Past Simple - Irregular Verbs in English

Overview

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the standard -ed pattern in the past simple. Instead, they have unique past forms that must be memorized. The bad news is that many of the most common English verbs are irregular. The good news is that because they are so common, you will encounter them constantly and learn them quickly through repeated exposure.

At the CEFR A2 level, you need to know approximately 40-50 irregular past forms to handle most everyday conversations. Verbs like "go" (went), "have" (had), "see" (saw), and "do" (did) are used in nearly every conversation about the past.

While there are no strict rules for irregular verbs, many fall into recognizable patterns. Grouping them by pattern can make memorization much easier.

How It Works

Common Irregular Verbs

Base Form	Past Simple	Base Form	Past Simple
go	went	come	came
have	had	get	got
see	saw	give	gave
do	did	take	took
say	said	make	made
know	knew	think	thought
be	was/were	find	found
eat	ate	drink	drank
write	wrote	read	read (pronounced "red")
buy	bought	bring	brought
leave	left	feel	felt
tell	told	sell	sold
sit	sat	run	ran
meet	met	put	put
stand	stood	understand	understood

Pattern Groups

Many irregular verbs follow similar patterns:

Pattern	Examples
No change	put > put, cut > cut, let > let, shut > shut
Vowel change: i > a	sit > sat, drink > drank, swim > swam, begin > began
-ew endings	know > knew, grow > grew, throw > threw, fly > flew
-ought/-aught	think > thought, buy > bought, bring > brought, teach > taught
-elt/-ept/-eft	feel > felt, keep > kept, leave > left, sleep > slept
-old/-ound	tell > told, sell > sold, find > found

Same Form for All Subjects

Like regular past simple verbs, irregular past forms never change with the subject:

Subject	Past Form
I went	We went
You went	They went
He/She/It went	--

Questions and Negatives Use Base Form

When using "did" for questions and negatives, the main verb returns to its base form:

Type	Example	Note
Statement	She went home.	Irregular past form
Negative	She didn't go home.	Base form after "didn't"
Question	Did she go home?	Base form after "did"

Examples in Context

English	Note
I went to Paris last year.	go > went
She had a good time at the party.	have > had
We saw a movie last night.	see > saw
He took the train to London.	take > took
They came home late.	come > came
I bought a new jacket yesterday.	buy > bought
She wrote me a long letter.	write > wrote
He ate the whole pizza by himself.	eat > ate
We met at a conference in 2020.	meet > met
I thought it was a great idea.	think > thought
She left her phone at the restaurant.	leave > left
He found his keys under the sofa.	find > found

Common Mistakes

Adding -ed to irregular verbs

• Wrong: I goed to the store.
• Right: I went to the store.
• Why: Irregular verbs have their own past forms. "Go" becomes "went," not "goed." You must memorize these forms.

Using the past form after "did"

• Wrong: Did you went to the party?
• Right: Did you go to the party?
• Why: When you use "did" (for questions) or "didn't" (for negatives), the main verb must be in the base form, not the past form. "Did" already carries the past meaning.

Confusing similar verbs

• Wrong: I finded my wallet.
• Right: I found my wallet.
• Why: "Find" follows the pattern find > found, not a regular -ed pattern. Check unfamiliar verbs rather than guessing.

Wrong pronunciation of "read"

• Wrong: I /riːd/ the book yesterday. (present tense pronunciation)
• Right: I /rɛd/ the book yesterday. (rhymes with "red")
• Why: "Read" is spelled the same in present and past, but pronounced differently. The past tense rhymes with "red" and "bed."

Usage Notes

British and American English share the same irregular verb forms with very few exceptions. One notable difference: "get" has the past participle "got" in British English and "gotten" in American English, but the past simple "got" is the same in both.

Some verbs have both regular and irregular forms: "learn" can be "learned" or "learnt," "dream" can be "dreamed" or "dreamt." The regular forms are more common in American English, and the irregular forms are more common in British English. Both are correct.

Practice Tips

• Learn in pattern groups: Study irregular verbs in clusters based on their patterns (the -ought group, the vowel-change group, the no-change group). This is far more effective than memorizing a random list.
• Use flashcards daily: Put the base form on one side and the past form on the other. Review ten verbs a day, and in two weeks you will know the most important ones.
• Tell a story using only irregular verbs: Challenge yourself: "Yesterday I went to the store. I bought some food. I came home and made dinner. I ate with my friends. We had a great time." This is surprisingly easy because so many common verbs are irregular.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Past Simple - Regular Verbs -- learn the regular -ed pattern before tackling irregular forms