Regular and Irregular English Verbs

English verbs are classified as regular and irregular, depending on the conjugation they have.

As a general rule, those that follow a standard conjugation of endings are called regular verbs.

You irregular verbs are those that do not follow a conjugation model and, therefore, tend to be more complicated for students.

To help you with this topic, we provide complete tables of regular and irregular verbs, as well as example sentences and exercises on the topic.

Regular verbs in English (regular verbs)

Regular verbs are those whose inflections of Simple Past (simple past) and from Past Participate (past participle) are formed by the addition of -ed, –ied or –d.

Check out the table below for a list of regular English verbs.

Verb (Verb)	Simple past (Simple Past)	Past participle (Past Participate)	Translation (translation)
agree	agreed	agreed	To agree
answer	answered	answered	Answer
Apologize	Apologized	Apologized	Apologize
ask	asked	asked	To ask
Awaken	Awakened	Awakened	Wake up; awakening
breath	breathed	breathed	Breathe
brush	brushed	brushed	to brush
Call	Called	Called	To call; to phone
Care	cared	cared	To care; call to
Change	Changed	Changed	Change; to exchange
clean	Cleaned	Cleaned	Clean
Clear	Cleared	Cleared	Release; lighten; lighten
close	Closed	Closed	Close
cook	Cooked	Cooked	To cook
cross	Crossed	Crossed	To cross; pass through
Cry	created	created	To cry; shout out; cry out
dance	danced	danced	To dance
deliver	Delivered	Delivered	Deliver
describe	described	described	To describe
Desire	Desired	Desired	To wish
die	Died	Died	Die
Disagree	Disagreed	Disagreed	Disagree
Disappear	Disappeared	Disappeared	to vanish
Dislike	Disliked	Disliked	dislike (of)
End	Ended	Ended	finish
enjoy	enjoyed	enjoyed	To have fun; appreciate
Establishment	Established	Established	Establish
Exchange	exchanged	exchanged	To exchange
fail	failed	failed	Fail; fail
Fear	Feared	Feared	To fear; fear
Guess	Guessed	Guessed	Guess
Hate	Hated	Hated	To hate
Help	Helped	Helped	Help; help
invite	invited	invited	To invite
join	Joined	Joined	To get together; login to
kill	killed	killed	Kill
learn	learned	learned	Learn
Lie	Lied	Lied	To lie
like	Liked	Liked	Like)
listen (to)	listened	listened	listen carefully
live	Lived	Lived	To live; to live
look	looked	looked	To look
love	Loved	Loved	Love
Miss	Missed	Missed	Lose; miss
move	moved	moved	move
Study	studied	studied	To study
walk	walked	walked	Walk; to walk
want	wanted	wanted	To want
work	Worked	Worked	Work; work
Worry (about)	Worried	Worried	Worry about)

See too: Simple Past

Irregular verbs in English (irregular verbs)

Irregular verbs in English do not follow a pattern of formation, as they do not form the Simple Past (simple past) and the Past Participate (past participle) by adding –ed, –ied or –d.

For this reason, the best way to know irregular verbs is to memorize them. Check out the list of irregular verbs in English below.

Verb (Verb)	Simple past (Past Simple)	Past participle (Past Participate)	Translation (translation)
well	was	been	to be; be
bear	bore	born	born; to produce
become	became	become	become; transform
begin	began	begun	to start
break	broke	broken	to break; break up
bring	brought	brought	bring; to execute
build	built	built	ramp up; manufacture
buy	bought	bought	purchase
choose	chose	chosen	to choose; to prefer
eats	cam	eats	come over; to arrive
of	did	done	to do; to care; work
drink	drank	drunk	drink
drive	drove	driven	to drive; guide
eat	until	eaten	eat; to chew
feed	fed	fed	to feed; nurture
feel	felt	felt	to feel; to notice
find	found	found	meet; to discover
forbid	forbad; forbad	forbidden; forbid	forbid; prevent
forget	forgot	forgotten	to forget
get	got	gotten	receive; get
give	gave	given	to give; deliver
go	went	gone	go; leave
have	had	had	to have; to possess
hear	heard	heard	to hear; to listen
hide	hid	hidden	hide; to hide
keep	kept	kept	keep; save
know	knew	known	to know; to meet
lead	led	led	to command; guide
learn	learned	learned	learn; to study
lose	lost	lost	lose; to waste
make	made	made	to do; to create
mean	meant	meant	think; to mean
meet	met	met	to meet; meet
pay	paid	paid	pay; pay off
put	put	put	per; put on
read	read	read	to read; learn
ride	rotate	ridden	walk; to stroll
run	ran	run	run; to run away
say	left	left	to say; tell
see	saw	seen	to see; observe
sell	sold	sold	sell; Negotiate
send	sit	sit	submit; to send
sleep	slept	slept	to sleep; rest
speak	spoke	spoken	speak; to say
take	took	taken	to take; to throw
tell	awning	awning	tell; to know
think	thought	thought	think; believe
wake	woke up	waked	wake up; awakening
win	won	won	to win; get
write	wrote	written	write; write down

Video about regular and irregular English verbs

Now that you have learned the pattern of formation of regular English verbs, watch the video below and learn how to memorize the conjugation of irregular verbs.

How to Memorize Irregular Verbs in English?

Exercises on regular and irregular English verbs

Now that you know the most used regular and irregular verbs in English, test your knowledge with the exercises below.

1. (Mackenzie/2000) Check the alternative that correctly fills in the gaps I, II and III of the following sentences:

He __________(I) favor me 2 months ago.
They __________(II) an attempt to escape.
I __________(III) an important decision last night.

a) did - made - made
b) made - did - made
c) did - made - did
d) made - made - made
e) made - did - did

See Answer

Correct alternative: a) did – made – made.

To better understand the explanations, understand the meaning of the sentences:

He __________(I) for me 2 months ago. (He _____________(I) me a favor 2 months ago.)
They __________(II) an attempt to escape. (They _____________(II) an attempt to escape.)
I __________(III) an important decision last night. (I _____________(III) an important decision last night.)

a) CORRECT. In the expression “do a favor”, the verb “do” is translated into English as I do. The phrase indicates an action that took place 2 months ago. Thus, the verb must be conjugated in the past (did = did).

In the expression "make an attempt", the verb "make" is translated as to make. The inflection of this verb in the past is made (did).

In the expression "make a decision", the verb "make" is translated into English as to make. The inflection of this verb in the past is made (did).

b) WRONG. In letter b), the first and second alternatives are wrong.

In the expression “do me a favor”, the verb “do” is translated into English as I do. The inflection of this verb in the past is did (did). In the expression “make an attempt”, the verb “make” is translated as to make. The inflection of this verb in the past is made (did).

c) WRONG. Letter c) is wrong because of the last alternative. In the expression "make a decision", the verb "make" is translated into English as to make. The inflection of this verb in the past is made (did).

d) WRONG. Letter d) is wrong because of the first alternative. In the expression “do a favor”, the verb “do” is translated into English as I do. The inflection of this verb in the past is did (did).

e) WRONG. In letter e) all alternatives are wrong. In the expression “do a favor”, the verb “do” is translated into English as I do. The inflection of this verb in the past is did (did).

In the expression "make an attempt", the verb "make" is translated as to make. The inflection of this verb in the past is made (did).

In the expression “make a decision”, the verb “make” is translated into English as tthe make. The inflection of this verb in the past is made (did).

2. (PUC-GO/2015) In Text 8, most of the verbs in Portuguese are conjugated in the past tense, such as “arrived”, “fell in love” and “resisted”. Complete the following text using the correct past tense conjugation of the verbs in parenthesis in Portuguese:

Last night Susan (go) ____________ to her friend's birthday party. She (dance) ____________ with her boyfriend, and (eat) ____________ cake. After they (leave) ____________ the party, Susan and her boyfriend (decide) ____________ to go and watch a movie at the theater. They (see) ____________ the new Transformer's movie, and then they went home. When she (get) ____________ home, Susan (take) ____________ a shower and (fall) ____________ asleep quickly.

Choose the correct option from the ones listed below:

a) go/dance/eat/leave/decide/see/get/take/fall.
b) went/danced/ate/left/decided/saw/got/took/fell.
c) will go/will dance/will eat/will leave/will decide/will see/will get/will take/will fall.
d) had gone/had danced/had eaten/had left/had decided/had seen/had gotten/had taken/had fallen.

See Answer

Correct alternative: b) went/danced/ate/left/decided/saw/got/took/fell.

a) WRONG. None of the verbs are conjugated in the past tense. They are in infinitive form without the I'm.

b) CORRECT. This is the only alternative where all verbs are conjugated in the correct past tense: o Simple Past Tense (simple past). O Simple Past indicates past actions already completed. Thus, it is used to speak of facts that have already happened; that started and were completed in the past.

c) WRONG. All verbs are conjugated in the simple future with will.

d) WRONG. Although all verbs are conjugated in a past tense, the alternative is wrong, because the tense used was the Past Perfect Tense (past perfect).

O Past Perfect is used to express past actions that happened before another action that also happened in the past. In the text, the actions described did not precede any other actions, they simply started and ended.

Therefore, the correct tense to be used is the Simple Past (Simple past).

3. (Unesp/2010) Check the alternative where all words are past verb forms.

a) Adopted, become, decided, recognized, ruled.
b) Adopted, allow, become, recognized, ruled.
c) Approved, became, been, decided, ruled.
d) Allow, approved, became, decided, may.
e) Can, debated, entitled, made, offered.

See Answer

Correct alternative: c) Approved, became, been, decided, ruled.

a) WRONG. become is not a past tense, but the verb to become (become) in its infinitive form without the I'm.

b) WRONG. become is not a past tense, but the verb to become (become) in its infinitive form without the I'm.

The same happens with allow, which is the verb tthe allow (to allow; authorize) in its infinitive form without the I'm.

c) CORRECT. This alternative presents all the verb forms in the past.

• Approved: bending of Simple Past (simple past) of the verb to approve (to approve).
• Became: bending of Simple Past (simple past) of the verb to become (become).
• been: is the way to Past Participate (past participle) of the verb to be (to be).
• decided: bending of Simple Past (simple past) of the verb I decide (decide).
• ruled: bending of Simple Past (simple past) of the verb to rule (to rule; rule)

d) WRONG. Allow is not a past tense, but the verb to allow (to allow; authorize) in its infinitive form without the tO.

May it is also not a past tense, but a modal verb.

e) WRONG. Can it is not a past tense form, but a modal verb.

4. Write the verbs below in the Simple Past (simple past) and indicate their respective translations.

The) learn

See Answer

• translation: learn
• simple countryt: learned

The verb to learn is a regular verb. Its past form is made with the addition of the ending -ed.

B) Miss

See Answer

• Translation: lose; miss
• Simple Past: missed

The verb I'm miss is a regular verb. Its past form is made with the addition of the ending -ed.

ç) Know

See Answer

• Translation: knowing; to meet
• Simple Past: knew

The verb I know is an irregular verb. Its past form is not made with the addition of the ending -ed, as it has a form of its own.

d) break

See Answer

• Translation: break, break
• Simple Past: broke

The verb to break is an irregular verb. Its past form is not made with the addition of the ending -ed, as it has a form of its own.

and) Keep

See Answer

• Translation: keep, save
• Simple Past: kept

The verb to keep is an irregular verb. Its past form is not made with the addition of the ending -ed, as it has a form of its own.

5. Choose the alternative with the Past Participate (past participle) of verbs to be, to bear and to become:

a) was; bore; became
b) was; born; became
c) been; born; become
d) been; bore; become
e) been; born; became

See Answer

Correct alternative: c) been; born; become.

a) WRONG. Was is the way of Simple Past (simple past), and not from Past Participate (past participle) of the verb to be (to be).

Furthermore, bore is the way of Simple Past (simple past), and not from Past Participate (past participle) of the verb to bear (support), and became is the way of Simple Past (simple past) of the verb to become (become).

b) WRONG: Was is the way of Simple Past (simple past), and not from Past Participate (past participle), of the verb tthe baby (to be).

Furthermore, became is the way of Simple Past (simple past) of the verb to become (become).

c) CORRECT: In letter c), all alternatives are correct:

• been: Past Participate of the verb to be (to be);
• Born: Past Participate of the verb to bear (support). Another alternative is the form post;
• become: Past Participate of the verb to become (become).

d) WRONG. bore is the way of Simple Past (simple past), and not from Past Participate (past participle) of the verb to bear (support).

e) WRONG. Became is the way of Simple Past (simple past) of the verb to become (become).

Want to deepen your knowledge of English? Be sure to read the texts below.

• English language grammar
• Present Perfect
• Present Continuous
• Past Continuous
• Past Continuous exercises with commented feedback
• English Adjectives: List, Classifications and Exercises
• Simple Present: rules, exercises with feedback and summary