk	stunk	to have a very bad smell
shrink	shrank / shrunk	shrunk	to become smaller

Ends in -en

59 verbs

Base form	Past Simple	Past Participle	Meaning
know	knew	known	to have information in your mind
see	saw	seen	to notice with your eyes
take	took	taken	to get something into your hands and carry it away
give	gave	given	to put something in someone’s hands for them to keep
eat	ate	eaten	to put food in your mouth and swallow it
speak	spoke	spoken	to talk; to use a language
write	wrote	written	to put words on paper or a screen
wear	wore	worn	to have clothes on your body
show	showed	shown	to let someone see something
forget	forgot	forgotten	to not remember
drive	drove	driven	to control a car
fall	fell	fallen	to drop down to the ground
break	broke	broken	to make something go into pieces
bite	bit	bitten	to cut into something with your teeth
grow	grew	grown	to get bigger
steal	stole	stolen	to take something that is not yours
hide	hid	hidden	to put something where no one can see it
throw	threw	thrown	to send something through the air with your hand
fly	flew	flown	to move through the air
wake	woke / waked	woken / waked	to stop sleeping
choose	chose	chosen	to pick one from several options
ride	rode	ridden	to sit on a horse or a bike and control it
tear	tore	torn	to pull paper or cloth into pieces
beat	beat	beaten	to hit many times; to win against someone
forgive	forgave	forgiven	to stop being angry with someone for something they did
draw	drew	drawn	to make a picture with a pencil or pen
blow	blew	blown	to push air out of your mouth
shake	shook	shaken	to move quickly from side to side or up and down
rise	rose	risen	to go up
swear	swore	sworn	to make a serious promise; to use rude words
forbid	forbade	forbidden	to say that someone must not do something
bear	bore	borne / born	to accept something unpleasant
mistake	mistook	mistaken	to think wrongly that one person or thing is another
prove	proved	proven / proved	to show that something is true
awake	awoke	awoken	to come out of sleep (literary)
freeze	froze	frozen	to become ice; to be very cold
arise	arose	arisen	to begin to exist, often about a problem
withdraw	withdrew	withdrawn	to take money out of a bank account
mow	mowed	mown / mowed	to cut grass with a machine
strive	strove / strived	striven / strived	to try very hard to get something
weave	wove	woven	to make cloth by crossing threads over and under each other
sow	sowed	sown / sowed	to put seeds into the ground
sew	sewed	sewn / sewed	to join cloth with a needle and thread
rewrite	rewrote	rewritten	to write something again in a different way
shear	sheared	shorn / sheared	to cut the wool off a sheep
undertake	undertook	undertaken	to agree to do a task and start it
swell	swelled	swollen / swelled	to become bigger, often because of an injury
overtake	overtook	overtaken	to go past a car that is moving in the same direction
foresee	foresaw	foreseen	to know that something will happen before it happens
stride	strode	stridden	to walk with long steps
slay	slew	slain	to kill violently (literary)
tread	trod	trodden	to put your foot down on something
befall	befell	befallen	to happen to someone, usually something bad (literary)
overthrow	overthrew	overthrown	to remove a ruler or government by force
oversee	oversaw	overseen	to watch work and make sure it is done well
outgrow	outgrew	outgrown	to become too big for something, like your clothes
forsake	forsook	forsaken	to leave someone or something forever (literary)
overeat	overate	overeaten	to eat more food than you need
override	overrode	overridden	to cancel a decision or setting with more power

Special

13 verbs

Base form	Past Simple	Past Participle	Meaning
be	was / were	been	to exist; used to say what or where someone is
do	did	done	to perform an action or a job
go	went	gone	to move from one place to another
come	came	come	to move towards the speaker or a place
run	ran	run	to move very fast on your feet
become	became	become	to begin to be something
lie	lay	lain	to be in a flat position on a bed or the floor
overcome	overcame	overcome	to deal successfully with a problem
undergo	underwent	undergone	to go through something, like a medical treatment
undo	undid	undone	to open something that was tied or closed; to cancel an action
overdo	overdid	overdone	to do too much of something
outdo	outdid	outdone	to do better than someone else
outrun	outran	outrun	to run faster than someone

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Base form

Past Simple

Past Participle

Meaning

let

to allow someone to do something

put

to move something into a place

read

to look at words and understand them

hurt

to cause pain

set

to put something in a position; to fix a time

cut

to divide something with a knife or scissors

hit

to touch something hard and fast

cost

to have a price

quit

quit / quitted

to stop doing something; to leave a job

shut

to close

fit

fit / fitted

to be the right size

spread

to cover a larger area

upset

to make someone unhappy or worried

wet

wet / wetted

to make something covered with water

bet

bet / betted

to risk money on what will happen

burst

to break open suddenly

split

to divide into parts

cast

to throw; to choose actors for roles

shed

to let something fall off, like leaves or skin

forecast

forecast / forecasted

to say what will happen in the future, often about the weather

knit

knit / knitted

to make clothes from wool with two long needles

broadcast

broadcast / broadcasted

to send out a program on radio or TV

bid

to offer an amount of money for something, for example at an auction

thrust

to push suddenly and hard

reset

to put a device back to its starting settings

slit

to make a long narrow cut

wed

wed / wedded

to marry (old-fashioned)

offset

to balance one thing against another

Base form

Past Simple

Past Participle

Meaning

have

had

to own or hold something

say

said

to speak words

get

got

got / gotten

to receive or obtain something

think

thought

to use your mind; to have an opinion

tell

told

to give information to someone by speaking

make

made

to create or produce something

leave

left

to go away from a place

buy

bought

to get something by paying money

feel

felt

to have an emotion or a physical sense of something

hear

heard

to notice sounds with your ears

find

found

to discover something you were looking for

keep

kept

to continue to have something

learn

learnt / learned

to get knowledge or a skill by studying

lose

lost

to no longer have something; to not win

meet

met

to come together with someone

understand

understood

to know the meaning of something

sit

sat

to rest with your bottom on a chair

win

won

to be first in a game or competition

pay

paid

to give money for something

sleep

slept

to rest with your eyes closed, usually at night

spend

spent

to use money or time

bring

brought

to carry something to a place

stand

stood

to be on your feet

light

lit / lighted

to make a fire or a candle start burning

catch

caught

to take hold of something that is moving

send

sent

to make a letter or message go to someone

teach

taught

to help someone learn

mean

meant

to have a particular sense, like a word does; to intend to say

hold

held

to have something in your hands

dream

dreamt / dreamed

to see pictures in your mind while you sleep; to hope for something

fight

fought

to use force against someone

shoot

shot

to fire a gun

sell

sold

to give something to someone for money

deal

dealt

to handle a problem or a person

hang

hung / hanged

to put something up so its top is fixed and the bottom is free

build

built

to make a house or another structure

lead

led

to go first and show others the way

stick

stuck

to fix something with glue; to become fixed

smell

smelt / smelled

to notice something with your nose

feed

fed

to give food to a person or an animal

lay

laid

to put something down carefully

lend

lent

to let someone use something that they will give back

burn

burnt / burned

to be on fire; to destroy with fire

strike

struck

to hit hard

spell

spelt / spelled

to say or write the letters of a word in order

wind

wound

to turn something around and around

seek

sought

to look for something (formal)

speed

sped / speeded

to move very fast

lean

leant / leaned

to bend your body in one direction; to rest against something

spill

spilt / spilled

to let liquid fall out by accident

dig

dug

to make a hole in the ground

flee

fled

to run away from danger

bend

bent

to make something curved

shine

shone / shined

to give out bright light

bind

bound

to tie something tightly

bleed

bled

to lose blood

slide

slid

to move smoothly over a surface

sweep

swept

to clean the floor with a brush

swing

swung

to move backwards and forwards while hanging

creep

crept

to move slowly and quietly

string

strung

to put things like beads on a thread

sting

stung

to hurt with a sharp point, like a bee

breed

bred

to keep animals to produce young ones

spoil

spoilt / spoiled

to make something worse

leap

leapt / leaped

to make a big jump

misunderstand

misunderstood

to understand something wrongly

behold

beheld

to see or look at (old-fashioned)

spin

spun

to turn around and around quickly

weep

wept

to cry (formal)

rebuild

rebuilt

to make a building again after it was damaged

grind

ground

to crush something into small pieces or powder

spit

spat / spit

to push liquid or food out of your mouth

dwell

dwelt / dwelled

to live in a place (formal); to keep thinking about something

repay

repaid

to give back money that you borrowed

mislead

misled

to make someone believe something that is not true

cling

clung

to hold onto something very tightly

withstand

withstood

to not be damaged by a force or a difficulty

uphold

upheld

to support a rule or a decision

kneel

knelt / kneeled

to go down on your knees

wring

wrung

to twist wet cloth to get the water out

overhear

overheard

to hear by chance what other people are saying

withhold

withheld

to refuse to give something

fling

flung

to throw something with force and without care

misspell

misspelt / misspelled

to write a word with the wrong letters

oversleep

overslept

to wake up later than you planned

remake

remade

to make a film or a thing again

sling

slung

to throw carelessly; to hang over your shoulder

mishear

misheard

to hear wrongly what someone said

mislay

mislaid

to put something somewhere and forget where

overpay

overpaid

to pay more than you should

retell

retold

to tell a story again in your own words

Base form

Past Simple

Past Participle

Meaning

drink

drank

drunk

to take liquid into your mouth and swallow it

begin

began

begun

to start

sing

sang

sung

to make music with your voice

swim

swam

swum

to move through water using your arms and legs

ring

rang

rung

to make a sound like a bell; to phone

spring

sprang / sprung

sprung

to jump suddenly

sink

sank

sunk

to go down under water

stink

stank / stunk

stunk

to have a very bad smell

shrink

shrank / shrunk

shrunk

to become smaller

Base form

Past Simple

Past Participle

Meaning

know

knew

known

to have information in your mind

see

saw

seen

to notice with your eyes

take

took

taken

to get something into your hands and carry it away

give

gave

given

to put something in someone’s hands for them to keep

eat

ate

eaten

to put food in your mouth and swallow it

speak

spoke

spoken

to talk; to use a language

write

wrote

written

to put words on paper or a screen

wear

wore

worn

to have clothes on your body

show

showed

shown

to let someone see something

forget

forgot

forgotten

to not remember

drive

drove

driven

to control a car

fall

fell

fallen

to drop down to the ground

break

broke

broken

to make something go into pieces

bite

bit

bitten

to cut into something with your teeth

grow

grew

grown

to get bigger

steal

stole

stolen

to take something that is not yours

hide

hid

hidden

to put something where no one can see it

throw

threw

thrown

to send something through the air with your hand

fly

flew

flown

to move through the air

wake

woke / waked

woken / waked

to stop sleeping

choose

chose

chosen

to pick one from several options

ride

rode

ridden

to sit on a horse or a bike and control it

tear

tore

torn

to pull paper or cloth into pieces

beat

beaten

to hit many times; to win against someone

forgive

forgave

forgiven

to stop being angry with someone for something they did

draw

drew

drawn

to make a picture with a pencil or pen

blow

blew

blown

to push air out of your mouth

shake

shook

shaken

to move quickly from side to side or up and down

rise

rose

risen

to go up

swear

swore

sworn

to make a serious promise; to use rude words

forbid

forbade

forbidden

to say that someone must not do something

bear

bore

borne / born

to accept something unpleasant

mistake

mistook

mistaken

to think wrongly that one person or thing is another

prove

proved

proven / proved

to show that something is true

awake

awoke

awoken

to come out of sleep (literary)

freeze

froze

frozen

to become ice; to be very cold

arise

arose

arisen

to begin to exist, often about a problem

withdraw

withdrew

withdrawn

to take money out of a bank account

mow

mowed

mown / mowed

to cut grass with a machine

strive

strove / strived

striven / strived

to try very hard to get something

weave

wove

woven

to make cloth by crossing threads over and under each other

sow

sowed

sown / sowed

to put seeds into the ground

sew

sewed

sewn / sewed

to join cloth with a needle and thread

rewrite

rewrote

rewritten

to write something again in a different way

shear

sheared

shorn / sheared

to cut the wool off a sheep

undertake

undertook

undertaken

to agree to do a task and start it

swell

swelled

swollen / swelled

to become bigger, often because of an injury

overtake

overtook

overtaken

to go past a car that is moving in the same direction

foresee

foresaw

foreseen

to know that something will happen before it happens

stride

strode

stridden

to walk with long steps

slay

slew

slain

to kill violently (literary)

tread

trod

trodden

to put your foot down on something

befall

befell

befallen

to happen to someone, usually something bad (literary)

overthrow

overthrew

overthrown

to remove a ruler or government by force

oversee

oversaw

overseen

to watch work and make sure it is done well

outgrow

outgrew

outgrown

to become too big for something, like your clothes

forsake

forsook

forsaken

to leave someone or something forever (literary)

overeat

overate

overeaten

to eat more food than you need

override

overrode

overridden

to cancel a decision or setting with more power

Base form

Past Simple

Past Participle

Meaning

was / were

been

to exist; used to say what or where someone is

did

done

to perform an action or a job

went

gone

to move from one place to another

come

came

come

to move towards the speaker or a place

run

ran

run

to move very fast on your feet

become

became

become

to begin to be something

lie

lay

lain

to be in a flat position on a bed or the floor

overcome

overcame

overcome

to deal successfully with a problem

undergo

underwent

undergone

to go through something, like a medical treatment

undo

undid

undone

to open something that was tied or closed; to cancel an action

overdo

overdid

overdone

to do too much of something

outdo

outdid

outdone

to do better than someone else

outrun

outran

outrun

to run faster than someone

English irregular verbs

One form

Two alike

i — a — u

Ends in -en

Special

Learn the verbs, don't just read the list

Reps: English Drills

English irregular verbs

One form

Two alike

i — a — u

Ends in -en

Special

Learn the verbs, don't just read the list

Reps: English Drills