Most common English irregular verbs and how to use them

It's easy to confuse the irregular verbs in English. Think or thought, read or read (rhymes with bed), teach and taught, fall, fell and fallen? Between lay, laid, lie and lay, and swim, swam and hung or hanged, no wonder people aren't sure which word to use. See below for a quick, easy guide on how to conjugate irregular verbs in English in the present, future, simple past and past perfect tenses and a cheat sheet for fast reference.

Irregular verbs should be used in this way:

Present: Think. I think of it.

Future: Will think. I will think of it. (For future, add "will" to the present tense)

Simple past: Thought. I thought of it. Implies it happened and is completely done. Perhaps it happened yesterday or just a moment ago, but it's done.

present: Thought. I have thought of it. (Add have for I, you, we, they and has for she, he.) Implies the action happened and is ongoing.

Present & Future Tenses	Simple Past	Past Participle

arise	arose	(have) arisen
awake	awoke	(have) awoken
be	were, was	(have) been
beat	beat	(have) beaten, beat
become	became	(have) become
begin	began	(have) begun
bend	bent	(have) bent
bet	bet	(have) bet
bid	bid	(have) bid
bite	bit	(have) bitten
bleed	bled	(have) bled
blow	blew	(have) blown
break	broke	(have) broken
bring	brought	(have) brought
broadcast	broadcast	(have) broadcast
build	built	(have) built
burn	burned/burnt	(have) burned/burnt
buy	bought	(have) bought
catch	caught	(have) caught
choose	chose	(have) chosen
cling	clung	(have) clung
come	came	(have) come
cut	cut	(have) cut
deal	dealt	(have) dealt
dig	dug	(have) dug
dive	dived, dove	(have) dived
do	did	(have) done
draw	drew	(have) drawn
dream	dreamed/dreamt	(have) dreamed/dreamt
drink	drank	(have) drunk
drive	drove	(have) driven
eat	ate	(have) eaten
fall	fell	(have) fallen
feel	felt	(have) felt
fight	fought	(have) fought
find	found	(have) found
fly	flew	(have) flown
forget	forgot	(have) forgotten
forgive	forgave	(have) forgiven
freeze	froze	(have) frozen
get	got	(have) gotten
give	gave	(have) given
go	went	(have) gone
grow	grew	(have) grown
hang (a person)	hanged	(have) hanged
hang (an object)	hung	(have) hung
have	had	(have) had
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	(have) hidden
hit	hit	(have) hit
hold	held	(have) held
hurt	hurt	(have) hurt
keep	kept	(have) kept
know	knew	(have) known
lay (set an object down)	laid	(have) laid
lead	led	(have) led
learn	learned/learnt	(have) learned/learnt
leave	left	(have) left
lend	lent	(have) lent
let	let	(have) let
lie (to recline)	lay	(have) lain
light	lighted, lit	(have) lighted, lit
lose	lost	(have) lost
mean	meant	(have) meant
meet	met	(have) met
pay	paid	(have) paid
put	put	(have) put
read	read	(have) read
ride	rode	(have) ridden
ring	rang	(have) rung
rise	rose	(have) risen
run	ran	(have) run
say	said	(have) said
see	saw	(have) seen
seek	sought	(have) sought
sell	sold	(have) sold
send	sent	(have) sent
set	set	(have) set
shake	shook	(have) shaken
shine (radiate light)	shone	(have) shone
shine (make shiny)	shone, shined	(have) shone, shined
shut	shut	(have) shut
sing	sang	(have) sung
sink	sank, sunk	(have) sunk
sit	sat	(have) sat
slay	slew	(have) slain
sleep	slept	(have) slept
speak	spoke	(have) spoken
speed	sped	(have) sped
spend	spent	(have) spent
spring	sprang, sprung	(have) sprung
stand	stood	(have) stood
steal	stole	(have) stolen
swear	swore	(have) sworn
swim	swam	(have) swum
take	took	(have) taken
teach	taught	(have) taught
tear	tore	(have) torn
tell	told	(have) told
think	thought	(have) thought
throw	threw	(have) thrown
understand	understood	(have) understood
wake	woke	(have) woken
wear	wore	(have) worn
win	won	(have) won
write	wrote	(have) written

More information: We hope this page was helpful and provided you with some information about How to write a press release for an event. Check out our main page for more articles here Can U Write.