User:Jnestorius/List of English irregular verbs

This is list of irregular verbs in the English language. The citation form (the infinitive) comes first (with a link to the Wiktionary article on the verb), together with the present tense forms when they are different, then the preterite or simple past, and finally the past participle. The right hand column notes whether they are weak or strong and whether they belong to a subclass, and links to discussions elsewhere. Typical irregularities in weak verbs are the assimilation of dentals (bended → bent) and vowel reduction (*keeped → kept).

It should be noted that many of these verbs are irregular in British or American English only; in many cases, such as spell (spelt vs. spelled), learn (learnt vs. learned), and spill (spilt vs. spilled), American English uses the regular form, while British English tends to favor the irregular. In other cases, the opposite is true (dived and sneaked in Britain, also dove and snuck in the U.S.); Australian English tends to follow British practice, while Canadian English often sides with American usage. See further at American and British English differences.

infinitive (and present)	preterite	participle (and adjective)	class	similar compounds	notes
be (am, is, are)	was (were)	been	Suppletive. See: Indo-European copula.
bear	bore	borne (born)	Strong, class 4		born used of birth
beat	beat	beaten/beat	Strong, class 7	browbeat
begin	began	begun	Strong, class 3
bend	bent	bent	Weak with assimilation of dentals
bereave	bereaved	bereaved (bereft)	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
beseech	besought	besought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
bet	bet/betted	bet/betted	Weak with assimilation of dentals
bid	bid	bid	Weak with assimilation of dentals	outbid	(in cards, auctions, etc.)
bid	bade/bid/bidded	bidden/bid/bidded	Strong, class 5	forbid	(to request or say)
bide	bided/bode	bided/bidden	Strong, class 1	abide
bind	bound	bound (bounden)	Strong, class 3	unbind
bite	bit	bitten	Strong, class 1
bleed	bled	bled	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
blow	blew	blown	Strong, class 7
break	broke	broken	Strong, class 4
breed	bred	bred	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals	interbreed
bring	brought	brought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
build	built	built	Weak with assimilation of dentals	rebuild
burn	burned/burnt	burnt/burned	Weak
burst	burst/bursted	burst/bursted	Strong, class 3
buy	bought	bought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
can	could	-	Preterite-present		meaning "be able"; meaning "put in a can" is regular
cast	cast	cast	Weak with assimilation of dentals	broadcast (also regular "broadcasted" by verb->noun->verb conversion), forecast, recast
catch	caught	caught	Weak - a French loanword conjugated perhaps by analogy with teach-taught
chide	chode/chided/chid	chidden/chided	Strong, class 5
choose	chose	chosen	Strong, class 2
cleave¹	clove/clave	cloven/claven	Strong, class 2		("split apart")
cleave²	cleft/cleaved	cleft/cleaved	Weakwith vowel reduction		("cling to")
cling	clang/clung	clung	Strong, class 3
clothe	clothed	clothed (clad)	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
come	came	come	Strong, class 4	become, overcome	welcome is regular
cost	cost	cost	Weak with assimilation of dentals		sense "calculate the cost of" is regular
creep	crept	crept	Strong, class 2
crow	crowed/crew	crowed/crown [kroʊn]	Strong, class 7
cut	cut	cut	Weak with assimilation of dentals
deal	dealt	dealt	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
dig	dug	dug
dive	dived/dove	dived/dove	Strong, class 2
do (does [dʌz])	did	done	Reduplication with p.p. springing from OE "gedon"	outdo, overdo, redo, undo
draw	drew	drawn	Strong, class 6	overdraw, withdraw
dream	dreamt/dreamed	dreamt/dreamed	Weak with vowel reduction assimilation of dentals
drink	drank/drunk	drunk (drunken)	Strong, class 3
drive	drove	driven	Strong, class 1
dwell	dwelt/dwelled	dwelt/dwelled	Weak with assimilation of dentals
eat	ate	eaten	Strong, class 5	overeat
fall	fell	fallen	Strong, class 7	befall
feed	fed	fed	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
feel	felt	felt	Weak with assimilation of dentals
fight	fought	fought	Strong, class 3
find	found	found	Strong, class 3
fit	fit/fitted	fit/fitted	Weak with assimilation of dentals	befit is regular	fitted is more common in AmE
flee	fled	fled	Strong, class 2
fling	flung	flung	Strong, class 3
fly	flew	flown	Strong, class 2
forsake	forsook	forsaken	Strong, class 6
freeze	froze	frozen	Strong, class 2
get	got	gotten/got	Strong, class 5	beget, forget	gotten is AmE; got is BrE and in semantic present idioms. beget, forget always make begotten, forgotten
gird	girded	girded (girt)	Weak with assimilation of dentals		archaic
give	gave	given	Strong, class 5	forgive
go	went	gone	Suppletive. See: go (verb).	forego, forgo, indergo
grind	ground	ground	Strong, class 3
grow	grew	grown	Strong, class 7	outgrow
hang	hung/hanged	hung/hanged	Strong, class 7 weak past tense and present influenced by OE causative "hangian"	overhang	"hanged" only for execution
have (has)	had	had	Weak pret./p.p. spring from O.E. haefd
hear	heard	heard	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals	mishear, overhear
hew	hewed	hewed/hewn	Strong, class 7
hide	hid	hid/hidden	Weak vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
hit	hit	hit	Weak with assimilation of dentals
hold	held	held	Strong, class 7	behold (also adjective beholden), uphold, withhold
hurt	hurt	hurt	Weak with assimilation of dentals
keep	kept	kept	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
kneel	knelt/kneeled	knelt/kneeled	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
knit	knit/knitted	knit/knitted	Weak with assimilation of dentals		regular form usual for adjective
know	knew	known	Strong, class 7
lay	laid	laid	Weak; irregular only in spelling	mislay, overlay, re-lay, waylay; but not allay, delay, relay
lead	led	led	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals	mislead
lean	leaned/leant	leaned/leant	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
leap	leaped/leapt	leaped/leapt	Strong, class 7
learn	learned/learnt	learned/learnt	Weak with assimilation of dentals
leave	left	left	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
load	loaded	loaded (laden)
lose	lost	lost (lorn)	Strong, class 2
lend	lent	lent	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
let¹	letted/let	letted/let	Strong, class 7		"hinder" (archaic)
let²	let	let	Strong, class 7		"allow","offer for rent", etc
lie	lay	lain	Strong, class 5	overlie, underlie	lie "rest horizontal"; lie "tell untruth" is regular
light	lit/lighted	lit/lighted	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals	alight
make	made	made	Weak contraction of maked	remake
may	might	-	Preterite-present
mean [miːn]	meant [mɛnt]	meant [mɛnt]	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
meet	met	met	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
melt	melted	melted (molten)	Strong, class 3
mow	mowed	mowed/mown	Strong, class 7
pay	paid	paid	Weak; irregular only in spelling	overpay, repay
plead	pleaded/pled	pleaded/pled	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals		"pled" mainly in American Law
prove	proved	proved/proven	borrowed French verb		proven mainly as an adjective
put	put	put	Weak with assimilation of dentals	input
quit	quit	quit	Weak with assimilation of dentals		formerly "quitted"
read [riːd]	read [rɛd]	read [rɛd]	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals	misread, proofread
rend	rent	rent	Weak with assimilation of dentals		archaic
rid	rid/ridded	rid/ridden			rare; usu light verb get rid of
ride	rode	ridden	Strong, class 1	override
ring	rang	rung	Strong, class 3		"make sound of bell"; ring "encircle" is regular
rise	rose	risen	Strong, class 1	arose
run	ran	run	Strong, class 3	outrun, overrun, rerun
saw	sawed	sawed/sawn			e.g. British English sawn-off shotgun
say (says [sɛz])	said [sɛd]	said [sɛd]
see	saw	seen	Strong, class 5	foresee, oversee
seek	sought	sought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
seethe	seethed	seethed (sodden)	Strong, class 2
sell	sold	sold	Weak with Rückumlaut	outsell, oversell, resell
send	sent	sent	Weak with assimilation of dentals
set	set	set	Weak	beset, inset, overset, reset, upset
sew	sewed	sewed/sewn
shake	shook	shaken	Strong, class 6
shall	should	-	Preterite-present; defective; see also Shall and will
shape	shaped	shaped (shapen)	Strong, class 6		adjective in misshapen
shave	shaved	shaved (shaven)	Strong, class 6
shear	shore/sheared	shorn/sheared	Strong, class 4
shed	shed	shed	Strong, class 7
shine	shined/shone	shined/shone	Strong, class 1	outshine	shined usu only in transitive "cause to shine"
shit	shit/shat	shit/shat	Strong, class 1;
shoe	shoed/shod	shoed/shod	Weak with vowel reduction		shoed "removed shoes", shod "added shoes"
shoot	shot	shot	Strong, class 2	overshoot
show	showed	shown/showed
shrink	shrank/shrunk	shrunk (shrunken)	Strong, class 3
shrive	shrove	shriven	Strong, class 1		archaic
shut	shut	shut	Weak
sing	sang	sung	Strong, class 3
sink	sank/sunk	sunk (sunken)	Strong, class 3
sit	sat	sat	Strong, class 5
slay	slew/slayed	slain/slayed	Strong, class 6		slew-slain for archaic literal sense "kill in battle"; regular for metaphorical slang "defeat"
sleep	slept	slept	Strong, class 7	oversleep
slide	slid	slid/slidden	Strong, class 1
sling	slung/slang	slung	Strong, class 3
slink	slunk/slank	slunk	Strong, class 3
slit	slit	slit	Strong, class 1
smell	smelled/smelt	smelled/smelt	Weak with assimilation of dentals
smite	smote/smit	smitten	Strong, class 1		archaic
sneak	sneaked/snuck	sneaked/snuck	Weakwith naturally developing strong form
sow	sowed	sowed/sown	Strong, class 7
speak	spoke	spoken	Strong, class 5
speed	sped/speeded	sped/speeded	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals		sped "travelled at speed"; speeded "broke the speed limit"
spell	spelled/spelt	spelled/spelt	Weak with assimilation of dentals	misspell
spend	spent	spent	Weak with assimilation of dentals	overspend, misspend
spill	spilled/spilt	spilled/spilt	Weak with assimilation of dentals
spin	span/spun	spun	strong, class 3
spit	spit/spat	spit/spat			spit AmE spat BrE
split	split	split	Weak with assimilation of dentals
spoil	spoiled/spoilt	spoiled/spoilt	Weak with assimilation of dentals
spread	spread	spread	Weak with assimilation of dentals
spring	sprang/sprung	sprung	Strong, class 3
stand	stood	stood	Strong, class 6	(mis)understand, withstand
steal	stole	stolen	Strong, class 4
stick	stuck	stuck
sting	stang/stung	stung	Strong, class 3
stink	stank/stunk	stunk	Strong, class 3
strew	strew/strewed	strewn/strewed
stride	strode/strided	stridden/strided	Strong, class 1		rare in perfect
strike	struck	struck (stricken)	Strong, class 1
string	strung	strung	Weak with naturally developing strong form
strive	strove/strived	striven/strived	Strong, class 1
swear	swore	sworn	Strong, class 6
sweep	swept	swept	Weak with vowel reduction and assimilation of dentals
swell	swelled	swelled (swollen)	Strong, class 3
swim	swam	swum	Strong, class 3
swing	swang/swung	swung	Strong, class 3
take	took	taken	Strong, class 6	mistake, overtake, partake, undertake
teach	taught	taught	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
tear	tore	torn	Strong, class 4
tell	told	told	Weak with Rückumlaut	foretell
think	thought	thought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law	rethink
thrive	throve/thrived	thrived/thriven	Strong, class 1
throw	threw	thrown	Strong, class 7	overthrow
thrust	thrusted/thrust	thrusted/thrust
tread	trod	trodden/trod	Strong, class 5
wake	woke	woken	Strong, class 6	awake
wear	wore	worn	Weak with strong form based on "bear"
weave	wove	woven	Strong, class 7	interweave
wed	wed/wedded	wed/wedded	Weak with assimilation of dentals
weep	wept	wept	Strong, class 7
wet	wet/wetted	wet/wetted	Weak with assimilation of dentals
will	would	-	Irregular; see also Shall and will
win	won	won	Strong, class 3
wind [waɪnd]	wound [waʊnd]	wound [waʊnd]	Strong, class 3	rewind, unwind; wind [wɪnd] "deprive of breath" is regular
work	worked	worked (wrought)	Weak with Rückumlaut and metathesis of [r]		wrought is mainly archaic
wring	wrung	wrung	Strong, class 3
write	wrote	written	Strong, class 1	rewrite, underwrite

Additional note: These verbs from the list above are spelled the same in the simple past as in the present tense (excluding compounds such as set, beset, inset, upset etc.): beat, bet, burst, cast, cost, cut, hit, hurt, let, put, quit, read, rid, set, shed, shut, slit, split, spread. (Note that of all the preceding, only "read" is pronounced differently in the past than in the present.)

External links[edit]

Mind Our English: Strong and weak by Ralph Berry
Verbs in English Grammar, wikibook

De-transcluded links[edit]

English irregular verbs English irregular verbs Irregular verb

fr:Liste de verbes irréguliers en anglais mk:Листа на неправилни англиски глаголи