🇺🇸 English grammar guides

English irregular verbs, grouped by pattern

Irregular verbs are only unlearnable if you meet them as an alphabetical list. Grouped by shape they collapse into about eight patterns. Learn the pattern, and the verbs inside it come almost free.

No change at all

cut / cut / cut — one form does all three jobs.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
cut	cut	cut	cutting
put	put	put	putting
let	let	let	letting
hit	hit	hit	hitting
read	read	read	reading
⚠️ Same three letters every time, but the past and participle are said /rɛd/ — like the color red. Only the sound tells you the tense.

i → a → u

sing / sang / sung. The vowel walks through three positions.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
sing	sang	sung	singing
drink	drank	drunk	drinking
swim	swam	swum	swimming
ring	rang	rung	ringing
begin	began	begun	beginning

-ought / -aught

buy / bought / bought. Past and participle are identical and end in that same heavy sound.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
buy	bought	bought	buying
bring	brought	brought	bringing
think	thought	thought	thinking
teach	taught	taught	teaching
catch	caught	caught	catching

o → o + -en

break / broke / broken. Past changes the vowel, participle adds -en.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
break	broke	broken	breaking
speak	spoke	spoken	speaking
steal	stole	stolen	stealing
choose	chose	chosen	choosing
drive	drove	driven	driving
write	wrote	written	writing

-ew / -own

know / knew / known. A small, very consistent family.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
know	knew	known	knowing
grow	grew	grown	growing
throw	threw	thrown	throwing
fly	flew	flown	flying

d → t

send / sent / sent. The final d hardens to t and stays there.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
send	sent	sent	sending
feel	felt	felt	feeling
keep	kept	kept	keeping
sleep	slept	slept	sleeping
leave	left	left	leaving
lose	lost	lost	losing

Past = participle

No shared shape, but only two forms to remember instead of three.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
have	had	had	having
make	made	made	making
say	said	said	saying
tell	told	told	telling
find	found	found	finding
hear	heard	heard	hearing
lead	led	led	leading
⚠️ The past of lead is spelled led, not lead — and it rhymes with red. The metal lead is a different word.
hang	hung	hung	hanging
⚠️ hung is for objects: I hung the picture. The regular form hanged is used only for executions.
lay	laid	laid	laying
⚠️ lay means to put something down, and always needs an object: I lay the book on the table. Don't use it for your own body — that's lie.

Three separate forms

go / went / gone. These have to be learned one at a time — there are not many.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	-ing
be	was / were	been	being
⚠️ be is the only verb with two past forms: was for I/he/she/it, were for you/we/they.
go	went	gone	going
do	did	done	doing
take	took	taken	taking
come	came	come	coming
see	saw	seen	seeing
get	got	gotten	getting
⚠️ American English says gotten (I have gotten better); British English says got (I have got better). Both are correct in their own region.
give	gave	given	giving
eat	ate	eaten	eating
lie	lay	lain	lying
⚠️ lie means to rest your body down, and takes no object: I lie on the bed. Its past is lay — which is also the base form of a completely different verb. Note: lie meaning to tell an untruth is regular (lied, lied).
prove	proved	proven	proving
⚠️ Both participles are standard: I have proven it and I have proved it. Proven is the usual choice before a noun (a proven method).

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