List of English irregular verbs explained

This is a list of irregular verbs in the English language.

Past tense irregular verbs

For each verb listed, the citation form (the bare infinitive) is given first, with a link to the relevant Wiktionary entry. This is followed by the simple past tense (preterite), and then the past participle. If there are irregular present tense forms (see below), these are given in parentheses after the infinitive. (The present participle and gerund forms of verbs, ending in -ing, are always regular. In English, these are used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns.) In the case of modal verbs the present and preterite forms are listed, since these are the only forms that exist with the present form identical for all persons.

The right-hand column notes whether the verb is weak or strong and whether it belongs to a subclass, and links to descriptions elsewhere. Information about the development of these verbs generally can be found at English irregular verbs; details of the etymology and usage of specific verbs can be found by consulting Wiktionary.

In some cases, there are two or more possibilities for a given form. In the table, the preferred or more common usage is generally listed first, though for some words the usage is nearly equal for the two choices. Sometimes the usage depends on the dialect. In many cases, such as spell (spelt vs. spelled), learn (learnt vs. learned), and spill (spilt vs. spilled), American English and Canadian English normally use the regular form, while British English, Australian English, New Zealand English and South African English tend to favour the irregular. In other cases, such as dive (dived vs. dove) and sneak (sneaked vs. snuck), the opposite is true. The irregular form tends to indicate duration, whereas the regular form often describes a short-term action (The fire burned for weeks. vs. He burnt his finger.), and in American English, the regular form is associated with the literal sense of a verb, while the irregular form with a figurative one.

The preterite and past participle forms of irregular verbs follow certain patterns. These include ending in -t (e.g. build, bend, send), stem changes (whether it is a vowel, such as in sit, win or hold, or a consonant, such as in teach and seek, that changes), or adding the [''n''] suffix to the past participle form (e.g. drive, show, rise). English irregular verbs are now a closed group, which means that newly formed verbs are always regular and do not adopt any of the irregular patterns.

This list only contains verb forms which are listed in the major dictionaries as being standard usage in modern English. There are also many thousands of archaic, non-standard and dialect variants. Modern English still has remnants of formerly irregular verbs in other parts of speech. Most obviously, adjectives like misshapen, beholden, or forlorn fossilize what are originally the past participles of the verbs shape and behold, and Old English forleosan. However, forleosan has fallen out of use and shape is now regular, so these verbs are not listed, and behold, while still irregular, can no longer be listed this participle form.

Verb forms Verb class and notes
be (am, is, are) – was, were – beenSuppletive. See Indo-European copula.
bear – bore – borne/born

forbear – forbore/forbare – forborne/forborn

overbear – overbore/overbare – overborne/overborn

underbear – underbore/underbare – underborne/underborn

Strong, class 4. The spelling born is used in passive or adjectival contexts relating to birth.
beat – beat – beaten/beat

browbeat – browbeat – browbeaten/browbeat

overbeat – overbeat – overbeaten/overbeat

Strong, class 7
become – became – become

misbecome – misbecame – misbecome

Strong, class 4
beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten

misbeget – misbegot/misbegat – misbegotten/misbegot

Strong, class 5
begin – began – begunStrong, class 3
bend – bent – bent

overbend – overbent – overbent

unbend – unbent – unbent

Weak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending
beseech – beseeched/besought – beseeched/besoughtWeak, class 1, subclass (ii), with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law (now regularized)
bet – bet/betted – bet/betted

underbet – underbet/underbetted – underbet/underbetted

Weak with coalescence of dentals
beware – (no other forms)Defective
formed from be with predicate adjective, used as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive only. Inflected forms (bewares, bewared, bewaring) are considered obsolete.
bid [in auctions etc.] – bid – bid

outbid – outbid – outbid

overbid – overbid – overbid

rebid – rebid – rebid

underbid – underbid – underbid

Weak with coalescence of dentals
bid [meaning to request or say] – bid/bade – bid/biddenStrong, class 5
bide – bided/bode – bided/biddenStrong, class 1
bind – bound – bound

unbind – unbound – unbound

Strong, class 3
bite – bit – bittenStrong, class 1
bleed – bled – bledWeak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
blend – blent/blended – blent/blendedWeak with devoiced ending (or regular)
bless – blessed/blest – blessed/blestWeak, regular with alternative (archaic) spelling
blow – blew – blown

overblow – overblew – overblown

Strong, class 7
break – broke – broken

outbreak – outbroke – outbroken

rebreak – rebroke – rebroken

Strong, class 4
breed – bred – bred

inbreed – inbred – inbred

interbreed – interbred – interbred

overbreed – overbred – overbred

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
bring – brought – broughtWeak, class 1, subclass (i), with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law.
build – built – built

overbuild – overbuilt – overbuilt

rebuild – rebuilt – rebuilt

underbuild – underbuilt – underbuilt

Weak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending
burn – burned/burnt – burned/burnt

sunburn – sunburned/sunburnt – sunburned/sunburnt

Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
burst – burst – burstStrong, class 3
bust – busted/bust – busted/bustStrong, class 3 (or regular)
buy – bought – bought

overbuy – overbought – overbought

underbuy – underbought – underbought

Weak, class 1, subclass (ii), with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
can [auxiliary verb] – could – (none)Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs
cast – cast – cast

broadcast – broadcast – broadcast

downcast – downcast – downcast

forecast – forecast – forecast

miscast – miscast – miscast

overcast – overcast – overcast

podcast – podcast – podcast

precast – precast – precast

recast – recast – recast

simulcast – simulcast – simulcast

telecast – telecast – telecast

typecast – typecast – typecast

undercast – undercast – undercast

upcast – upcast – upcast

webcast – webcast – webcast

Weak Norse loanword with coalescence of dentals. Many of the prefixed forms can also take -ed.
catch – caught – caughtWeak, French loanword conjugated perhaps by analogy with teach–taught; regular forms are now dialectal.
chide – chode/chid/chided – chidden/chid/chidedStrong, class 1 (or regular)
choose – chose – chosen

mischoose – mischose – mischosen

Strong, class 2
clad – clad – cladDeveloped from clad, the past form of clothe (see below).
cleave [meaning to split] – cleft/clove/cleaved – cleft/cloven/cleavedStrong, class 2, sometimes switching to weak with vowel shortening. When meaning "adhere" the verb is regular.
cling – clung – clungStrong, class 3
clothe – clad/clothed – clad/clothed

overclothe – overclad/overclothed – overclad/overclothed

unclothe – unclad/unclothed – unclad/unclothed

underclothe – underclad/underclothed – underclad/underclothed

Weak
the regular clothed is from OE claþian, while clad (weak with coalescence of dentals) is from OE clæþan (both OE verbs having similar meaning).[1]
comb – combed – combed/kempt
come – came – come

forthcome – forthcame – forthcome

overcome – overcame – overcome

(see also under become)

Strong, class 4
cost [intransitive sense] – cost/costed – cost/costedWeak French loanword with coalescence of dentals. Regular when meaning "calculate the cost of".
creep – crept/creeped – crept/creepedOriginally strong, class 2; switched to weak with vowel shortening (or regular)
cut – cut – cut

clearcut – clearcut – clearcut

crosscut – crosscut – crosscut

intercut – intercut – intercut

recut – recut – recut

undercut – undercut – undercut

Weak with coalescence of dentals
dare (dares/dare) – dared/durst/daredared/durstPreterite-present, now most often regular except in the use of dare in place of dares in some contexts. See English modal verbs
deal – dealt – dealt

misdeal – misdealt – misdealt

redeal – redealt – redealt

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
dig – dug – dug

underdig – underdug – underdug

Originally weak; past form dug developed by analogy with stick–stuck[2]
dive – dived/dove – dived/doveWeak, the alternative dove (found mainly in American usage) arising by analogy with strong verbs
do (does pronounced as //dʌz//) – did – done

bedo (bedoes) – bedid – bedone

misdo (misdoes) – misdid – misdone

outdo (outdoes) – outdid – outdone

overdo (overdoes) – overdid – overdone

redo (redoes) – redid – redone

underdo (underdoes) – underdid – underdone

undo (undoes) – undid – undone

Irregular since Proto-Germanic: past tense formed by reduplication. Past participle from Old English gedon. Related to deed.
dow – dowed/dought – dowed/doughtRelated to doughty.
draw – drew – drawn

bedraw – bedrew – bedrawn

downdraw – downdrew – downdrawn

outdraw – outdrew – outdrawn

overdraw – overdrew – overdrawn

redraw – redrew – redrawn

underdraw – underdrew – underdrawn

updraw – updrew – updrawn

withdraw – withdrew – withdrawn

Strong, class 6
related to draft/draught
dream – dreamed/dreamt – dreamed/dreamt

bedream – bedreamed/bedreamt – bedreamed/bedreamt

Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular)
dress – dressed/drest – dressed/drestWeak with alternative (archaic) spelling
drink – drank – drunkStrong, class 3
related to drench
drive – drove – driven

bedrive – bedrove – bedriven

overdrive – overdrove – overdriven

test-drive – test-drove – test-driven

underdrive – underdrove – underdriven

Strong, class 1
related to drift
dwell – dwelt/dwelled – dwelt/dwelled

bedwell – bedwelt/bedwelled – bedwelt/bedwelled

outdwell – outdwelt/outdwelled – outdwelt/outdwelled

Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
earn – earned/earnt – earned/earntWeak, class 2 with devoiced ending (or regular)
eat – ate – eaten

forfret – forfretted – forfretted/forfretten

fret – fretted/frate – fretted/fretten

outeat – outate – outeaten

overeat – overate – overeaten

undereat – underate – undereaten

Strong, class 5. Past tense usually pronounced as //eɪt//, sometimes pronounced as //ɛt// in British English.
fall – fell – fallen

befall – befell – befallen

Strong, class 7
feed – fed – fed

bottle-feed – bottle-fed – bottle-fed

breastfeed – breastfed – breastfed

force-feed – force-fed – force-fed

hand-feed – hand-fed – hand-fed

misfeed – misfed – misfed

overfeed – overfed – overfed

self-feed – self-fed – self-fed

spoon-feed – spoon-fed – spoon-fed

underfeed – underfed – underfed

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
feel – felt – felt

forefeel – forefelt – forefelt

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
fight – fought – fought

befight – befought – befought

outfight – outfought – outfought

Strong, class 3
find – found – found

refind – refound – refound

Strong, class 3
fit – fitted/fit – fitted/fit

misfit – misfitted/misfit – misfitted/misfit

Weak with coalescence of dentals
flee – fled – fledOriginally strong, class 2, switched to weak with vowel shortening
fling – flung – flungBy analogy with strong, class 3
fly – flew – flown

outfly – outflew – outflown

overfly – overflew – overflown

test-fly – test-flew – test-flown

Strong, class 2. Regular when used for hitting a fly ball in baseball.
forbid – forbid/forbade/forbad – forbiddenStrong, class 5
forget – forgot – forgottenStrong, class 5
forsake – forsook – forsakenStrong, class 6
freeze – froze – frozen

quick-freeze – quick-froze – quick-frozen

refreeze – refroze – refrozen

unfreeze – unfroze – unfrozen

Strong, class 2
get – got – got/gotten

beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten

forget – forgot – forgotten

Strong, class 5. Past participle is got in British usage (except in fossilized phrases such as "ill-gotten"), and gotten in American (but see have got).
gild – gilded/gilt – gilded/giltWeak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular)
gird - girded/girt - girded/girtWeak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular)
give – gave – given

forgive – forgave – forgiven

misgive – misgave – misgiven

overgive – overgave – overgiven

Strong, class 5
glide – glided/glid – glided/glid/gliddenOriginally Strong, class 1, but now often regular.
go – went – gone

forego – forewent – foregone

forgo – forwent – forgone

undergo – underwent – undergone

Suppletive. See article on the verb go.
grind – ground – groundStrong, class 3
grow – grew – grown

outgrow – outgrew – outgrown

overgrow – overgrew – overgrown

regrow – regrew – regrown

Strong, class 7
hang – hung/hanged – hung/hanged

overhang – overhung – overhung

Strong, class 7. Regularized alternative hanged was influenced by OE causative hangian, and is used chiefly for hanging as a means of execution.
have (has) – had – had Weak
had results from contraction, from OE hæfde. Third person present has also a result of contraction.
hear – heard – heard

behear – beheard – beheard

forehear – foreheard – foreheard

mishear – misheard – misheard

outhear – outheard – outheard

overhear – overheard – overheard

rehear – reheard – reheard

unhear – unheard – unheard

Weak, class 1, originally with vowel shortening (the modern pronunciation of heard in RP has the long vowel pronounced as //ɜː//)
help – helped/holp – helped/holpenOriginally strong, class 3, but now regular.
hew – hewed – hewed/hewnStrong, class 7 (or regular)
hide – hid – hiddenWeak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals, influenced by strong verbs
hit – hit – hit

mishit – mishit – mishit

overhit – overhit – overhit

underhit – underhit – underhit

Weak with coalescence of dentals
hoist – hoisted/hoist – hoisted/hoistWeak, hoist was originally the past form of the now archaic verb hoise
hold – held – held

behold – beheld – beheld

uphold – upheld – upheld

withhold – withheld – withheld

Strong, class 7
hurt – hurt – hurtWeak French loanword with coalescence of dentals
keep – kept – kept

miskeep – miskept – miskept

overkeep – overkept – overkept

underkeep – underkept – underkept

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening
ken – kenned/kent – kenned/kent

beken – bekenned/bekent – bekenned/bekent

foreken – forekenned/forekent – forekenned/forekent

misken – miskenned/miskent – miskenned/miskent

outken – outkenned/outkent – outkenned/outkent

Northern and Scottish dialect word. Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
kneel – knelt/kneeled – knelt/kneeled Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular)
knit – knit/knitted – knit/knitted

beknit – beknit/beknitted – beknit/beknitted

hand-knit – hand-knit/hand-knitted – hand-knit/hand-knitted

Weak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals (or regular); related to knot
know – knew – knownStrong, class 7
lade – laded – laden/laded

overlade – overladed – overladen/overladed

Strong, class 6, often regularized (past participle laden is common adjectivally)
lay – laid – laid

belay – belaid – belaid

inlay – inlaid – inlaid

mislay – mislaid – mislaid

overlay – overlaid – overlaid

waylay – waylaid – waylaid

Weak, irregular in spelling only
lead – led – led

mislead – misled – misled

offlead – offled – offled

onlead – onled – onled

outlead – outled – outled

overlead – overled – overled

underlead – underled – underled

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
lean – leaned/leant – leaned/leantWeak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular)
leap – leaped/leapt – leaped/leaptOriginally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening (or regular)
learn – learned/learnt – learned/learnt

mislearn – mislearned/mislearnt – mislearned/mislearnt

overlearn – overlearned/overlearnt – overlearned/overlearnt

relearn – relearned/relearnt – relearned/relearnt

unlearn – unlearned/unlearnt – unlearned/unlearnt

Weak, class 2, with devoiced ending (or regular)
leave – left – leftWeak, class 1, with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
lend – lent – lentWeak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending
let – let – let

sublet – sublet – sublet

underlet – underlet – underlet

Strong, class 7
lie – lay – lain

overlie – overlay – overlain

underlie – underlay – underlain

Strong, class 5. Regular in the meaning "tell an untruth".
light – lit/lighted – lit/lighted

alight – alit/alighted – alit/alighted

backlight – backlit/backlighted – backlit/backlighted

green-light – green-lit/green-lighted – green-lit/green-lighted

relight – relit/relighted – relit/relighted

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular)
lose – lost – lostOriginally strong, class 2, now weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
make – made – made

remake – remade – remade

unmake – unmade – unmade

Weak
made formed by contraction from "maked"
may – might – (none)Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs
mean – meant – meantWeak, class 1, with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
meet – met – metWeak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
melt – melted – melted/moltenStrong, class 3. Now regularized, but molten survives in adjectival uses.
mix – mixed/mixt – mixed/mixtWeak, regular, with alternative (mostly archaic) spelling
mow – mowed – mowed/mownStrong, class 7. Now regularized in past tense and sometimes in past participle.
must – (no other forms)Defective
originally a preterite. See English modal verbs
need (needs/need) – neededneededWeak, regular except in the use of need in place of needs in some contexts, by analogy with can, must, etc.[3] See English modal verbs
ought – (no other forms)Defective
originally a preterite. See English modal verbs
pay – paid – paid

overpay – overpaid – overpaid

prepay – prepaid – prepaid

repay – repaid – repaid

underpay – underpaid – underpaid

Weak, irregular in spelling only.
pen – penned/pent – penned/pentWeak with devoiced ending, but usually regular; pent is sometimes used when the verb has the meaning "to enclose", and mainly adjectivally
plead – pled/pleaded – pled/pleadedWeak French loanword with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals.
prove – proved – proved/proven

reprove – reproved – reproved/reproven

Weak French loanword with the alternative past participle proven by analogy with some strong verbs
put – put – put

input – input – input

output – output – output

Weak with coalescence of dentals.
bequeath – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequod – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequethenStrong, class 5. Past tense quoth is literary or archaic; other parts of that verb are obsolete. Bequeath is normally regularized in -ed.
quit – quit/quitted – quit/quittedWeak French loanword with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
read pronounced as //riːd// – read pronounced as //rɛd// – read pronounced as //rɛd//

lipread – lipread – lipread

misread – misread – misread

proofread – proofread – proofread

reread – reread – reread

sight-read – sight-read – sight-read

Weak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
reave – reaved/reft – reaved/reft

bereave – bereaved/bereft – bereaved/bereft

Weak, class 2, with vowel shortening and devoiced ending. The verb bereave is usually regular, but bereft survives as past participle, with distinct meanings.
rend – rent – rentWeak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending
rid – rid/ridded – rid/ridden/riddedWeak with coalescence of dentals, or regular; ridden by analogy with strong verbs.
ride – rode – ridden

outride – outrode – outridden

override – overrode – overridden

Strong, class 1
ring – rang – rungBy analogy with strong, class 3. Regular when meaning "surround", etc.
rise – rose – risen

arise – arose – arisen

uprise – uprose – uprisen

Strong, class 1
rive – rived/rove – rived/rivenFrom Old Norse, originally followed pattern of strong class 1, later regularized.[4] Now rarely used.
run – ran – run

outrun – outran – outrun

overrun – overran – overrun

rerun – reran – rerun

speedrun – speedran – speedrun

underrun – underran – underrun

Strong, class 3
saw – sawed – sawed/sawnWeak; sawn by analogy with strong verbs[5]
say (says pronounced as //sɛz//) – said – said

missay – missaid – missaid

soothsay – soothsaid – soothsaid

Weak, with vowel shortening in said pronounced as //sɛd// and in the third person present says pronounced as //sɛz//
see – saw – seen

foresee – foresaw – foreseen

missee – missaw – misseen

oversee – oversaw – overseen

sightsee – sightsaw – sightseen

undersee – undersaw – underseen

Strong, class 5
seek – sought – sought

beseek – besought – besought

Weak, class 1, subclass (ii), with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
sell – sold – sold

outsell – outsold – outsold

oversell – oversold – oversold

resell – resold – resold

undersell – undersold – undersold

upsell – upsold – upsold

Weak, class 1, subclass (ii), with Rückumlaut; related to sale
send – sent – sent

missend – missent – missent

resend – resent – resent

Weak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals
set – set – set

beset – beset – beset

offset – offset – offset

preset – preset – preset

reset – reset – reset

upset – upset – upset

Weak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals
sew – sewed – sewn/sewed

handsew – handsewed – handsewn/handsewed

oversew – oversewed – oversewn/oversewed

Weak; sewn by analogy with strong verbs
shake – shook – shaken

overshake – overshook – overshaken

Strong, class 6
shall – should – (none)Preterite-present
defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will
shear – sheared/shore – shorn/sheared Strong, class 4 (or regular)
shed – shed – shedStrong, class 7
shine – shone/shined – shone/shinedStrong, class 1
shit – shit/shitted/shat – shit/shitted/shat

shite – shited/shit – shited/shit

Strong, class 1. The form shite is chiefly Scottish and Irish.
shoe – shod/shoed – shodden/shod/shoed

reshoe – reshod/reshoed – reshodden/reshod/reshoed

Weak with vowel shortening (or regular); shodden by analogy with strong verbs
shoot – shot – shot

misshoot – misshot – misshot

overshoot – overshot – overshot

reshoot – reshot – reshot

undershoot – undershot – undershot

Strong, class 2
show – showed – shown/showed

reshow – reshowed – reshown

Weak, with participle shown perhaps by analogy with sown (from sow)
shrink – shrank/shrunk – shrunk/shrunken

overshrink – overshrank/overshrunk – overshrunk/overshrunken

Strong, class 3
shrunken is mostly used adjectivally
shut – shut – shut

reshut – reshut – reshut

Weak, class 1, with coalescence of dentals
shave – shaved – shaved/shavenOriginally Strong, class 6, but now often regularized in past tense and sometimes in past participle.
sing – sang – sung

resing – resang – resung

Strong, class 3
sink – sank/sunk – sunk/sunkenStrong, class 3. The form sunken appears in some adjectival uses.
sit – sat – sat

babysit – babysat – babysat

housesit – housesat – housesat

resit – resat – resat

Strong, class 5
slay – slew/slayed – slain/slayedStrong, class 6 (or regular)
sleep – slept – slept

oversleep – overslept – overslept

undersleep – underslept – underslept

Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening
slide – slid – slid/slidden

backslide – backslid – backslid/backslidden

overslide – overslid – overslid/overslidden

Strong, class 1
sling – slung – slungStrong, class 3
slink – slunk/slinked/slank – slunk/slinked/slankStrong, class 3
slit – slit – slit/slittenStrong, class 1
smell – smelled/smelt – smelled/smeltWeak with devoiced ending (or regular)
smite – smote/smit – smitten/smittedStrong, class 1. Largely archaic; smitten is quite commonly used adjectivally.
sneak – sneaked/snuck – sneaked/snuckWeak, alternative form snuck (chiefly American) by analogy with strong verbs
sow – sowed – sown/sowedStrong, class 7, with weak past tense sowed
speak – spoke – spoken

bespeak – bespoke – bespoken

  • forespeak
– forespoke – forespoken

  • forspeak
– forspoke – forspoken

misspeak – misspoke – misspoken

Strong, class 5
speed – sped/speeded – sped/speededWeak, class 1, with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular)
spell – spelled/spelt – spelled/spelt

misspell – misspelled/misspelt – misspelled/misspelt

Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
spend – spent – spent

misspend – misspent – misspent

outspend – outspent – outspent

overspend – overspent – overspent

Weak with coalescence of dentals
spill – spilled/spilt – spilled/spilt

overspill – overspilled/overspilt – overspilled/overspilt

Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
spin – spun – spun

outspin – outspun – outspun

Strong, class 3
spit – spat/spit – spat/spitWeak with coalescence of dentals (for past form spit, which is common in America), or spat by analogy with strong verbs. (In the meaning of roast on a spit, the verb is regular.)
split – split – splitWeak with coalescence of dentals
spoil – spoiled/spoilt – spoiled/spoiltWeak French loanword with devoiced ending (or regular)
spread – spread – spread

outspread – outspread – outspread

overspread – overspread – overspread

underspread – underspread – underspread

Weak with coalescence of dentals
spring – sprang/sprung – sprung/*sprang

handspring – handsprang/handsprung – handsprung/*handsprang

Strong, class 3
stand – stood – stood

forstand – forstood – forstood

misunderstand – misunderstood – misunderstood

overstand – overstood – overstood

understand – understood – understood

upstand – upstood – upstood

withstand – withstood – withstood

Strong, class 6
stave – stove/staved – stove/staved/stovenOriginally weak; irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs.[6]
steal – stole – stolenStrong, class 4
stick – stuck – stuckOriginally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verb class 3
sting – stang/stung – stungStrong, class 3
stink – stank/stunk – stunkStrong, class 3
strew – strewed – strewn/strewed

bestrew – bestrewed – bestrewn/bestrewed

overstrew – overstrewed – overstrewn/overstrewed

Originally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verbs
stride – strode – stridden

bestride – bestrode – bestridden

outstride – outstrode – outstridden

overstride – overstrode – overstridden

Strong, class 1
strike – struck – struck/stricken

overstrike – overstruck – overstruck/overstricken

Strong, class 1. The form stricken is limited to certain adjectival and specialist uses.
string – strung/*stringed – strung/*stringed

hamstring – hamstrung/*hamstringed – hamstrung/*hamstringed

overstring – overstrung/*overstringed – overstrung/*overstringed

Originally weak, irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs
strip – stripped/stript – stripped/stript
strive – strove/strived – striven/strived

outstrive – outstrove – outstriven

overstrive – overstrove – overstriven

Strong, class 1 (or regularized)
swear – swore – sworn

forswear – forswore – forsworn

outswear – outswore – outsworn

Strong, class 6
sweat – sweated/sweat – sweated/sweatWeak, usually regular, possible past form sweat with coalescence of dentals
sweep – swept – swept

upsweep – upswept – upswept

Weak with vowel shortening. Replaced OE strong class 7 verb swápan, with the same meaning, but the form is not a regular development from it.
swell – swelled/swole – swollen/swelledStrong, class 3, with regularized forms
swim – swam/*swum – swum

outswim – outswam/*outswum – outswum

Strong, class 3
swing – swang/swung – swung

overswing – overswang/overswung – overswung

Strong, class 3
take – took – taken

betake – betook – betaken

mistake – mistook – mistaken

overtake – overtook – overtaken

partake – partook – partaken

retake – retook – retaken

undertake – undertook – undertaken

  • uptake
– uptook – uptaken

  • withtake
– withtook – withtaken

Strong, class 6
teach – taught – taughtWeak, class 1, subclass (ii), with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
tear – tore – torn

uptear – uptore – uptorn

Strong, class 4
  • tee
– teed/tow – teed/town

betee – beteed/betow – beteed/betown

fortee – forteed/fortow – forteed/fortown

tell – told – told

foretell – foretold – foretold

forthtell – forthtold – forthtold

mistell – mistold – mistold

Weak, class 1, subclass (ii), with Rückumlaut; related to tale
think – thought – thought

outthink – outthought – outthought

rethink – rethought – rethought

Weak, class 1, subclass (ii), with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
thrive – throve/thrived/*thrave – thriven/thrivedOf Old Norse origin; followed strong class 1 (now archaic) or weak (regular) pattern[7]
throw – threw – thrown

outthrow – outthrew – outthrown

overthrow – overthrew – overthrown

underthrow – underthrew – underthrown

upthrow – upthrew – upthrown

Strong, class 7
thrust – thrust/*thrusted – thrust/*thrusted

outthrust – outthrust – outthrust

Weak, with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
tread – trod – trodden/trod

retread – retrod/*retread/*retreaded/*retrodden – retrodden/retrod/*retread/*retreaded

Strong, class 5 (or regularized)
vex – vexed/vext – vexed/vextRegular, with alternative (archaic) spelling
wake – woke/waked – woken/waked

awake – awoke – awoken

Strong, class 6
wear – weared/wore – weared/worn

outwear – outweared/outwore – outweared/outworn

overwear – overweared/overwore – overweared/overworn

Originally weak, fell into a strong pattern by analogy with bear
weave – wove – woven

interweave – interwove – interwoven

Strong, class 7
wed – wed/wedded – wed/wedded

miswed – miswed/miswedded – miswed/miswedded

rewed – rewed/rewedded – rewed/rewedded

Weak, class 2, with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
weep – wept/weeped – wept/weepedOriginally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening (or regular)
wend – wended/went – wended/wentWeak, class 1, once with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending, but now regular; went is used as the past of go
wet – wet/wetted – wet/wetted

overwet – overwet/overwetted – overwet/overwetted

Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
will – would – (none)Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will. (In non-auxiliary uses the verb is regular.)
win – won – wonStrong, class 3
wind – wound – wound

rewind – rewound – rewound

unwind – unwound – unwound

Strong, class 3. (The identically spelt verb wind pronounced as //wɪnd//, with meanings connected with air flow and breathlessness, is regular.)
work – worked/wrought – worked/wroughtWeak, now regular, formerly with Rückumlaut and metathesis of r and o
wreak – wreaked/wrought – wreaked/wroughtWeak, usually regular; wrought (which is in fact from work) has come sometimes to be identified with this verb (perhaps by analogy with seek–sought).
wring – wrang/wrung – wrungStrong, class 3
write – wrote – written

cowrite – cowrote – cowritten

ghostwrite – ghostwrote – ghostwritten

handwrite – handwrote – handwritten

miswrite – miswrote – miswritten

overwrite – overwrote – overwritten

rewrite – rewrote – rewritten

underwrite – underwrote – underwritten

Strong, class 1
writhe – writhed/wrothe – writhed/writhenStrong, class 1, now regularized
zinc – zinced/zinked/zincked – zinced/zinked/zinckedRegular, with spelling complications because of the final letter C

Present tense irregular verbs

Though the list of verbs irregular in the preterite or past participle is long, the list of irregular present tense verbs is very short. Excepting modal verbs like "shall", "will", and "can" that do not inflect at all in the present tense, there are only four of them (only two if pronunciation is ignored), not counting compounds including them:

I am, thou art, you are, he is, we are, they are. The contracted/reduced forms, used in unstressed positions and in particular as auxiliary verbs, are as follows: I’m, you’re, he’s, we’re, they’re.

I have, you have, he has, we have, they have. If used as an auxiliary verb in the present perfect, past perfect and future perfect, its contracted forms can be used: I’ve, you’ve, he’s, we’ve, they’ve.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for "clothe" and "clad".
  2. The strong-type past form dug arose as a past participle in the 16th century, by analogy with stuck, and was used as a past tense from the 18th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "dig".
  3. The use of need for needs, which has become the norm in contexts where the verb is used analogously to the modal verbs, became common in the 16th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "need" (verb).
  4. Regularized (weak-type) forms of this verb are found from the 16th century onward. There is also an obsolete verb rive meaning arrive, for which weak-type forms are attested earlier. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for "rive".
  5. Strong-type past forms of this verb were sometimes used in the 15th century; the past participle sawn is a survival of this. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "saw".
  6. The forms stove and stoven are found from the 18th century onward. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "stave".
  7. The strong-type past forms leading to thrave (Northern) and throve are attested from the 13th and 14th centuries onward, and weak forms (leading to thrived) from the 14th. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for "thrive".