Unisced Open University

Department of Economics and Management

Degree in Human Resources Management

Regular e irregular verbs

Cátia Carlos Reis

Lichinga, May 2023

 Unisced Open University

Department of Economics and Management

Degree in Human Resources Management

Regular e irregular verbs

Research work English course, 1st year,

Human Resources Management Course to
be delivered to the department of
economics and management
recommended for evaluative purposes by
the professor of the course.

Lichinga, May 2023

Índex
Introduction.......................................................................................................................1

1. THE REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS.........................................................2

1.1. The regular verbs................................................................................................2

1.2. Irregular verbs.....................................................................................................2

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................5

Bibliography..................................................................................................................6
 1

Introduction
This work will address regular and irregular verbs. English uses two types of verbs: regular
and irregular. The difference between these types can be seen when using the simple past and
past participle forms of the verbs. (For information about verb tenses, please see the various
verb handouts also provided by the Yale GWC.) There are no differences in form between
regular and irregular verbs when using the simple present, present participle, and infinitive.

Structurally the work presents an introduction, development and conclusion.

 2

1. THE REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

1.1. The regular verbs

Regular verbs are called such because they are predictable: both the simple past and the past
participle forms add –ed to the infinitive form of the verb (Zaia,2015).

The regular past tense in English is usually formed by -ed ending (work - worked, stay -
stayed). It is the same for all persons, singular and plural: I started, you started, he started, we
played, they played.

The regular past participle is the same. It is also formed by -ed ending (worked, stayed). It is
used in perfect tenses and passive voice: I have started, you had started, he will have started, it
was started.

There are, however, groups of regular verbs which change their spelling in the past tense and
past participle (try - tried, chat - chatted...).

Eg.1:
Base form Past tense Past participle
play Played played

Eg.2:

Infinitve form Simple past Past participle Present participle

To want wanted wanted wanting
To close closed closed Closing
To believe believed believed believing

1.2. Irregular verbs

According to Zaia (2015), english irregular verbs can have up to three different forms: the
base form (go, draw), the past tense (went, drew) and the past participle (gone, drawn).

Past tense:

 I went to work by bus yesterday.

 3

 You drew a beautiful picture at school.

 He saw my car in the parking place.
 We wrote the email before dinner.

Past participle:

 I have gone to the shop three times today.

 You have drawn a lot of pictures since the morning.
 He has just seen my car.
 We have already written the email.

There are basically four big groups of irregular verbs in English.

1. Verbs which have three different forms: do - did - done, write - wrote - written, sing - sang
- sung.

2. Verbs which have a different base form, but the past tense and past participle are the
same: build - built - built, dig - dug - dug, tell - told - told.

3. Verbs which have only one form: bet - bet - bet, cost - cost - cost, set - set - set.

4. Verbs which have both regular and irregular forms: dream - dreamed/dreamt -

dreamed/dreamt, forecast - forecasted/forecast - forecasted/forecast, learn - learned/learnt -
learned/learnt.

But the English irregular verbs are even more complicated. Apart from the above mentioned
groups, there are some irregular verbs that do not fit to any of these groups.

Awake is irregular, but it can have a regular past tense form (awake - awaked/awoke -
awaken).
Beat has the same base form and past tense, but the past participle is different (beat - beat -
beaten).
Become has the same base form and past partiple, but the past tense is different (become -
became - become).

Bid has two irregular forms in both the past tense and past participle (bid - bade/bid -
bidden/bid).
 4

Come (like 'become') has the same base form and past partiple, but the past tense is
different (come - came - come).

Eat has two possible pronunciations in the past tense (eat - ate - eaten).

Forbid has two irregular forms only in the past tense (forbid - forbad/forbade - forbidden).
Hang is both a regular and irregular verb, but each form has a different meaning (I hung my
coat in the hall. - They hanged him for murder.)

Lie is regular and irregular, but with a different meaning (I lied to my mum. - The book lay on
the table.)
 5

Conclusion
Regular verbs are called such because they are predictable: both the simple past and the past
participle forms add –ed to the infinitive form of the verb.

The regular past participle is the same. It is also formed by -ed ending (worked, stayed). It is
used in perfect tenses and passive voice: I have started, you had started, he will have started, it
was started. English irregular verbs can have up to three different forms: the base form (go,
draw), the past tense (went, drew) and the past participle (gone, drawn).
 6

Bibliography
S. Zaia (2015), Regular e irregular verbs. Graduate Writing Lab, Yale Center for
Teaching and Learning.