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Common English Irregular Verbs List

English verbs have the base form (Infinitive), the simple past and the past participle. For most ofthe verbs (regular verbs), the simple past and the past participle are spelled the same and are

created by adding -ed to the base form. However, there are many irregular verbs in English

language which do not match to this pattern. Those verbs are mostly unpredictable, it is hard toderive them on the fly as you talk. There are some patterns among them (spring-sprang, drink-drank,...), (blow-blew, know-knew,...) but it is still hard to use those patterns as rules. The onlyway to learn irregular verbs is to memorize them.

regular verb

Averb that forms itspast tense andpast participle by adding -dor-ed(or in some cases -t) to thebase form. (Also known asa weak verb.) Contrast with Irregular Verb.

The majority of English verbs are regular. They have four different forms:

1. base form: the form found in a dictionary2. -s form: used in the singularthird person,present tense3. -edform: used for thepast tense andpast participle4. -ingform: used for thepresent participle

Examples:

y "If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I amsatisfied."(Alfred Nobel)

y "I'vesearchedall the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees. "(Gilbert K. Chesterton)

y "I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. Ibegan to know him, and by the time I walkedonto the stage he was fully born."(Charlie Chaplin)

y "For a long time now I have triedsimply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can."(Ernest Hemingway)

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y "Evertried. Everfailed. No matter. TryAgain.Failagain.Failbetter."(Samuel Beckett)

y "Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamtup after being drunk all night."(Isaac Asimov)

y "If I talkedabout Watergate, I was describedas struggling tofree myself from the morass. If I did not talkabout Watergate, Iwas accusedof being out of touch with reality."(Richard M. Nixon)

Irregular verb

In contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns

ofconjugation in the languages in which they occur. The idea of an irregular verb is important insecond

language acquisition, where the verb paradigms of a foreign language are learned systematically, and

exceptions listed and carefully noted. Thus for example a school French textbook may have a section at

the back listing the French irregular verbs in tables. Irregular verbs are often the most commonly used

verbs in the language.

In linguistic analysis, the concept of an irregular verb is most likely to be used inpsycholinguistics, and in

first-language acquisitionstudies, where the aim is to establish how the human brain processes its native

language. One debate among 20th-century linguists revolved around the question of whether small

children learn all verb forms as separate pieces of vocabulary or whether they deduce forms by the

application of rules.[1]

Since a child can hear a regular verb for the first time and immediately reuse it

correctly in a different tense which he or she has never heard, it is clear that the brain does work withrules, but irregular verbs must be processed differently.

EXAMPLES:

present past past participle meanings

* Could be conjugated as a regular verb

abide (abid) abode (abud) abiden (abden) sufrir, soportar, cumplir

arise (aris) arose (arus) arisen (arsen) levantarse, surgir

awake (awik) awoke (awuk) awoken (awuken) despertarse, despertar

bear (ber) bore (bor) born (born) aguantar, soportar, parir

beat (bit) beat (bit) beaten (biten) golpear, derrotar, batir

Go to examples >

become (bikm) became (bikim) become (bikm) convertirse en, llegar a ser, volverse, ponerse

begin (bigun) began (bigan) begun (bign) empezar

bend (bend) bent (bent) bent (bent) doblar, torcer, inclinarse

bet (bet) bet (bet) bet (bet) apostar

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bid (bid) bid (bid) bid (bid) ofrecer, pujar, licitar

Go to examples

Infinitive

In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual (traditional)

description ofEnglish, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particleto: therefore, do and to

do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition

ofinfinitive that applies to all languages. Many Native American languages and some languages

inAfrica andAboriginal Australia simply do not have infinitives orverbal nouns. In their place they use finite

verb forms used in ordinary clauses or special constructions.

In languages that have infinitives, they generally have most of the following properties[citation needed] :

In most uses, infinitives are non-finite verbs.

They function as otherlexical categories usually nouns within the clauses that contain them, for

example by serving as the subject of another verb.

They do not represent any of the verb's arguments.

They are not inflected to agree with any subject.

They cannot serve as the only verb of a declarative sentence.

They do not have tense, aspect, moods, and/orvoice, or they are limited in the range of tenses, aspects,

moods, and/or voices that they can use. (In languages where infinitives do not have moods at all, they are

usually treated as being their own non-finite mood.)

However, it bears repeating that none of the above is a defining quality of the infinitive; infinitives do not have

all these properties in every language, as it is shown below, and other verb forms may have one or more of

them. For example, English gerunds and participles have most of these properties as well.

Recognize an infinitive when you see one.

To sneeze, to smash, to cry, to shriek, to jump, to dunk, to read, toeat, to slurpall of these are infinitives. An infinitive will almost alwaysbegin with to followed by the simple form of theverb, like this:

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TO + V E R B = infinitive

Important Note: Because an infinitive is nota verb, youcannotadd s, es, ed, oringto the end. Ever!

Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives, oradverbs. Look at theseexamples:

To sleep is the only thing Eli wants after his double shift waiting

tables at the neighborhood caf.

To sleep functions as a noun because it is the subject of the sentence.

No matter how fascinating the biology dissection is, Emanuel turns

his head and refuses to look.

To lookfunctions as a noun because it is the direct object for theverb refuses.

Wherever Melissa goes, she always brings a book to read in case

conversation lags or she has a long wait.

To readfunctions as an adjective because it modifiesbook.

Richard braved the icy rain to throw the smelly squid eyeball stew

into the apartment dumpster.

To throwfunctions as an adverb because it explainswhyRichard bravedthe inclement weather.

What Is an Infinitive Verb?

Basically, an infinitive verb is a verb with the word to in front of it.y

to bey to have

y to hold

y to sleep

y to dream

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When you use an infinitive verb, the to is a part of the verb. It is not acting asa preposition in this case. And the verb is always just the verb. Its notconjugated in anyway no -ed, no -ing, no -s on the end.