English irregular verbs list: base form, past simple & past participle
Quick answer: An irregular verb doesn’t take “-ed” — go becomes went, not “goed.” Search the 200+ verbs below to find its base form, past simple, and past participle.
Type a word below to filter the list, or scroll through the full table.
Showing 0 verbs
| Base form | Past simple | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| abide | abode / abided | abode / abided |
| arise | arose | arisen |
| awake | awoke | awoken |
| be | was / were | been |
| bear | bore | borne |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bereave | bereaved / bereft | bereaved / bereft |
| beseech | besought / beseeched | besought / beseeched |
| bespeak | bespoke | bespoken |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid | bid | bid |
| bind | bound | bound |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| bleed | bled | bled |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| breed | bred | bred |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burnt / burned | burnt / burned |
| burst | burst | burst |
| buy | bought | bought |
| cast | cast | cast |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| cling | clung | clung |
| clothe | clothed / clad | clothed / clad |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| creep | crept | crept |
| cut | cut | cut |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| dream | dreamt / dreamed | dreamt / dreamed |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| dwell | dwelt / dwelled | dwelt / dwelled |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feed | fed | fed |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| flee | fled | fled |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forbid | forbade | forbidden |
| forecast | forecast / forecasted | forecast / forecasted |
| foretell | foretold | foretold |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| forgo | forwent | forgone |
| forsake | forsook | forsaken |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got / gotten |
| gild | gilded / gilt | gilded / gilt |
| gird | girded / girt | girded / girt |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grind | ground | ground |
| grow | grew | grown |
| hang | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| heave | heaved / hove | heaved / hove |
| hew | hewed | hewn / hewed |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| input | input / inputted | input / inputted |
| inlay | inlaid | inlaid |
| interweave | interwove | interwoven |
| keep | kept | kept |
| kneel | knelt / kneeled | knelt / kneeled |
| knit | knit / knitted | knit / knitted |
| know | knew | known |
| lade | laded | laden / laded |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| lean | leant / leaned | leant / leaned |
| leap | leapt / leaped | leapt / leaped |
| learn | learnt / learned | learnt / learned |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie | lay | lain |
| light | lit / lighted | lit / lighted |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| mishear | misheard | misheard |
| mislay | mislaid | mislaid |
| mislead | misled | misled |
| misread | misread | misread |
| mistake | mistook | mistaken |
| offset | offset | offset |
| outbid | outbid | outbid |
| outdo | outdid | outdone |
| outgrow | outgrew | outgrown |
| output | output / outputted | output / outputted |
| overcome | overcame | overcome |
| overdo | overdid | overdone |
| overeat | overate | overeaten |
| overhear | overheard | overheard |
| overpay | overpaid | overpaid |
| override | overrode | overridden |
| overrun | overran | overrun |
| oversee | oversaw | overseen |
| overshoot | overshot | overshot |
| overtake | overtook | overtaken |
| overthrow | overthrew | overthrown |
| partake | partook | partaken |
| pay | paid | paid |
| plead | pled / pleaded | pled / pleaded |
| prove | proved | proven / proved |
| put | put | put |
| quit | quit / quitted | quit / quitted |
| read | read | read |
| rebuild | rebuilt | rebuilt |
| redo | redid | redone |
| relay | relaid | relaid |
| rend | rent | rent |
| rid | rid | rid |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| saw | sawed | sawn / sawed |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| seek | sought | sought |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| set | set | set |
| sew | sewed | sewn / sewed |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| shear | sheared | shorn / sheared |
| shed | shed | shed |
| shine | shone | shone |
| shoe | shod | shod |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| show | showed | shown |
| shred | shredded / shred | shredded / shred |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| sit | sat | sat |
| slay | slew | slain |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| slide | slid | slid |
| slink | slunk | slunk |
| slit | slit | slit |
| smell | smelt / smelled | smelt / smelled |
| smite | smote | smitten |
| sow | sowed | sown / sowed |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| speed | sped / speeded | sped / speeded |
| spell | spelt / spelled | spelt / spelled |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spill | spilt / spilled | spilt / spilled |
| spin | spun | spun |
| spit | spat | spat |
| split | split | split |
| spoil | spoilt / spoiled | spoilt / spoiled |
| spread | spread | spread |
| spring | sprang | sprung |
| stand | stood | stood |
| stave | stove / staved | stove / staved |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| stink | stank | stunk |
| strike | struck | struck |
| stride | strode | stridden |
| string | strung | strung |
| strive | strove / strived | striven / strived |
| sublet | sublet | sublet |
| swear | swore | sworn |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| swell | swelled | swollen / swelled |
| swim | swam | swum |
| swing | swung | swung |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| thrive | throve / thrived | thriven / thrived |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| tread | trod | trodden / trod |
| unbind | unbound | unbound |
| undergo | underwent | undergone |
| understand | understood | understood |
| undertake | undertook | undertaken |
| undo | undid | undone |
| unwind | unwound | unwound |
| uphold | upheld | upheld |
| upset | upset | upset |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| weave | wove | woven |
| wed | wed / wedded | wed / wedded |
| weep | wept | wept |
| wet | wet / wetted | wet / wetted |
| whet | whetted | whetted |
| win | won | won |
| wind | wound | wound |
| withdraw | withdrew | withdrawn |
| withhold | withheld | withheld |
| withstand | withstood | withstood |
| wring | wrung | wrung |
| write | wrote | written |
Common patterns worth learning as groups
Same in all three forms
cut, put, hit, cost, shut, set, read, let — the base form, past simple, and past participle are identical. These trip people up because you expect an irregular verb to always look different.
Vowel shift: i → a → u
sing/sang/sung, ring/rang/rung, drink/drank/drunk, swim/swam/swum — one internal vowel change carries the whole pattern.
Ends in “-ought” or “-aught”
bring/brought, buy/bought, catch/caught, teach/taught, think/thought, fight/fought — the past simple and past participle are usually the same word.
Add “-en” for the past participle
break/broke/broken, speak/spoke/spoken, wake/woke/woken, steal/stole/stolen — the past simple drops the “-en,” the past participle keeps it.
Related grammar guides
Which vs. That
A simple rule for choosing the right relative pronoun in a clause. Read the guide →
Active vs. Passive Voice
Learn when to put the doer first for clearer, more direct sentences. Read the guide →
Comparative & Superlative Adjectives
Adjectives have their own irregular forms too — good/better/best, bad/worse/worst. Read the guide →
How to actually learn these
Group them by pattern, not alphabetically. Verbs like sing/sang/sung, ring/rang/rung, and drink/drank/drunk all follow the same internal vowel shift. Learning them as a family sticks better than memorizing an A-to-Z list.
Say all three forms out loud together. “Go, went, gone.” “See, saw, seen.” The rhythm helps the irregular form become automatic instead of something you have to consciously recall mid-sentence.
Watch for the ones that don’t change at all. Put, cut, hit, cost, and shut are the same in all three forms — that trips people up because they expect an irregular verb to always look different.
Prefix verbs inherit the root’s pattern. If you know come/came/come, you also know become/became/become and overcome/overcame/overcome for free.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between past simple and past participle?
Past simple stands alone in a sentence: “She went home.” Past participle is used with a helping verb like “have” or “be”: “She has gone home” or “The work was done.” For regular verbs the two are identical, which is why irregular verbs feel harder — the forms often differ.
Why do some verbs have two accepted past forms?
Verbs like burn, dream, learn, and spell have both a regular form (“burned”) and an older irregular form (“burnt”). Both are correct — British English tends to favor the irregular spelling, American English tends to favor the regular one, though usage overlaps.
Are irregular verbs the same in British and American English?
Mostly, yes — but a few differ. “Get” is a common example: American English commonly uses “gotten” as the past participle, while British English almost always uses “got.”