List Of Verb Tenses Chart

Posted on 5/31/2019

12 Tenses With Examples
List Of Verb Tenses Chart For Grade 6
List Of Verb Tenses Chart For Grade 6

I mentioned previously (in Lessons from the Top German verbs list) that the 3 most common verbs in German are the ones also used as auxiliaries: sein, haben and werden.Let’s take a look at how they function in the context of German verb tenses. German has 6 tenses: 2 finite tenses, i.e. Tenses that are formed using just the main verb, and 4 compound tenses, i.e. Tenses that are formed using.

This is a list of irregular verbs in the English language.

Past tense irregular verbs[edit]

For each verb listed, the citation form (the bare infinitive) is given first, with a link to the relevant Wiktionary entry. This is followed by the simple past tense (preterite), and then the past participle. If there are irregular present tense forms (see below), these are given in parentheses after the infinitive. (The present participle and gerund forms of verbs, ending in -ing, are always regular. In English, these are used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns.) In the case of modal verbs the present and preterite forms are listed, since these are the only forms that exist.

The right-hand column notes whether the verb is weak or strong and whether it belongs to a subclass, and links to descriptions elsewhere. Information about the development of these verbs generally can be found at English irregular verbs; details of the etymology and usage of specific verbs can be found by consulting Wiktionary.

In some cases, there are two or more possibilities for a given form. In the table, the preferred or more common usage is generally listed first, though for some words the usage is nearly equal for the two choices. Sometimes the usage depends on the dialect. In many cases, such as spell (spelt vs. spelled), learn (learnt vs. learned), and spill (spilt vs. spilled), American English normally uses the regular form, while British English tends to favor the irregular. In other cases, such as dive (dived vs. dove) and sneak (sneaked vs. snuck), the opposite is true. Australian, New Zealand and South African English tend to follow the British practice, while Canadian English often sides with the American usage.

The table includes selected archaic or dialectal forms, marked * (some of these forms may also be present in specialist uses).

Verb forms	Verb class and notes
ache/ake – ached/oke – ached/aken*	Strong, class 6; now regular.
bake – baked/book – baked/baken	Strong, class 6; now regular except in Northern English dialects.
be (am, is, are/be) – was, were – been*	Suppletive. See Indo-European copula.
bear – bore/bare – borne/born* forbear – forbore/forbare – forborne/forborn* misbear – misbore/misbare – misborne/misborn overbear – overbore/overbare – overborne/overborn* underbear – underbore/underbare – underborne/underborn*	Strong, class 4. The spelling born is used in passive or adjectival contexts relating to birth.
beat – beat – beaten/beat browbeat – browbeat – browbeaten/browbeat overbeat – overbeat – overbeaten/overbeat	Strong, class 7
become – became – become misbecome – misbecame – misbecome	Strong, class 4
beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten misbeget – misbegot/misbegat – misbegotten/misbegot*	Strong, class 5
begin – began – begun	Strong, class 3
bend – bent/bended – bent/bended overbend – overbent/overbended – overbent/overbended unbend – unbent/unbended – unbent/unbended	Weak with coalescence of dentals
beseech – beseeched/besought – beseeched/besought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law (now regularized)
bet – bet/betted – bet/betted underbet – underbet/underbetted – underbet/underbetted	Weak with coalescence of dentals
betide – betided/betid – betided/betid	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular)
beware – (no other forms)	Defective; formed from be with predicate adjective, used as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive only. Inflected forms (bewares, bewared, bewaring) are considered obsolete.
bid[in auctions etc.] – bid – bid outbid – outbid – outbid overbid – overbid – overbid rebid – rebid – rebid underbid – underbid – underbid	Weak with coalescence of dentals
bid[meaning to request or say] – bid/bade – bid/bidden	Strong, class 5
bide – bided/bode – bided/bidden abide – abided/abode – abided/abidden	Strong, class 1
bind – bound – bound/bounden* unbind – unbound – unbound/unbounden* underbind – underbound – underbound/underbounden*	Strong, class 3
bite – bit – bitten frostbite – frostbit – frostbitten	Strong, class 1
bleed – bled – bled	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
blend – blended/blent – blended/blent	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
bless – blessed/blest – blessed/blest	Weak, regular with alternative (archaic) spelling
blow – blew – blown overblow – overblew – overblown	Strong, class 7
break – broke/brake – broken/broke outbreak – outbroke – outbroken rebreak – rebroke – rebroken	Strong, class 4
breed – bred – bred inbreed – inbred – inbred interbreed – interbred – interbred overbreed – overbred – overbred	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
bring – brought – brought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
build – built – built overbuild – overbuilt – overbuilt rebuild – rebuilt – rebuilt underbuild – underbuilt – underbuilt	Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending
burn – burned/burnt – burned/burnt sunburn – sunburned/sunburnt – sunburned/sunburnt	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
burst – burst/brast – burst/bursten	Strong, class 3
bust – busted/bust – busted/bust	Strong, class 3 (or regular)
buy – bought – bought/boughten* abuy – abought – abought overbuy – overbought – overbought* underbuy – underbought – underbought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
can[auxiliary verb] – could – (none)	Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs
cast – cast – cast broadcast – broadcast – broadcast downcast – downcast – downcast forecast – forecast – forecast miscast – miscast – miscast overcast – overcast – overcast podcast – podcast – podcast precast – precast – precast recast – recast – recast simulcast – simulcast – simulcast telecast – telecast – telecast typecast – typecast – typecast undercast – undercast – undercast upcast – upcast – upcast webcast – webcast – webcast	Weak with coalescence of dentals. Many of the prefixed forms can also take -ed.
catch – caught/catched – caught/catched	Weak, French loanword conjugated perhaps by analogy with teach–taught; regular forms are now dialectal.
chide – chided/chid/chode – chided/chid/chidden*	Strong, class 1
choose – chose – chosen mischoose – mischose – mischosen	Strong, class 2
clad – clad – clad	Developed from clad, the past form of clothe (see below).
clap – clapped/clapt – clapped/clapt
cleave[meaning to split] – cleft/clove/cleaved/clave – cleft/cloven/cleaved*	Strong, class 2, sometimes switching to weak with vowel shortening. When meaning 'adhere' the verb is regular.
clepe – cleped/clepen/clept – cleped/clept/clepen/*yclept	Weak with vowel shortening, or regular. Obsolete or dialectal.
cling – clung/clang – clung*	Strong, class 3
clothe – clad/clothed – clad/clothed overclothe – overclad/overclothed – overclad/overclothed unclothe – unclad/unclothed – unclad/unclothed underclothe – underclad/underclothed – underclad/underclothed	Weak; the regular clothed is from OE claþian, while clad (weak with coalescence of dentals) is from OE clæþan (both OE verbs having similar meaning).^[1]
comb – combed – combed/kempt
come – came – come/comen forthcome – forthcame – forthcome overcome – overcame – overcome/overcomen (see also under become)	Strong, class 4
cost[intransitive sense] – cost/costed – cost/costed	Weak with coalescence of dentals. Regular when meaning 'calculate the cost of'.
creep – crept/creeped/crope – crept/creeped/cropen	Originally strong, class 2; switched to weak with vowel shortening (or regular)
crow – crowed/crew – crowed/crown*	Strong, class 7. Now usually regular, but crew can still be used of a cock's crowing.
cut – cut – cut clearcut – clearcut – clearcut crosscut – crosscut – crosscut forcut – forcut – forcut intercut – intercut – intercut* recut – recut – recut undercut – undercut – undercut	Weak with coalescence of dentals
dare (dares/dare) – dared/durst* – dared	Preterite-present, now regular except in the use of dare in place of dares in some contexts. See English modal verbs
deal – dealt – dealt misdeal – misdealt – misdealt redeal – redealt – redealt	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
dig – dug/digged – dug/digged underdig – underdug – underdug	Originally weak; past form dug developed by analogy with stick–stuck^[2]
dive – dived/dove – dived/dove	Weak, the alternative dove (found mainly in American usage) arising by analogy with strong verbs
do (does /dʌz/) – did – done bedo (bedoes) – bedid – bedone fordo (fordoes) – fordid – fordone misdo (misdoes) – misdid – misdone* outdo (outdoes) – outdid – outdone overdo (overdoes) – overdid – overdone redo (redoes) – redid – redone underdo (underdoes) – underdid – underdone undo (undoes) – undid – undone	Irregular since Proto-Germanic: past tense formed by reduplication. Past participle from Old Englishgedon. Related to deed.
dow – dowed/dought – dowed/dought	Related to doughty.
drag – dragged/drug – dragged/drug	Strong, class 6, now usually regular; drug is used in some dialects
draw – drew – drawn adraw – adrew – adrawn bedraw – bedrew – bedrawn* downdraw – downdrew – downdrawn outdraw – outdrew – outdrawn overdraw – overdrew – overdrawn redraw – redrew – redrawn umbedraw – umbedrew – umbedrawn underdraw – underdrew – underdrawn* updraw – updrew – uprawn withdraw – withdrew – withdrawn	Strong, class 6; related to draft/draught
dream – dreamed/dreamt/drempt – dreamed/dreamt/drempt bedream – bedreamed/bedreamt – bedreamed/bedreamt	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular)
dress – dressed/drest – dressed/drest	Weak with alternative (archaic) spelling
drink – drank/drunk/drinked – drunk/drank/drinked/drunken* outdrink – outdrank/outdrunk/outdrinked – outdrunk/outdrank/outdrinked/outdrunken* overdrink – overdrank/overdrunk/overdrinked – overdrunk/overdrank/overdrinked/overdrunken*	Strong, class 3; related to drench
drive – drove/drave – driven* bedrive – bedrove – bedriven overdrive – overdrove/overdrave – overdriven* test-drive – test-drove/test-drave – test-driven*	Strong, class 1; related to drift
dwell – dwelt/dwelled – dwelt/dwelled bedwell – bedwelt/bedwelled – bedwelt/bedwelled outdwell – outdwelt/outdwelled – outdwelt/outdwelled	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
earn – earned/earnt – earned/earnt	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
eat – ate/et – eaten* forfret – forfretted – forfretted/forfretten fret – fretted/frate – fretted/fretten outeat – outate – outeaten overeat – overate/overet – overeaten* undereat – underate/underet – undereaten*	Strong, class 5. Past tense usually /eɪt/, sometimes /ɛt/ in British English.
fall – fell/felled – fallen/felled befall – befell/befelled – befallen/befelled misbefall – misbefell/misbefelled – misbefallen/misbefelled misfall – misfell/misfelled – misfallen/misfelled outfall – outfell – outfallen	Strong, class 7
feed – fed – fed bottle-feed – bottle-fed – bottle-fed breastfeed – breastfed – breastfed force-feed – force-fed – force-fed hand-feed – hand-fed – hand-fed misfeed – misfed – misfed overfeed – overfed – overfed self-feed – self-fed – self-fed spoon-feed – spoon-fed – spoon-fed underfeed – underfed – underfed	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
feel – felt – felt forefeel – forefelt – forefelt	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
fight – fought – fought/foughten* befight – befought – befought outfight – outfought – outfought	Strong, class 3
find – found/fand – found/founden refind – refound/refand – refound/refounden	Strong, class 3
fit – fitted/fit – fitted/fit misfit – misfitted/misfit – misfitted/misfit	Weak with coalescence of dentals
flee – fled – fled	Originally strong, class 2, switched to weak with vowel shortening
fling – flung – flung	By analogy with strong, class 3
fly – flew – flown outfly – outflew – outflown overfly – overflew – overflown test-fly – test-flew – test-flown	Strong, class 2. Regular when used for hitting a fly ball in baseball.
forbid – forbid/forbade/forbad – forbidden	Strong, class 5
forget – forgot/forgat – forgotten/forgot	Strong, class 5
*forlese – forlore – forlorn	Past participle remains in use adjectivally.
forsake – forsook – forsaken	Strong, class 6
freeze – froze – frozen quick-freeze – quick-froze – quick-frozen refreeze – refroze – refrozen unfreeze – unfroze – unfrozen	Strong, class 2
get – got/gat – got/gotten* beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten forget – forgot/forgat – forgotten/forgot misget – misgot/misgat – misgot/misgotten overget – overgot/overgat – overgot/overgotten underget – undergot/undergat – undergot/undergotten	Strong, class 5. Past participle is got in British usage (except in fossilized phrases such as 'ill-gotten'), and gotten in American (but see have got).
gild – gilded/gilt – gilded/gilt	Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular)
gird – girded/girt – girded/girt undergird – undergirded/undergirt – undergirded/undergirt	Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular)
give – gave – given forgive – forgave – forgiven misgive – misgave – misgiven overgive – overgave – overgiven	Strong, class 5
go – went – gone bego – bewent – begone forego – forewent – foregone* forgo – forwent – forgone overgo – overwent – overgone undergo – underwent – undergone* *withgo – withwent – withgone	Suppletive. See article on the verb go.
*grave – grove/graved – graven/graved	Strong, class 6. Past participle graven remains in use adjectivally, as in graven images in archaic language, e.g. from the 17th century. The verb engrave is regular.
grind – ground/grinded – ground/grinded/grounden*	Strong, class 3
grow – grew/growed – grown/growed outgrow – outgrew/outgrowed – outgrown/outgrowed overgrow – overgrew/overgrowed – overgrown/overgrowed regrow – regrew/regrowed – regrown/regrowed undergrow – undergrew/undergrowed – undergrown/undergrowed upgrow – upgrew/upgrowed – upgrown/upgrowed	Strong, class 7
hang – hung/hanged – hung/hanged overhang – overhung/overhanged – overhung/overhanged underhang – underhung/underhanged – underhung/underhanged uphang – uphung/uphanged – uphung/uphanged	Strong, class 7. Regularized alternative hanged was influenced by OE causativehangian, and is used chiefly for hanging as a means of execution.
have (has) – had – had	Weak; had results from contraction, from OE haefd. Third person present has also a result of contraction.
hear – heard – heard behear – beheard – beheard forehear – foreheard – foreheard mishear – misheard – misheard outhear – outheard – outheard overhear – overheard – overheard rehear – reheard – reheard unhear – unheard – unheard	Weak, originally with vowel shortening (the modern pronunciation of heard in RP has the long vowel /ɜː/)
heave – heaved/hove – heaved/hove/hoven* upheave – upheaved/uphove – upheaved/uphove/uphoven*	Strong, class 6, now usually regular except in nautical uses
help – helped/holp – helped/holpen	Originally strong, class 6, but now weak.
hew – hewed/hew – hewed/hewn* underhew – underhewed/underhew – underhewed/underhewn	Strong, class 7 (or regular)
hide – hid – hidden/hid*	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals, influenced by strong verbs
hit – hit – hit mishit – mishit – mishit overhit – overhit – overhit underhit – underhit – underhit	Weak with coalescence of dentals
hoist – hoisted/hoist – hoisted/hoist	Weak, hoist was originally the past form of the now archaic verb hoise
hold – held – held/holden* behold – beheld – beheld/beholden* inhold – inheld – inheld/inholden* mishold – misheld – misheld/misholden* uphold – upheld – upheld/upholden* withhold – withheld – withheld/withholden*	Strong, class 7
hurt – hurt – hurt	Weak with coalescence of dentals
keep – kept – kept miskeep – miskept – miskept overkeep – overkept – overkept underkeep – underkept – underkept	Weak with vowel shortening
ken – kenned/kent – kenned/kent beken – bekenned/bekent – bekenned/bekent foreken – forekenned/forekent – forekenned/forekent misken – miskenned/miskent – miskenned/miskent outken – outkenned/outkent – outkenned/outkent	Northern and Scottish dialect word. Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
kneel – knelt/kneeled – knelt/kneeled	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular)
knit – knit/knitted – knit/knitted beknit – beknit/beknitted – beknit/beknitted hand-knit – hand-knit/hand-knitted – hand-knit/hand-knitted	Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular); related to knot
know – knew – known/knowen* acknow – acknew – acknown/acknowen foreknow – foreknew – foreknown/foreknowen* misknow – misknew – misknown/misknowen*	Strong, class 7
lade – laded – laden/laded overlade – overladed – overladen/overladed	Strong, class 6, often regularized (past participle laden is common adjectivally)
laugh – laughed/laught/laugh'd/low – laughed/laught/laugh'd/laughen	Originally strong, now weak, regular, with alternative (archaic) spelling
lay – laid/layed – laid/layed belay – belaid/belayed – belaid/belayed forelay – forelaid/forelayed – forelaid/forelayed forlay – forlaid/forlayed – forlaid/forlayed inlay – inlaid/inlayed – inlaid/inlayed interlay – interlaid/interlayed – interlaid/interlayed mislay – mislaid/mislayed – mislaid/mislayed onlay – onlaid/onlayed – onlaid/onlayed outlay – outlaid/outlayed – outlaid/outlayed overlay – overlaid/overlayed – overlaid/overlayed re-lay – re-laid/re-layed – re-laid/re-layed underlay – underlaid/underlayed – underlaid/underlayed unlay – unlaid/unlayed – unlaid/unlayed uplay – uplaid/uplayed – uplaid/uplayed waylay – waylaid/waylayed – waylaid/waylayed*	Weak, irregular in spelling only
lead – led – led belead – beled – beled forthlead – forthled – forthled inlead – inled – inled mislead – misled – misled offlead – offled – offled onlead – onled – onled outlead – outled – outled overlead – overled – overled underlead – underled – underled *uplead – upled – upled	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
lean – leaned/leant – leaned/leant	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular)
leap – leaped/leapt/lept/lope – leaped/leapt/lopen* beleap – beleaped/beleapt/belept/belope – beleaped/beleapt/belopen* forthleap – forthleaped/forthleapt/forthlept/forthlope – forthleaped/forthleapt/forthlopen* outleap – outleaped/outleapt/outlept/outlope – outleaped/outleapt/outlopen* overleap – overleaped/overleapt/overlept/overlope – overleaped/overleapt/overlopen*	Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening (or regular)
learn – learned/learnt – learned/learnt mislearn – mislearned/mislearnt – mislearned/mislearnt overlearn – overlearned/overlearnt – overlearned/overlearnt relearn – relearned/relearnt – relearned/relearnt unlearn – unlearned/unlearnt – unlearned/unlearnt	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
leave – left – left/laft* beleave – beleft – beleft/belaft* forleave – forleft – forleft/forlaft overleave – overleft – overleft/overlaft*	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
lend – lent – lent *forlend – forlent – forlent	Weak with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending
let – let/leet – let/letten forlet – forlet/forleet – forlet/forletten sublet – sublet/subleet – sublet/subletten* underlet – underlet/underleet – underlet/*underletten	Strong, class 7
lie – lay – lain forelie – forelay – forelain forlie – forlay – forlain overlie – overlay – overlain underlie – underlay – underlain	Strong, class 5. Regular in the meaning 'tell an untruth'.
light – lit/lighted – lit/lighted alight – alit/alighted – alit/alighted backlight – backlit/backlighted – backlit/backlighted green-light – green-lit/green-lighted – green-lit/green-lighted relight – relit/relighted – relit/relighted	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular)
lose – lost – lost	Originally strong, class 2, now weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
make – made – made remake – remade – remade unmake – unmade – unmade	Weak; made formed by contraction from 'maked'
may – might – (none)	Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs
mean – meant – meant	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending
meet – met – met	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
melt – melted/molt – melted/molten*	Strong, class 3. Now regularized, but molten survives in adjectival uses.
mix – mixed/mixt – mixed/mixt	Weak, regular, with alternative (mostly archaic) spelling
mow – mowed – mowed/mown	Strong, class 7. Now regularized in past tense and sometimes in past participle.
must – (no other forms)	Defective; originally a preterite. See English modal verbs
need (needs/need) – needed – needed	Weak, regular except in the use of need in place of needs in some contexts, by analogy with can, must, etc.^[3] See English modal verbs
ought – (no other forms)	Defective; originally a preterite. See English modal verbs
pay – paid/payed – paid/payed overpay – overpaid/overpayed – overpaid/overpayed prepay – prepaid/prepayed – prepaid/prepayed repay – repaid/repayed – repaid/repayed underpay – underpaid/underpayed – underpaid/underpayed	Weak, irregular in spelling only. The spelling payed is used in the meaning of letting out a rope etc.
pen – penned/pent – penned/pent	Weak with devoiced ending, but usually regular; pent is sometimes used when the verb has the meaning 'to enclose', and mainly adjectivally
plead – pled/pleaded – pled/pleaded	French loanword, weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals. In North America, this verb is usually irregular.
prove – proved – proved/proven reprove – reproved – reproved/reproven	French loanword, weak, with the alternative past participle proven by analogy with some strong verbs
put – put – put/putten* input – input – input/inputten* output – output – output/outputten* underput – underput – underput/underputten	Weak with coalescence of dentals. Past participle form putten is characteristic for Yorkshire and Lancashire dialects.
queath/quethe – queathed/quethed/quoth/quod – queathed/quethed/quoth/quethen bequeath – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequod – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequethen	Strong, class 5. Past tense quoth is literary or archaic; other parts of that verb are obsolete. Bequeath is normally regularized in -ed.
quit – quit/quitted – quit/quitted	French loanword, weak, with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
reach – reached/raught/rought/retcht – reached/raught/rought/retcht	Weak, now regular (archaic raught from original conjugation like teach)
read/riːd/ – read/rɛd/ – read/rɛd/ / readen foreread – foreread – foreread/forereaden lipread – lipread – lipread/lipreaden misread – misread – misread/misreaden* proofread – proofread – proofread/proofreaden* reread – reread – reread/rereaden* sight-read – sight-read – sight-read/sight-readen*	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals
reave – reaved/reft – reaved/reft bereave – bereaved/bereft – bereaved/bereft*	Weak with vowel shortening and devoiced ending. The verb bereave is usually regular, but bereft survives as past participle, with distinct meanings.
rend – rent – rent	Weak with coalescence of dentals
rid – rid/ridded – rid/ridden/ridded	Weak with coalescence of dentals, or regular; ridden by analogy with strong verbs.
ride – rode/rid – ridden/rid outride – outrode/outrid – outridden/outrid override – overrode/overrid – overridden/overrid	Strong, class 1
ring – rang/rung – rung*	By analogy with strong, class 3. Regular when meaning 'surround', etc.
rise – rose – risen arise – arose – arisen uprise – uprose – uprisen	Strong, class 1
rive – rived/rove – rived/riven	From Old Norse, originally followed pattern of strong class 1, later regularized.^[4] Now rarely used.
run – ran – run forerun – foreran – forerun outrun – outran – outrun* overrun – overran – overrun rerun – reran – rerun underrun – underran – underrun	Strong, class 3
saw – sawed – sawed/sawn	Weak; sawn by analogy with strong verbs^[5]
say (says /sɛz/) – said – said forsay – forsaid – forsaid gainsay – gainsaid – gainsaid missay – missaid – missaid naysay – naysaid – naysaid soothsay – soothsaid – soothsaid* *withsay – withsaid – withsaid	Weak, with vowel shortening in said/sɛd/ and in the third person present says/sɛz/
see – saw – seen besee – besaw – beseen foresee – foresaw – foreseen* missee – missaw – misseen oversee – oversaw – overseen sightsee – sightsaw – sightseen undersee – undersaw – underseen	Strong, class 5
seek – sought – sought beseek – besought – besought	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
seethe – seethed/sod – seethed/sodden	Strong, class 2. Now regular, but sodden survives in some adjectival uses.
sell – sold – sold outsell – outsold – outsold oversell – oversold – oversold resell – resold – resold undersell – undersold – undersold upsell – upsold – upsold	Weak with Rückumlaut
send – sent – sent missend – missent – missent resend – resent – resent	Weak with coalescence of dentals
set – set – set/setten* beset – beset – beset/besetten* handset – handset – handset/handsetten* inset – inset – inset/insetten* misset – misset – misset/missetten* offset – offset – offset/offsetten* overset – overset – overset/oversetten* preset – preset – preset/presetten* reset – reset – reset/resetten* upset – upset – upset/upsetten* withset – withset – withset/withsetten	Weak with coalescence of dentals
sew – sewed – sewn/sewed/sewen* handsew – handsewed – handsewn/handsewed/handsewen* oversew – oversewed – oversewn/oversewed/oversewen*	Weak; sewn by analogy with strong verbs
shake – shook – shaken overshake – overshook – overshaken	Strong, class 6
shall – should – (none)	Preterite-present; defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will
shape – shaped/shope – shaped/shapen forshape – forshaped/forshope – forshaped/forshapen misshape – misshaped/misshope – misshaped/misshapen*	Originally strong, class 6, now regular, but with misshapen (and archaically shapen) still used adjectivally
shave – shaved/shove – shaved/shaven*	Strong, class 6, now regular, but shaven sometimes used adjectivally
shear – sheared/shore – shorn/sheared	Strong, class 4 (or regular)
shed – shed – shed	Strong, class 7
shine – shone/shined – shone/shined beshine – beshone/beshined – beshone/beshined outshine – beshone/beshined – beshone/beshined* overshine – beshone/beshined – beshone/beshined	Strong, class 1
shit – shit/shitted/shat – shit/shitted/shat/shitten* shite – shited/shit – shited/shit	Strong, class 1. The form shite is chiefly Scottish and Irish.
shoe – shod/shoed – shodden/shod/shoed reshoe – reshod/reshoed – reshodden/reshod/reshoed	Weak with vowel shortening (or regular); shodden by analogy with strong verbs
shoot – shot – shot/shotten* misshoot – misshot – misshot/misshotten* overshoot – overshot – overshot/overshotten* reshoot – reshot – reshot/reshotten* undershoot – undershot – undershot/undershotten*	Strong, class 2
show – showed/shew – shown/showed/shewed foreshow – foreshowed/foreshew – foreshown/foreshowed/foreshewed reshow – reshowed/reshew – reshown/reshowed/reshewed	Weak, with participle shown perhaps by analogy with sown (from sow)
shrink – shrank/shrunk – shrunk/shrunken overshrink – overshrank/overshrunk – overshrunk/overshrunken	Strong, class 3; shrunken is mostly used adjectivally
shrive – shrived/shrove – shrived/*shriven	Strong, class 1
shut – shut – shut reshut – reshut – reshut	Weak with coalescence of dentals
sing – sang – sung/sungen* resing – resang – resung/resungen*	Strong, class 3
sink – sank/sunk – sunk/sunken	Strong, class 3. The form sunken appears in some adjectival uses.
sit – sat/sate – sat/sitten babysit – babysat/babysate – babysat/babysitten housesit – housesat/housesate – housesat/housesitten resit – resat/resate – resat/resitten withsit – withsat/withsate – withsat/*withsitten	Strong, class 5
slay – slew/slayed – slain/slayed	Strong, class 6 (or regular)
sleep – slept – slept oversleep – overslept – overslept undersleep – underslept – underslept	Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening
slide – slid – slid/slidden backslide – backslid – backslid/backslidden overslide – overslid – overslid/overslidden	Strong, class 1
sling – slung/slang – slung*	Strong, class 3
slink – slunk/slinked/slank – slunk/slinked/slank	Strong, class 3
slip – slipped/slipt – slipped/slipt overslip – overslipped/overslipt – overslipped/*overslipt	Regular, with alternative (archaic) spelling
slit – slit – slit/slitten	Strong, class 1
smell – smelled/smelt – smelled/smelt	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
smite – smote/smit – smitten/smitted*	Strong, class 1. Largely archaic; smitten is quite commonly used adjectivally.
sneak – sneaked/snuck – sneaked/snuck/snucked*	Weak, alternative form snuck (chiefly American) by analogy with strong verbs
sow – sowed/sew – sown/sowed*	Strong, class 7, with regularized past tense sowed
speak – spoke/spake – spoken/spoke bespeak – bespoke/bespake – bespoken/bespoke forespeak – forespoke/forespake – forespoken/forespoke forspeak – forspoke/forspake – forspoken/forspoke misspeak – misspoke/misspake – misspoken/misspoke	Strong, class 5
speed – sped/speeded – sped/speeded	Weak with vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular)
spell – spelled/spelt – spelled/spelt misspell – misspelled/misspelt – misspelled/misspelt	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
spend – spent – spent forspend – forspent – forspent misspend – misspent – misspent* outspend – outspent – outspent overspend – overspent – overspent	Weak with coalescence of dentals
spill – spilled/spilt – spilled/spilt overspill – overspilled/overspilt – overspilled/overspilt	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
spin – spun/span – spun* outspin – outspun/outspan – outspun*	Strong, class 3
spit – spat/spit – spat/spit	Weak with coalescence of dentals (for past form spit, which is common in America), or spat by analogy with strong verbs. (In the meaning of roast on a spit, the verb is regular.)
split – split – split	Weak with coalescence of dentals
spoil – spoiled/spoilt – spoiled/spoilt	Weak with devoiced ending (or regular)
spread – spread/spreaded – spread/spreaded bespread – bespread/bespreaded – bespread/bespreaded forspread – forspread – forspread outspread – outspread – outspread overspread – overspread – overspread underspread – underspread – underspread	Weak with coalescence of dentals
spring – sprang/sprung – sprung/sprang* handspring – handsprang/handsprung – handsprung/handsprang*	Strong, class 3
stand – stood – stood/standen* forstand – forstood – forstood/forstanden* misunderstand – misunderstood – misunderstood/misunderstanden* overstand – overstood – overstood/overstanden* understand – understood – understood/understanden* upstand – upstood – upstood/upstanden* withstand – withstood – withstood/withstanden*	Strong, class 6
starve – starved/starf/storve – starved/storven*	Strong, class 3
stave – stove/staved – stove/staved/stoven*	Originally weak; irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs.^[6]
stay – stayed/staid – stayed/staid	Regular, with alternative spelling staid (now limited to certain adjectival uses)
steal – stole – stolen	Strong, class 4
stick – stuck/sticked – stuck/sticked	Originally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verbs
sting – stung/stang – stung*	Strong, class 3
stink – stank/stunk – stunk	Strong, class 3
stretch – stretched/straught/straight – stretched/straught/straight	Weak, now regular; obsolete past form straught as with teach–taught
strew – strewed – strewn/strewed bestrew – bestrewed – bestrewn/bestrewed overstrew – overstrewed – overstrewn/overstrewed	Originally weak, irregular forms by analogy with strong verbs
stride – strode/strided – stridden/strode/strid/stridded bestride – bestrode/bestrided – bestridden/bestrode/bestrid/bestridded outstride – outstrode/outstrided – outstridden/outstrode/outstrid/outstridded overstride – overstrode/overstrided – overstridden/overstrode/overstrid/overstridded	Strong, class 1
strike – struck – struck/stricken overstrike – overstruck – overstruck/overstricken	Strong, class 1. The form stricken is limited to certain adjectival and specialist uses.
string – strung/stringed – strung/stringed hamstring – hamstrung/hamstringed – hamstrung/hamstringed overstring – overstrung/overstringed – overstrung/overstringed	Originally weak, irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs
strip – stripped/stript – stripped/stript
strive – strove/strived – striven/strived outstrive – outstrove – outstriven overstrive – overstrove – overstriven	Strong, class 1 (or regularized)
swear – swore – sworn forswear – forswore – forsworn outswear – outswore – outsworn	Strong, class 6
sweat – sweated/sweat – sweated/sweat	Weak, usually regular, possible past form sweat with coalescence of dentals
sweep – swept/sweeped – swept/sweeped upsweep – upswept/upsweeped – upswept/upsweeped	Weak with vowel shortening
swell – swelled/swole/swelt – swollen/swelled upswell – upswelled/upswole/upswelt – upswollen/upswelled	Strong, class 3, with regularized forms
swelt – swelted/swolt – swelted/*swolten	Strong, class 3 (or regularized). Archaic
swim – swam/swum – swum* outswim – outswam/outswum – outswum*	Strong, class 3
swing – swang/swung – swung/swungen* overswing – overswang/overswung – overswung/overswungen*	Strong, class 3
swink – swank/swonk/swinkt/swinked – swunk/swunken/swonken/swinkt/swinked forswink – forswank/forswonk – forswunk/forswunken *toswink – toswank – toswunk/toswunken	Strong, class 3
take – took/taked – taken* betake – betook/betaked – betaken* intake – intook/intaked – intaken* mistake – mistook/mistaked – mistaken* overtake – overtook/overtaked – overtaken* partake – partook/partaked – partaken* retake – retook/retaked – retaken* undertake – undertook/undertaked – undertaken* uptake – uptook/uptaked – uptaken *withtake – withtook – withtaken	Strong, class 6
teach – taught/teached – taught/teached	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
tear – tore – torn uptear – uptore – uptorn	Strong, class 4
tee – teed/tow – teed/town betee – beteed/betow – beteed/betown* fortee – forteed/fortow – forteed/fortown
tell – told/telled – told/telled foretell – foretold/foretelled – foretold/foretelled forthtell – forthtold – forthtold mistell – mistold – mistold outtell – outtold/outtelled – outtold/outtelled retell – retold/retelled – retold/retelled*	Weak with Rückumlaut; related to tale
think – thought/thinked – thought/thinked outthink – outthought/outthinked – outthought/outthinked rethink – rethought/rethinked – rethought/rethinked	Weak with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law
thrive – throve/thrived/thrave – thriven/thrived*	Of Old Norse origin; followed strong class 1 (now archaic) or weak (regular) pattern^[7]
throw – threw/throwed – thrown/throwed misthrow – misthrew/misthrowed – misthrown/misthrowed outthrow – outthrew/outthrowed – outthrown/outthrowed overthrow – overthrew/overthrowed – overthrown/overthrowed underthrow – underthrew/underthrowed – underthrown/underthrowed upthrow – upthrew/upthrowed – upthrown/upthrowed	Strong, class 7
thrust – thrust/thrusted – thrust/thrusted outthrust – outthrust/outthrusted – outthrust/outthrusted	Weak, with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
tread – trod/tread/treaded/trodden – trodden/trod/tread/treaded* retread – retrod/retread/retreaded/retrodden – retrodden/retrod/retread/retreaded*	Strong, class 5 (or regularized)
vex – vexed/vext – vexed/vext
wake – woke/waked – woken/waked awake – awoke/awaked – awoken/awaked	Strong, class 6
wax – waxed/wex – waxed/waxen	Strong, class 7, now regularized
wear – weared/wore – weared/worn forwear – forweared/forwore – forweared/forworn outwear – outweared/outwore – outweared/outworn* overwear – overweared/overwore – overweared/overworn	Originally weak, fell into a strong pattern by analogy with bear
weave – wove – woven interweave – interwove – interwoven *unweave – unwove – unwoven	Strong, class 7
wed – wed/wedded – wed/wedded miswed – miswed/miswedded – miswed/miswedded rewed – rewed/rewedded – rewed/rewedded	Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
weep – wept/weeped – wept/weeped *beweep – bewept/beweeped – bewept/beweeped	Originally strong, class 7, now weak with vowel shortening
wend – wended/went – wended/went	Weak, once with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending, but now regular; went is used as the past of go
wet – wet/wetted – wet/wetted overwet – overwet/overwetted – overwet/overwetted	Weak with coalescence of dentals (or regular)
will – would – (none)	Preterite-present, defective. See English modal verbs, and shall and will. (In non-auxiliary uses the verb is regular.)
win – won – won	Strong, class 3
wind – wound – wound rewind – rewound – rewound unwind – unwound – unwound	Strong, class 3. (The identically spelt verb wind/wɪnd/, with meanings connected with air flow and breathlessness, is regular.)
work – worked/wrought – worked/wrought overwork – overworked/overwrought – overworked/overwrought	Weak, now regular, formerly with Rückumlaut and metathesis of r and o
*worth – worth/worthed – worth/worthed/worthen	Strong, class 3, or regularized
wreak – wreaked/wrought/wrack/wroke – wreaked/wrought/wreaken/wroken	Weak, usually regular; wrought (which is in fact from work) has come sometimes to be identified with this verb (perhaps by analogy with seek–sought). Other forms by analogy with strong verbs.
wring – wrang/wrung/wringed – wrung/wringed	Strong, class 3
write – wrote/writ – written/writ cowrite – cowrote/writ – cowritten* ghostwrite – ghostwrote/ghostwrit – ghostwritten/ghostwrit handwrite – handwrote/handwrit – handwritten/handwrit miswrite – miswrote/miswrit – miswritten/miswrit overwrite – overwrote/overwrit – overwritten/overwrit rewrite – rewrote/rewrit – rewritten/rewrit underwrite – underwrote/underwrit – underwritten/underwrit	Strong, class 1
writhe – writhed/wrothe – writhed/writhen	Strong, class 1, now regularized
zinc – zinced/zinked/zincked – zinced/zinked/zincked

Present tense irregular verbs[edit]

Though the list of verbs irregular in the preterite or past participle is long, the list of irregular present tense verbs is very short. Excepting modal verbs like 'shall', 'will', and 'can' that do not inflect at all in the present tense, there are only four (only two if pronunciation is ignored):

be: I am, thou art, you are, he is, we are, they are.
do (and compounds such as 'undo' and 'redo'): I do, you do, he does, we do, they do where 'does' is pronounced /ˈdʌz/ in contrast to /ˈduː/, the pronunciation of the infinitive and the other present tense forms.
have: I have, you have, he has, we have, they have.
say (and compounds such as 'gainsay' and 'naysay'): I say, you say, he says, we say, they say where 'says' has the standard pronunciation /sɛz/ (in contrast to the /seɪ/ used for the infinitive and other present tense forms).

References[edit]

^Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for 'clothe' and 'clad'.
^The strong-type past form dug arose as a past participle in the 16th century, by analogy with stuck, and was used as a past tense from the 18th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'dig'.
^The use of need for needs, which has become the norm in contexts where the verb is used analogously to the modal verbs, became common in the 16th century. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'need' (verb).
^Regularized (weak-type) forms of this verb are found from the 16th century onward. There is also an obsolete verb rive meaning arrive, for which weak-type forms are attested earlier. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entries for 'rive'.
^Strong-type past forms of this verb were sometimes used in the 15th century; the past participle sawn is a survival of this. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'saw'.
^The forms stove and stoven are found from the 18th century onward. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'stave'.
^The strong-type past forms leading to thrave (Northern) and throve are attested from the 13th and 14th centuries onward, and weak forms (leading to thrived) from the 14th. See Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, entry for 'thrive'.

External links[edit]

Complete List of 638 English Irregular Verbs with their forms in different tenses.
Mind Our English: Strong and weak by Ralph Berry
English Irregular Verb List A comprehensive list of English irregular verbs, including their base form, past simple, past participle, 3rd person singular, and the present participle / gerund.
TheIrregularVerbs All the irregular verbs of the English language. Conjugation, pronunciation, translation and examples.
verbbusters Searchable reference of English irregular verbs and cognates, with audio.

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_English_irregular_verbs&oldid=891096153'

The tense of a verb tells you when a person did something or when something existed or happened. In English, there are three main tenses: the present, the past, and the future.

The present

The present tense (e.g. I am, she works, we swim, they believe) is also called the present simple or simple present. It's mainly used in the following ways:

to describe things that are currently happening or that are currently or always the case (I love chocolate ice cream; my parents are in New York this week; he has fair hair and blue eyes; some birds eat worms and insects).

to talk about something that exists or happens regularly (she goes out every Saturday night; it always rains here in winter; I start work at 7.30 a.m.).

to refer to a future situation in certain cases and in some subordinate clauses (the bus arrives in London at 6 p.m.; I'll make us some coffee when we get home).

Find out how to form the present simple tense.

The past

The past tense (e.g. I was, he talked, we had, they worked) is also called the past simple or simple past. As its description implies, it’s used to talk about things or situations which happened in the past, that is, before the present time of speaking. Its main uses are as follows:

to refer to an event or situation which happened once and is now finished (I met Lisa yesterday; we ate a huge breakfast this morning; they walked ten miles that day; you told me that before).

to describe a situation that lasted for a longer time in the past but is now finished (he went to college for four years; my family lived in Oxford in the 1980s; I loved her for ages but never told her).

to talk about an event that happened regularly or repeatedly but is now over (she called for help over and over again; we ate out every night last week; I phoned him three times today).

Find out how to form the past simple tense.

The future

The future tense (e.g. I shall [or will] go; he will talk; we shall [or will] have; they will work) is used to refer to things that haven’t yet happened at the present time of speaking, but which are due, expected, or likely to occur in the future. Here are the main situations in which the future is used:

to give or ask for information about the future (you will be in California tomorrow; how long will the journey take?; OK, I’ll write that report on Thursday).

to talk about things that we think are likely or possible to happen in the future, but which aren’t completely certain (I think she’ll retire soon; he won’t [will not] stay married to her for long; you’ll never lose weight, you like food too much).

to refer to conditional situations, namely things that will or may happen if something else occurs (if it’s hot I’ll go swimming later; you’ll get stressed out if you work all the time).

to make promises or threats, or to state decisions at the time of speaking (Fine,I’llcall you soon; Are you going into town? We’ll give you a lift; I’ll never speak to you again).

The future tense is formed with will (or shall) and the infinitive of the verb without ‘to’. Learn more about when to use will or shall.

Continuous and perfect tenses

There are two further types of tense: the continuous and the perfect. These tenses are sometimes referred to as aspects rather than tenses. The term aspect is used in grammar to talk about the form of a verb that shows, for example, whether the action happens once or repeatedly, is completed or still continuing.

Continuous

These tenses (also called progressive tenses) are used to talk about actions that continue for a period of time. They are formed with the relevant tense of the auxiliary verbto be and the present participle of the main verb. There are three main continuous tenses:

the present continuous (I am working)

the past continuous (I was working)

the future continuous (I will be working)

Perfect

Perfect tenses are typically used to talk about actions that are completed by the present or a particular point in the past or future. They are formed with the relevant tense of the auxiliary verb to have and the past participle of the main verb. There are three main perfect tenses:

12 Tenses With Examples

the present perfect (I have worked)

the past perfect (I had worked)

the future perfect (I will have worked)

Perfect continuous

There is a final set of tenses which combine features of the perfect and continuous tenses. They are formed and used as follows:

the present perfect continuous (I have been working): used to talk about how long something has continued up till now (I have been working there for a week)

the past perfect continuous (I had been working): used to talk about something which continued up to a particular moment in the past but is now completed (I had been working there for a week before I resigned)

the future perfect continuous (I will have been working): used to talk about something which is expected to end by a particular time in the future (By December, I will have been working there for 6 months)