Irregular Verbs

What Is an Irregular Verb?

Regular verbs are easy to conjugate. For example, when you add -ed to the regular verb walk, you get the past tense verb walked. But irregular verbs don't work quite the same way. So what is an irregular verb? Keep reading for an explanation of irregular verbs, the rules they follow and examples of irregular verbs in sentences
Young swimmer What Is an Irregular Verb Examples
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Irregular Verbs Definition
Any verb that does not add -ed or -d to its past tense form is considered an irregular verb. The word "irregular" makes it sound like these verbs are rare, but you see them all the time in writing and conversation.
Examples of irregular verbs include:
go (went)
is (was)
swim (swam)
drink (drank)
bring (brought)

Irregular verbs, sometimes known as strong verbs, are very common in English. In fact, there is a long list of irregular verbs that you probably use every day!

Types of Irregular Verbs

was/were in past tense (We were on vacation.) 

been in past participle (We have been on vacation.)

More examples of these irregular verbs include:

Present Tense Past Tense Past Participle

do did done

eat ate eaten

go went gone

have has had

see saw seen

It's hard to remember these verbs because each form is so different. However, native English speakers and those who have been studying for a long time can choose the correct form without thinking about it too much.

Irregular Verbs With the Same Past Tense and Past Participle

Some irregular verbs only change once. Their past tense and past participle forms are the same, making it a little easier to decide how to conjugate them. For example, the verb to keep becomes:

keep in present tense (I keep my old yearbooks.)

kept in past tense (I kept my old yearbooks.)

kept in past participle (I have kept my hold yearbooks.)

More examples of these irregular verbs include:

Present Tense Past Tense Past Participle

buy bought bought

find found found

make made made

say said said

win won won

Once you know the past tense forms of these verbs, learning their past participle forms is simple. The trick is knowing which verbs fall into this category.