The most common English irregular verbs
Be, go, have, do... the most-used English irregular verbs, with all three forms, so you never hesitate in the past tense.
The most common irregular verbs
| Base | Past simple | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| be | was/were | been |
| have | had | had |
| do | did | done |
| say | said | said |
| go | went | gone |
| get | got | got/gotten |
| make | made | made |
| know | knew | known |
| think | thought | thought |
| see | saw | seen |
| come | came | come |
| take | took | taken |
| give | gave | given |
| find | found | found |
| tell | told | told |
| feel | felt | felt |
| become | became | become |
| leave | left | left |
| put | put | put |
| bring | brought | brought |
Some verbs have all three forms identical (put, put, put) or the same base and past simple (cut, hit) — spotting these "zero-change verbs" lightens the memorisation load.
Groups of verbs that follow a pattern
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| -ing → -ang → -ung | sing/sang/sung, ring/rang/rung |
| -ow → -ew → -own | know/knew/known, grow/grew/grown |
| Identical across all 3 forms | put, cut, hit, cost, let |
Why "gotten" in American English but not British
British English uses "got" as the past participle of "get"; American English kept "gotten" (an older form that disappeared in Britain but survived in the US) — both are correct within their own variant.
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