A2ElementaryIrregular verbs

Irregular verbs

Go, went, gone: the past simple and the past participle of about 60 common irregular verbs, in groups that are easier to learn.

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Regular verbs make the past simple and the past participle with -ed: work, worked, worked. Irregular verbs have their own forms, and you need to learn them. The good news is that most of them fall into a few groups.

Which form goes where

Each verb has three forms. The infinitive goes after did, didn't, will, can and other modal verbs. The past simple is for the past simple positive. The past participle goes after have and has, and later in the passive.

Form	Example	Used in
infinitive	I didn't go	negatives, questions, modals
past simple	I went	the past simple
past participle	I've gone	the present perfect, passive

We took a taxi to the airport.
Have you ever taken a night train?
Incorrect: Did you saw the match?
Correct: Did you see the match?
After did, use the infinitive.
Incorrect: She has went to work.
Correct: She has gone to work.
After has, use the past participle, not the past simple.

All three forms the same

These verbs don't change. Read is spelt the same, but the past forms sound like red.

Infinitive	Past simple	Past participle
cost	cost	cost
cut	cut	cut
hit	hit	hit
let	let	let
put	put	put
read	read	read
shut	shut	shut

Past simple and past participle the same

This is the biggest group. Learn one past form and you have both. Many of these past forms end in -t or -d.

Infinitive	Past simple	Past participle
bring	brought	brought
build	built	built
buy	bought	bought
catch	caught	caught
feel	felt	felt
find	found	found
get	got	got
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
hold	held	held
keep	kept	kept
leave	left	left
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
pay	paid	paid
say	said	said
send	sent	sent
sit	sat	sat
sleep	slept	slept
spend	spent	spent
stand	stood	stood
teach	taught	taught
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
understand	understood	understood
win	won	won

I bought this jacket in the sales.
Incorrect: I thinked about it all night.
Correct: I thought about it all night.
Think is irregular: think, thought, thought.

Three different forms

Here all three forms are different. Many past participles end in -n or -en.

Infinitive	Past simple	Past participle
be	was, were	been
begin	began	begun
break	broke	broken
choose	chose	chosen
do	did	done
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
fly	flew	flown
forget	forgot	forgotten
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grow	grew	grown
know	knew	known
see	saw	seen
speak	spoke	spoken
swim	swam	swum
take	took	taken
throw	threw	thrown
wear	wore	worn
write	wrote	written

For go we often use been (from be) instead of gone: She's gone to Paris (she is there now), She's been to Paris (she went and came back).

Past participle the same as the infinitive

In these verbs only the past simple is different.

Infinitive	Past simple	Past participle
become	became	become
come	came	come
run	ran	run

Our daughter became a doctor last year.
Has the post come yet?

British and American English

In British English, learn, dream, burn and spell have two past forms: learnt or learned, dreamt or dreamed, burnt or burned, spelt or spelled. Both are correct. American English usually uses -ed.

The past participle of get is got in British English. American English often uses gotten.

I learnt to swim when I was six.
He's got much better at tennis this year.

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