Regular and Irregular Verbs Luckily for us, most verbs in English are regular verbs.

This means that we can be confident with the forms they take because they follow a predictable pattern. Those verbs that dont follow the basic rules are called irregular verbs. The past tense and past participle of regular verbs can be formed by adding ed to the end of the verb root. If the verb already ends with an e, then we simply add a d. The present participle of regular verbs is formed by adding ing to the end of the root. (A participle is a word formed from a verb and used in a verb phrase or as a noun or adjective.) Here are some examples of regular verbs in their various forms:
Present cough dance Past coughed danced Past Participle coughed danced Present Participle coughing dancing

On the other hand, the past tense and past particle of irregular verbs vary, so you must memorize the changes. Here is a partial list of irregular verbs with their past and past participle forms. You will want to refer to this list or a dictionary if you are unsure of a verb form.
Present Arise Awake Be (am, are, is) Become Begin Bend Bite Blow Break Bring Build Buy Catch Choose Come Do (does) Draw Drink Drive Eat Fall Feed Feel Past arose awoke was (were) became began bent bit blew broke brought built bought caught chose came did drew drank drove ate fell fed felt Past Participle arisen awoke been become begun bent bitten blown broken brought built bought caught chosen come done drawn drunk driven eaten fallen fed felt

Fight Find Fly Freeze Get Give Go (goes) Grow Have (has) Hear Hide Hold Hurt Keep Know Lay Lead Leave Lend Lie Light Lose Make Meet Pay Ride Ring Rise Run Say See Sell Send Shake Shrink Sing Sleep Speak Spend Stand Steal Swear Swim Take Teach Tear Tell Think Wake Wear

fought found flew froze got gave went grew had heard hid held hurt kept knew laid led left lent lay lit lost made met paid rode rang rose ran said saw sold sent shook shrank sang slept spoke spent stood stole swore swam took taught tore told thought woke or waked wore

fought found flown frozen got or gotten given gone grown had heard hidden held hurt kept known laid led left lent lain lit lost made met paid ridden rung risen run said seen sold sent shaken shrunk sung slept spoken spent stood stolen sworn swum taken taught torn told though woken or waked worn

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