About the Irregular Verbs Table
English has about 200 irregular verbs, and the most common ones are used every day: be, have, do, go, make, take, say. This table gathers the 100 you meet most, with the base form, the past simple, the past participle and a short meaning. Use the search box to find a verb or any of its forms, filter by pattern to see verbs that behave alike, and switch on practice mode to hide the past simple or the past participle so you can test yourself and tap to reveal the answer. Where British and American English differ, such as got and gotten, both are shown. You can copy the list as tab-separated text for a spreadsheet.
Updated October 2026
How to use the Irregular Verbs Table
- 1Type a verb, a form or a meaning in the search box.
- 2Pick a group such as all three forms the same, or all three different.
- 3Tick a practice option to hide the past simple or the past participle.
- 4Tap tap to show to reveal an answer and check yourself.
- 5Press Copy this list to paste it into a document or spreadsheet.
Why they are irregular
Most irregular verbs are very old words from the early forms of English. Over the centuries the common ones kept their old patterns because people used them so often that the forms stayed fixed in memory. New verbs, like text or google, follow the regular -ed rule, which is why irregular verbs are mostly short, everyday words.
That is also good news for learners. The list is long but not random. Many verbs fall into a few families, and once you notice the family you only have to remember the pattern.
The four patterns
- AAA: all three forms are the same (cut, cut, cut; put; hit; set; let).
- ABB: past simple and participle are the same (buy, bought, bought; make; tell; find).
- ABC: all three are different (sing, sang, sung; take, took, taken; write, wrote, written).
- ABA: the base and participle match (come, came, come; run, ran, run; become).
- Start with AAA and ABB, which are the easiest to remember.
Practice ideas
Hide a column and say the form aloud before you tap to reveal it. Then put the verb in a sentence, because we remember words better in context. The Flashcard Maker can hold the verbs you find hard and show them again after a few days. Use the English Idioms List and the Phrasal Verbs List to see many of these verbs in common expressions, and check your writing with the Spelling Practice Test. Little and often works better than one long session.
Features
- Over 100 common irregular verbs
- Base form, past simple, past participle and meaning
- Search by any form or meaning
- Filter by pattern: AAA, ABB, ABC, ABA
- Practice mode hides answers until you tap
- Copy as tab-separated text
- Works well on phones
Frequently asked questions
What is an irregular verb?
A verb that does not form its past simple and past participle by adding -ed. For example go, went, gone instead of goed.
What is the difference between past simple and past participle?
The past simple is used for finished actions (I wrote a letter). The past participle is used with have, has, had and in the passive (I have written a letter; it was written yesterday).
How can I learn irregular verbs quickly?
Group them by pattern. Verbs like cut, put and hit never change. Verbs like buy, bring and think share a past form with -ought. Practise a few patterns at a time and use the practice mode.
Why are some verbs shown with two forms?
Some forms differ by country or have two accepted versions, such as got and gotten for get, or was and were for be.
Is read pronounced the same in the past?
No. Read has the same spelling in all three forms but the past forms are pronounced like red.
Are all English verbs here?
No. This is a list of the most common ones. There are more rare irregular verbs, like cleave or smite, which are rarely needed.
Is there a list for printing?
You can copy the table and paste it into a document, or use your browser's print option on the page.