Irregular Verbs TableA1–B1

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The most common irregular verbs: base form, past simple and past participle, grouped by the pattern each verb follows. Past simple and past participle are separate forms for many verbs: I went there. I have gone there.

No information at the current level. This view starts at A1: choose A1 or a higher level.

CheatsheetA1–B1

Pattern	Base form	Past simple	Past participle
All three forms are the same	put	put	put
-ought / -aught	buy	bought	bought
Past and participle end in -d	make	made	made
B1Final -d becomes -t	build	built	built
A2Long vowel shortens, -t added	keep	kept	kept
/iː/ shortens to /e/	meet	met	met
Vowel changes, past = participle	sit	sat	sat
Participle = base form	come	came	come
i → a → u	drink	drank	drunk
Participle in -en	take	took	taken
participle in -n / -ne	go	went	gone
Use	—	finished actions: I went to Madrid.	after have: I have gone there.

OverviewA1

The past simple is used for finished actions. See Past Simple.
The past participle is used after have in the present perfect. See Present Perfect.
Regular verbs add -ed to both forms: work – worked – worked.
The Level column shows when a verb is usually met: A1 first, B1 last.

Pattern: all three forms are the sameA1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
put	put	put
A2cut	cut	cut
A2let	let	let
A2hit	hit	hit
A2shut	shut	shut
A2hurt	hurt	hurt
A2cost	cost	cost
B1set	set	set
B1spread	spread	spread

The three forms are the same. The sentence shows the tense: I put it there. / I have put it there.

Pattern: past and participle in -ought / -aughtA1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
buy	bought	bought
think	thought	thought
A2bring	brought	brought
A2catch	caught	caught
A2teach	taught	taught
B1fight	fought	fought

Past and participle share one form. -ought and -aught are both pronounced /ɔːt/: bought /bɔːt/, caught /kɔːt/.

Pattern: past and participle end in -dA1–A2

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
have	had	had
make	made	made
say	said /sed/	said /sed/
tell	told	told
A2pay	paid	paid
A2sell	sold	sold
A2hear	heard /hɜːd/	heard /hɜːd/

Past and participle share one form with -d at the end. The vowel or the stem changes in some verbs.
say and hear change their vowel sound: say /seɪ/ → said /sed/, hear /hɪə/ → heard /hɜːd/.

Pattern: final -d becomes -tA1–B1

A2B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
send	sent	sent
spend	spent	spent
B1build	built	built
B1lend	lent	lent

The final -d of the base verb changes to -t. Past and participle share one form.

Pattern: the long vowel shortens and -t is addedA1–A2

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
feel	felt	felt
keep	kept	kept
sleep	slept	slept
leave	left	left
lose	lost	lost

The vowel is short in the past and the participle, and the form ends in -t: keep /kiːp/ → kept /kept/.
leave → left and lose → lost change the final consonant as well: /liːv/ → /left/, /luːz/ → /lɒst/.

Pattern: the vowel /iː/ shortens to /e/A1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
meet	met	met
read	read /red/	read /red/
B1lead	led	led
B1feed	fed	fed

Past and participle share one form with the short vowel /e/: meet /miːt/ → met /met/.
read is spelled the same in all three forms: /riːd/ in the base, /red/ in the past and the participle.

Pattern: the vowel changes, past = participleA1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
sit	sat	sat
get	got	got
find	found	found
A2stand	stood	stood
A2win	won	won
A2understand	understood	understood
B1hold	held	held

A new vowel appears in the past simple, and the participle repeats it.
US: the participle of get is gotten: I've gotten a new phone. British English keeps got.

Pattern: participle = base formA1–A2

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
come	came	come
run	ran	run
A2become	became	become

The participle equals the base verb. Only the past simple has its own form.

Pattern: i → a → uA1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
drink	drank	drunk
A2begin	began	begun
A2swim	swam	swum
A2sing	sang	sung
B1ring	rang	rung

The vowel runs i → a → u: the past takes a, the participle takes u.

Pattern: participle in -enA1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
give	gave	given
take	took	taken
eat	ate /et/ or /eɪt/	eaten
write	wrote	written
A2drive	drove	driven
A2ride	rode	ridden
A2break	broke	broken
A2speak	spoke	spoken
A2choose	chose	chosen
A2forget	forgot	forgotten
A2fall	fell	fallen
B1wake	woke	woken
B1steal	stole	stolen
B1hide	hid	hidden
B1freeze	froze	frozen

The past has its own vowel. The participle ends in -en.
US: ate is /eɪt/. British English also uses /et/.

Pattern: past in -ew, participle in -nA1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
know	knew	known
A2fly	flew	flown
A2grow	grew	grown
A2draw	drew	drawn
B1throw	threw	thrown
B1blow	blew	blown

The past ends in -ew and the participle ends in -n: know → knew → known.

Pattern: participle in -n / -ne, past has its own formA1–B1

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
be	was / were	been /biːn/
do	did	done /dʌn/
go	went	gone /ɡɒn/
see	saw	seen
A2wear	wore	worn
B1tear	tore	torn

The participle ends in -n or -ne. The past is a form of its own.
been is /biːn/ (US: /bɪn/). go has two participles: gone and been.
gone = he is away. been = he went and came back: He has been to Paris.

Typical errorsA1

✗	✓	Rule
I goed to Madrid.	I went to Madrid.	irregular verbs have their own past form, no -ed
She buyed a car.	She bought a car.	buy → bought
I have went there.	I have gone there.	after have use the participle: gone
I have saw it.	I have seen it.	after have use the participle: seen
I seen him yesterday.	I saw him yesterday.	the past simple takes the past form: saw
I have wrote a letter.	I have written a letter.	write → wrote → written
He readed the book.	He read /red/ the book.	read is spelled the same in all forms, the past sounds /red/