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English irregular verbs: past simple and participles

Find irregular base, past and participle forms by pattern, with short usage examples and common mistakes.

96 entries

Base, past and participle share their spelling

cost — have a price: cost → cost → cost
The tickets cost $20 yesterday; they still cost $20 today. [1][2]
cut — slice or divide: cut → cut → cut
She cut the paper; the paper has been cut into strips. [1][2]
hit — strike something: hit → hit → hit
The ball hit the wall; it had hit the floor earlier. [1][2]
hurt — cause pain: hurt → hurt → hurt
My ankle hurt yesterday; it has hurt since the fall. [1][2]
let — allow: let → let → let
They let us in; they have let other guests enter too. [1][2]
put — place something: put → put → put
I put the keys on the table; I have put them away now. [1][2]
set — position or arrange: set → set → set
We set a target on Monday; we have set another since. [1][2]
shut — close: shut → shut → shut
She shut the gate; it has remained shut all night. [1][2]
spread — distribute: spread → spread → spread
The message spread quickly; it has spread across the team. [1][2]
bet — wager: bet → bet → bet
He bet a small amount yesterday; he has bet before. [1][2]
quit — stop: quit → quit → quit
I quit the club last year; I have since quit another activity. [1][2]
read — pronounce past /red/: read → read → read
I read /red/ it yesterday; written spelling stays read. [1][2]

Past simple equals past participle

bring — carry here: bring → brought → brought
They brought chairs and have brought more for tomorrow. [1][2]
build — construct: build → built → built
Workers built a bridge; they have built another nearby. [1][2]
buy — purchase: buy → bought → bought
She bought a notebook; she has bought several this year. [1][2]
catch — capture: catch → caught → caught
I caught the ball; I have caught difficult passes before. [1][2]
feel — sense: feel → felt → felt
I felt tired; I have felt stronger this week. [1][2]
find — locate: find → found → found
We found the key; we have found our missing tickets too. [1][2]
get — obtain: get → got → got
He got the message; he has got it now. In American usage, gotten is also common for some senses. [1][2]
have — possess: have → had → had
We had a map; we have had that map for years. [1][2]
hear — perceive sound: hear → heard → heard
She heard a noise; she has heard it twice. [1][2]
hold — grasp: hold → held → held
The worker held the cable and had held it securely. [1][2]
keep — retain: keep → kept → kept
They kept a copy; they have kept the original too. [1][2]
leave — depart: leave → left → left
He left early; he has left before lunch all week. [1][2]
lend — loan something: lend → lent → lent
I lent a charger; I have lent one before. [1][2]
lose — misplace: lose → lost → lost
She lost the receipt; she has lost several this month. [1][2]
make — create: make → made → made
The team made a chart; it has made three in total. [1][2]
mean — signify: mean → meant → meant
The sign meant stop; it has always meant that here. [1][2]
meet — encounter: meet → met → met
We met on Tuesday; we have met previously. [1][2]
pay — give money: pay → paid → paid
I paid the bill; I have paid for the service. [1][2]
say — express: say → said → said
They said yes; they have said yes before. [1][2]
sell — exchange for money: sell → sold → sold
We sold the camera; we have sold the tripod too. [1][2]
send — transmit: send → sent → sent
He sent an email; he has sent another reminder. [1][2]
sit — be seated: sit → sat → sat
She sat by the window; she has sat there before. [1][2]
sleep — rest: sleep → slept → slept
I slept well; I have slept poorly on other nights. [1][2]
spend — use time or money: spend → spent → spent
We spent an hour and have spent too much money. [1][2]
stand — remain upright: stand → stood → stood
They stood in line; they have stood there for ages. [1][2]
teach — instruct: teach → taught → taught
She taught physics; she has taught mathematics too. [1][2]
tell — inform: tell → told → told
He told me the answer; he has told the others. [1][2]
think — consider: think → thought → thought
I thought about it; I have thought about it often. [1][2]
understand — comprehend: understand → understood → understood
We understood the issue; we have understood it for weeks. [1][2]
win — succeed: win → won → won
They won yesterday; they have won their last three games. [1][2]

Different past and participle forms

be — exist or identify: be → was/were → been
She was ready; they were ready; we have been ready since noon. [1][2]
begin — start: begin → began → begun
The film began; it has begun before our arrival in the past. [1][2]
bite — use teeth: bite → bit → bitten
The dog bit the toy; the toy has been bitten. [1][2]
blow — move air: blow → blew → blown
The wind blew hard; it has blown all morning. [1][2]
break — damage: break → broke → broken
The glass broke; someone has broken the other glass too. [1][2]
choose — select: choose → chose → chosen
I chose blue; I have chosen blue again. [1][2]
come — arrive: come → came → come
She came early; she has come to help. [1][2]
do — perform: do → did → done
He did the work; he has done all his tasks. [1][2]
draw — sketch: draw → drew → drawn
We drew a diagram; we have drawn a second one. [1][2]
drink — consume liquid: drink → drank → drunk
I drank water; I have drunk enough for now. [1][2]
drive — operate a car: drive → drove → driven
She drove here; she has driven this route before. [1][2]
eat — consume food: eat → ate → eaten
We ate breakfast; we have eaten lunch too. [1][2]
fall — drop: fall → fell → fallen
The leaf fell; many have fallen this week. [1][2]
fly — travel through air: fly → flew → flown
The plane flew north; it has flown that route often. [1][2]
forget — fail to remember: forget → forgot → forgotten
I forgot the code; I have forgotten it again. [1][2]
freeze — turn to ice: freeze → froze → frozen
The pond froze; it has frozen every winter. [1][2]
give — provide: give → gave → given
They gave directions; they have given useful advice. [1][2]
go — move or travel: go → went → gone
He went home; he has gone to the store. [1][2]
grow — increase: grow → grew → grown
The plant grew; it has grown taller this month. [1][2]
hide — conceal: hide → hid → hidden
She hid the keys; she has hidden the spare key. [1][2]
know — be aware: know → knew → known
We knew the answer; we have known it for years. [1][2]
lie — recline: lie → lay → lain
He lay on the sofa yesterday; he has lain there before. [1][2]
ride — travel astride: ride → rode → ridden
I rode a bicycle; I have ridden that route previously. [1][2]
ring — make a bell sound: ring → rang → rung
The bell rang; it has rung three times. [1][2]
rise — move upward: rise → rose → risen
The sun rose; the water has risen today. [1][2]
run — move quickly: run → ran → run
She ran a race; she has run several races. [1][2]
see — perceive: see → saw → seen
I saw the sign; I have seen it before. [1][2]
shake — move back and forth: shake → shook → shaken
The table shook; it has shaken during previous tests. [1][2]
sing — use a musical voice: sing → sang → sung
They sang the song; they have sung it often. [1][2]
sink — go underwater: sink → sank → sunk
The boat sank; another has sunk nearby. [1][2]
speak — talk: speak → spoke → spoken
She spoke clearly; she has spoken at many events. [1][2]
steal — take unlawfully: steal → stole → stolen
Someone stole the bag; it has been stolen before. [1][2]
swim — move through water: swim → swam → swum
He swam across the pool; he has swum here before. [1][2]
take — remove or accept: take → took → taken
We took notes; we have taken more photos. [1][2]
throw — send through air: throw → threw → thrown
She threw the ball; she has thrown farther before. [1][2]
wake — stop sleeping: wake → woke → woken
I woke early; I have woken early all week. [1][2]
wear — have on clothing: wear → wore → worn
He wore a jacket; he has worn it all season. [1][2]
write — form words: write → wrote → written
They wrote the summary; they have written three reports. [1][2]

Choose the right form in a sentence

Past simple: finished event: She went home yesterday.
Use the irregular past form for a completed event in the past. [3][4][1]
Present perfect: experience: She has gone home.
Have or has combines with the past participle, not the past simple. [3][4][1]
Past perfect: earlier event: They had eaten before we arrived.
Had and the participle establish an event before another past time. [3][4][1]
Do not say have went: Incorrect: she has went; correct: she has gone.
The auxiliary has requires the participle gone, not preterite went. [3][4][1]
Choose versus chose: Today I choose; yesterday I chose.
Choose is base; chose is past; chosen is the participle. [3][4][1]
Begin versus begun: It began yesterday; it has begun again.
Began is past simple; begun follows the perfect auxiliary. [3][4][1]
Drink versus drunk: I drank it; I have drunk it.
Drank is normally past simple, whereas drunk is the participle. [3][4][1]
Sing versus sung: She sang; she has sung.
The vowel changes across sing, sang and sung. [3][4][1]
Read pronunciation: Present read /riːd/; past read /rɛd/.
The written spelling stays the same while the vowel sound changes. [3][4][1]
Lie and lay are different: Lie–lay–lain; lay–laid–laid.
Reclining is intransitive lie; positioning something is transitive lay. [3][4][1]
Use did with base form: Did you go? (not: Did you went?).
The auxiliary did already carries past tense, so use the base form. [3][4][1]
Get in British and US use: got–got in the cited UK list; US often got–gotten.
American gotten is common for obtaining or becoming; got remains standard in other senses. [3][4][1]
Was versus were: I was; you were; they were.
The past form of be depends on person and number. [3][4][1]
Same past and participle: She sold it; she has sold it.
Some irregular verbs use one identical form for both grammatical jobs. [3][4][1]
Past participle in passive: The glass was broken.
A passive construction uses an appropriate form of be plus a participle. [3][4][1]
An -ed ending is not a rule: He bought it (not: buyed).
Irregular verbs do not reliably follow the ordinary regular past suffix. [3][4][1]

Reserved placement, separate from reference controls. No ad network is active.

Updated 2026-10-20English grammar · common UK and US forms

Sources

cheatsheetatlas.com/sheets/english-irregular-verbs/ · Updated 2026-10-20 · English grammar · common UK and US forms

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