Regular vs. Irregular English Verbs

Verbs in English can be divided into regular and irregular based on how they form their past tense and past participle. This is a crucial topic because mistakes here can make sentences sound incorrect.

Regular Verbs

Rule: Add -ed to the base form for both past tense and past participle.

Examples:

Base Form	Past Simple	Past Participle
work	worked	worked
play	played	played
ask	asked	asked

Spelling Rules for -ed:

• Most verbs: just add -ed (talk → talked).
• Verbs ending in -e: add -d (live → lived).
• Verbs ending in consonant + y: change y → i + ed (study → studied).
• One-syllable verbs ending in vowel + consonant: double the consonant + -ed (stop → stopped).

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Irregular Verbs

No fixed rule! They change form unpredictably

Three main patterns:

• All three forms different (e.g., go – went – gone).
• Same past simple and past participle (e.g., bring – brought – brought)
.
• All three forms identical (e.g., put – put – put).

Common Irregular Verbs:

Base Form	Past Simple	Past Participle
be	was/were	been
begin	began	begun
break	broke	broken
choose	chose	chosen
drink	drank	drunk
eat	ate	eaten
give	gave	given
know	knew	known
take	took	taken
write	wrote	written

Tip: Learners must memorize irregular verbs since they don’t follow a pattern.

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3. Key Differences

Feature	Regular Verbs	Irregular Verbs
Past Form	-ed ending	Varies (no rule)
Examples	played, talked	went, eaten
Learning Method	Follow rules	Must memorize

4. Practice Tips

• Flashcards (Write base form on one side, past forms on the other).
• Group verbs by patterns (e.g., sing-sang-sung / ring-rang-rung).
• Use in sentences (e.g., Yesterday, I __ (eat) pizza).
• Check PROMT.One Conjugator to find the correct form of any English verb