Irregular verbs are not as easy to learn as regular ones, but it's not that hard, either. Students are often scared at the variety of irregular verbs the English language has, and learning them can be challenging - but fun. One thing is true, though: you'll have to learn them by heart. There have been systems invented to learn irregular verbs easier by ESL programs, but actually the best way is to remember the verbs, by using them, and applying them to different situations. Let's take a look at some common -and not so common- irregular verbs in English:
be - was/were - been
become - became - become
begin - began - begun
break - broke - broken
bring - brought - brought
build - built - built
buy - bought - bought
come - came - come
cost - cost - cost
cut - cut - cut
do - did - done
drink - drank - drunk
eat - ate - eaten
find - found - found
fly - flew - flown
get - got - gotten/got
give - gave - given
go - went - gone
have - had - had
keep - kept - kept
know - knew - known
leave - left - left
make - made - made
meet - met - met
pay - paid - paid
put - put - put
read - read - read
say - said - said
see - saw - seen
sell - sold - sold
send - sent - sent
speak - spoke - spoken
spend - spent - spent
take - took - taken
teach - taught - taught
tell - told - told
think - thought - thought
These are very frequent verbs, and if you take a close look you'll see that the past participle (third column) often repeats the past form. For example:
- I make my bed every day.
- I made my bed yesterday.
- I have made my bed before!
Others, however, suffer a change when used in part participle:
- I speak with my mother often.
- I spoke with my mother last Friday.
- I have recently spoken to my mother.
As with regular verbs, irregular ones are used with different auxiliaries to form tenses. That way, using has or have plus the past participle of a verb will form the present perfect tense:
- She has taught me a lot about life.
Using had plus past participle forms the past perfect tense:
- They had always thought her illness could be reverted.
Will is also an auxiliary that forms the future tense. Will have plus a past participle will form the future perfect tense:
- Tomorrow will be a nice day. (Simple Future)
- By Friday, I will have finished my assignments (Future Perfect)
For a full list of irregular verbs and exercises you can visit this complete website. To understand fully the way irregular verbs are constructed, the best way is to study and use them, so only practice can lead you to success in this sense. So go ahead, use, study and learn them!
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