Regular and Irregular Verbs

Introduction

In English, the verbs can be either regular or irregular. Indeed, the majority of English verbs follow the same way of conjugation in the past simple tense and the past participle; these kinds of verbs are called 'regular verbs'. On the other hand, there are some other verbs that don't submit to the same pattern when they are conjugated to both the past simple tense and the past participle; these verbs are called 'irregular verbs'.

Example

1. She helped her youngest brother to do his assignment.
2. Yesterday, Alex called his father.

In these examples, the regular verbs 'help' and 'call' follow the same pattern to create the past simple form.

1. Anna has worked seriously to achieve her objectives as a professional athlete.
2. Sophia was excited to reach the highest peak of that mountain.

In these examples, the regular verbs 'work' and 'excite' follow the same way to create the past participle form.

1. She hurt herself.
2. Emma drove her new car.

In these examples, the irregular verbs 'hurt' and 'drive' don't follow the same manner to create the past simple form.

1. He has written a letter to his father.
2. The letter was sent to him.

In these examples, the irregular verbs 'write' and 'send' follow different patterns to form the past participle form.

Regular verbs

In English, regular verbs submit to a single rule to create both the past simple form and the past participle form by adding the suffix '-ed' to the base form of verbs.

Example

Regular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle from
add kiss talk ask allow	added Kissed talked asked allowed	added Kissed talked asked allowed

Sometimes, we carry out some changes for the base form of the regular verbs before adding the suffix '-ed'. For instance:

• If a regular verb ends in 'e', we only add '-d' to the end of the verb.

Example

Regular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle from
agree arrive advise bake move	agreed arrived advised baked moved	agreed arrived advised baked moved

• If a regular verb ends in a consonant + 'y', we change the 'y' to 'i' before adding the suffix '-ed'.

Example

Regular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle from
study marry empty worry try	studied married emptied worried tried	studied married emptied worried tried

• If a regular verb ends in a short vowel + a consonant, we double the consonant before adding the suffix '-ed'.

Example

Regular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle from
travel stop beg skip drop	travelled stopped begged skipped dropped	travelled stopped begged skipped dropped

Note:

Short vowels indicate vowel sounds that we pronounce in a short form.

• If a regular verb ends in 'ic', we first add 'k' before adding the suffix'-ed'.

Example

Regular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle from
mimic picnic physic panic traffic	mimicked picnicked physicked panicked trafficked	mimicked picnicked physicked panicked trafficked

Irregular verbs

In English, irregular verbs, however, have  different ways to create their past simple form as well as their past participle form. Hence, to memorize how they are conjugated to both past simple tense and past participle, it is useful to classify them in different particular groups including: 

• Irregular verbs whose base form, past simple form, and past participle form are similar

Example

Irregular verbs
Base from	Past simple form	Past participle form
bet hurt let cut shut	bet hurt let cut shut	bet hurt let cut shut

• Irregular verbs whose base form, past simple form, and past participle form are different.

Example

Irregular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle form
swear begin drive ride choose	swore began  drove rode chose	sworn begun driven ridden chosen

• Irregular verbs whose past simple form and past participle form are similar

Example

Irregular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle form
build leave keep burn dig	built left kept burnt dug	built  left kept burnt dug

• Irregular verbs whose base form and past participle form are similar

Example

Irregular verbs
Base form	Past simple form	Past participle form
come run become	came ran became	come run become

Exercises

Exercise (1)

What do we mean by regular verbs?

1. The verbs that follow a same pattern to create their past simple and past participle forms
2. The verbs that follow different ways to create their past simple and past participle forms

To form the past and the participle forms of a regular verb we add:

1. (-es) to the base form of the verb
2. (-s) to the base form of the verb
3. (-ed) to the base form of the verb
4. None of the above

Identify regular and irregular verbs among the following:

• fight, play, have, hold, know, visit, forgive, write, walk, eat

Exercise (2

Identify the past simple and the past participle forms of the following verbs:

• wear, slay, ring, tell, fit, hug, rely, dance, win

Answer key

Exercise (1)

1

3

regular verbs: play, visit, walk

irregular verbs: fight, have, hold, know, forgive, write, eat

Exercise (2)

Base form	Past simple form	Past participle form
wear slay ring tell fit hug rely dance win	wore slew rang told fitted hugged relied danced won	worn slain rung told fitted hugged relied danced won