Common irregular verbs in the present and past
Common irregular verbs have different forms in the present and past tenses, unlike regular verbs that mostly add -ed for the past. The base form is used for the present tense (except for the third person singular “he/she/it” which usually adds -s or has slight vowel changes), and the simple past form is used for past tense.
Here is a list of some common irregular verbs with their present (base form) and simple past forms:
| Base Form (Present) | Simple Past |
|---|---|
| be | was/were |
| become | became |
| begin | began |
| break | broke |
| bring | brought |
| buy | bought |
| choose | chose |
| come | came |
| do | did |
| eat | ate |
| find | found |
| get | got |
| go | went |
| have | had |
| know | knew |
| leave | left |
| make | made |
| meet | met |
| put | put |
| read | read (pronounced “red”) |
| say | said |
| see | saw |
| sell | sold |
| send | sent |
| sing | sang |
| sit | sat |
| speak | spoke |
| stand | stood |
| take | took |
| teach | taught |
| tell | told |
| think | thought |
| understand | understood |
| write | wrote |
In the present tense, some irregular verbs have a vowel change or other changes in the third person singular (e.g., “he gives” for “give”).
Some verbs have the same form for all three forms (base, past, past participle) such as “put” and “cut”.
This list covers many of the most frequently used irregular verbs in English in their present and past forms. 1, 2, 3