Appendix : English irregular verbs

This table lists irregular verbs in the English language. Each row shows an irregular verb (or group of compounds sharing a base verb), arranged alphabetically.

The table’s left-hand column shows verb forms (lemma and inflected): The citation form (the infinitive) comes first (linked to its Wiktionary article), from which a marker (dagger †) references a footnote if its present tense forms are irregular. Next is the preterite or simple past form, then finally the past participle. The right hand column notes whether the verb is weak or strong, whether it belongs to a subclass, and links to discussions elsewhere. Typical irregularities in weak verbs are the assimilation of dentals (bended → bent) and vowel reduction (*keeped → kept).

Many of these verbs are irregular in British or American English only. For some, such as spell (spelt vs. spelled), learn (learnt vs. learned), and spill (spilt vs. spilled), American English uses the regular form, while British English tends to favor the irregular. In other cases, the opposite is true (dived and sneaked in Britain, but also dove and snuck in the United States). Australian English tends to follow British practice, while Canadian English often sides with American usage. In this table, the preferred or more common usage is generally listed first, though for some words usage is nearly equal for both choices. Note that many of these forms vary even within each English variety depending on the dialect.

This table includes selected archaic forms (marked *).

Present tense irregular verbs

† Though the list of verbs irregular in the preterite or perfect tenses is long, the list of irregular present tense verbs is very short. Excepting modal verbs like "shall", "will", and "can" that do not inflect at all in the present tense, there are only four, two of which are only irregular in pronunciation (say and do):

• Be: I am, you are, he is, we are, they are; in addition, the preterite forms are irregular: I was, you were, he was, we were, they were. Its subjunctive mood is also irregular: the past form is always were, and the present form is always be.
• Do (and compounds such as "undo" and "redo"): I do, you do, he does, we do, they do where "does" is pronounced dəz in contrast to du, the pronunciation of the infinitive and the other present tense forms.
• Have: I have, you have, he has, we have, they have.
• Say: I say, you say, he says, we say, they say where "says" is pronounced sɛz or sɛs in contrast to seɪ, the pronunciation of the infinitive and the other present tense forms. Unlike compound forms ending in "-do", other verbs ending in "-say", such as "gainsay" and "naysay" are usually pronounced -seɪz.

Additional note

These verbs from the list above are spelled the same in the simple past as in the present tense (excluding compounds such as set, beset, inset, upset etc.): beat, bet, burst, cast, cost, cut, hit, hurt, let, put, quit, read, rid, set, shed, shut, slit, split, spread. (Note that of all the preceding, only "read" is pronounced differently in the past tense from the present tense.)

External links

• English Irregular Verb List A comprehensive list of English irregular verbs, including their base form, past simple, past participle, 3rd person singular, and the present participle / gerund.
• ExamPaperGenerator Script to create exam papers for testing students' knowledge of irregular verbs