What Are Irregular Verbs?
One difficult issue in using the past and perfect tenses is irregular verbs. Most irregular verbs do not use the –ed ending for the past tense or the past participle.
Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t take on the regular –d, -ed, or -ied spelling patterns of the past simple (V2) or past participle (V3). Many of the irregular V2 and V3 forms are the same, such as: cut – cut, had – had, let – let, hurt – hurt, fed- fed, sold-sold
Irregular Verb Examples
Irregular verbs are also known as strong verbs. Here are nine that are used more often than the rest. These nine irregular verb examples also happen to be among the most commonly used words in the English language. They are:
- Go
- Get
- Say
- See
- Think
- Make
- Take
- Come
- Know
The following list of examples show how irregular verbs are used in sentences. Some sentences contain more than one example.
- Go get your brother. It’s time to eat dinner.→ In this example, all three irregular verbs (go, get, and eat) are in base form.
- I want to build a sand castle like the one we built last year.→ In this example, the irregular verb build is in base form. The irregular verb built is the past simple form of “build”. When you look at the complete list of examples, you’ll notice that built is also the past participle of the irregular verb “build”.
- He bet me that I couldn’t run five miles without stopping. I proved him wrong; I ran seven miles before I had to catch my breath.→ In this example, bet is a past simple form. When you look at the complete list, you will see that all three forms of “bet” are the same. Next, in the same sentence, the irregular verb run is in base form. In the next sentence, ran is the past simple form of “run” and had is the past simple form of “have.” Meanwhile, catch is base form.
- I awoke to find that a spider had bitten me. Although the wound didn’t bleed, it itched terribly.→ In this example, the irregular verb awoke is the past simple form of “awake.” Bitten is past participle form of “bite” and bleed is base form.
- Let’s drink some of this lemonade. I drank some yesterday and found it delicious.→ In this example, the irregular verb drink is in base form. Drank is the past simple form of “drink,” and found is the past simple form of “find.”
For more examples, read our complete list of irregular verbs in the English language.
Irregular Verb Exercises
Fill the blank spaces with the appropriate irregular verb.
- My dog jumped out of the swimming pool and _____________ himself, causing water to spray everywhere. (shake, shook, shaken)
- You should have ______________ Trish’s face when she got her surprise. (saw, had seen, seen)
- We _____________ the whole day lounging on the beach. (spend, spent, had spend)
- Let’s _____________ a hike on Saturday. (take, took, taken)
- My brother Mike ______________ his stinky socks on the coffee table. (leave, left, leaving)
- This is the ninth time that pitcher has _____________ a foul ball (throw, threw, thrown)
- The water balloon _____________ when it hit its target. (burst, busted, broken)
- Jesse intentionally ______________ gum in Jeff’s hair. (stick, stuck, sticky)
Answers: 1 – shook, 2 – seen, 3 – spent, 4 – take, 5 – left, 6 – thrown, 7- burst, 8 – stuck
See more Verbs
Did you know that not all French verbs follow the regular rules? In this guide, you’ll get to practice some of the most common, irregular verbs in French. We’ll list over a hundred unique verbs that all French students should know.
First, check out the video below and say each conjugation aloud to practice your pronunciation skills. Then, keep scrolling to learn more!
Common Irregular French Verbs
aller – to go
Je vais
Tu vas
Il/Elle va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils/Elles vont
Past Participle – allé
Tu vas
Il/Elle va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils/Elles vont
Past Participle – allé
avoir – to have
J’ai
Tu as
Il/Elle a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/Elles ont
Past Participle – eu
Tu as
Il/Elle a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/Elles ont
Past Participle – eu
dire – to say, to tell
Je dis
Tu dis
Il/Elle dit
Nous disons
Vous dites
Ils/Elles disent
Past Participle – dit
Tu dis
Il/Elle dit
Nous disons
Vous dites
Ils/Elles disent
Past Participle – dit
être – to be
Je suis
Tu es
Il/Elle est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils/Elles sont
Past Participle – été
Tu es
Il/Elle est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils/Elles sont
Past Participle – été
faire – to make, to do
Je fais
Tu fais
Il/Elle fait
Nous faisons
Vous faites
Ils/Elles – font
Past Participle – fait
Tu fais
Il/Elle fait
Nous faisons
Vous faites
Ils/Elles – font
Past Participle – fait
falloir – to be necessary
Il faut
Past Participle – fallu
Past Participle – fallu
pouvoir – to be able to do
Je peux
Tu peux
Il/Elle peut
Nous pouvons
Vous pouvez
Ils/Elles peuvent
Past Participle – pu
Tu peux
Il/Elle peut
Nous pouvons
Vous pouvez
Ils/Elles peuvent
Past Participle – pu
savoir – to know, to know how to
Je sais
Tu sais
Il/Elle sait
Nous savons
Vous savez
Ils/Elles savent
Past Participle – su
Tu sais
Il/Elle sait
Nous savons
Vous savez
Ils/Elles savent
Past Participle – su
voir – to see
Je vois
Tu vois
Il/Elle voit
Nous voyons
Vous voyez
Ils/Elles voient
Past Participle – vu
Tu vois
Il/Elle voit
Nous voyons
Vous voyez
Ils/Elles voient
Past Participle – vu
vouloir – to want to
Je veux
Tu veux
Il/Elle veut
Nous voulons
Vous voulez
Ils/Elles veulent
Past Participle – voulu
Tu veux
Il/Elle veut
Nous voulons
Vous voulez
Ils/Elles veulent
Past Participle – voulu