There are two types of verbs regular and irregular verbs
Regular Verbs:
Regular verbs are verbs that follow the standard pattern of conjugation in the past tense or past participle by adding ed.
For example :
| Present | Past | Past participle |
| Arrive | Arrived | Arrived |
| Paint | Painted | Painted |
| Walk | Walked | Walked |
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the standard pattern of conjugation in the past tense or past participle. They form their past tense and past participle in a different way from adding “ed”,Unlike regular verbs, which form the past tense by adding “-ed” (e.g., “arrive” becomes “arrived”), irregular verbs have unique forms that must be learnt.
| Present | Past | Past Participle |
| Sit | Sat | Sat |
| Come | Came | Come |
| Cut | Cut | Cut |
Types of irregular Verbs:
We distinguish three types of irregular verbs:
Categories of Irregular Verbs:
- Verbs with the same form in the present, past, and past participle:
| Present | Past | Past Participle |
| Read | Read | Read |
| Set | Set | Set |
| Cost | Cost | Cost |
| Spread | Spread | Spread |
| Shut | Shut | Shut |
| Cut | Cut | Cut |
| Hit | Hit | Hit |
- Verbs in which two forms are same
| Present | Past | Past Participle |
| Beat | Beat | Beaten |
| Become | Became | Become |
| Build | Built | Built |
| Burn | Burnt | Burnt |
| Bring | Brought | Brought |
| Send | Sent | Sent |
| Sweap | Swept | Swept |
| Win | Won | Won |
| Teach | Taught | Taught |
| Tell | Told | Told |
- Verbs with all three forms are different:
| Present | Past | Past Participle |
| Begin | Began | Begun |
| Grow | Grew | Grown |
| Throw | Threw | Thrown |
| Write | Wrote | Written |
| Wake | Woke | Woken |
| Fly | Flew | Flown |
| Do | Did | Done |
| Forgive | Forgave | Forgiven |
| Drink | Drank | Drunk |
| See | Saw | Seen |
- Completely irregular verbs:
- Examples: “go” (go, went, gone), “see” (see, saw, seen), “take” (take, took, taken)
- “I saw him at the park.” (past)
- “She has taken the test.” (past participle)
- Examples: “go” (go, went, gone), “see” (see, saw, seen), “take” (take, took, taken)
Why It’s Important to Learn Irregular Verbs:
Learning irregular verbs is vital because they are used frequently in English. Regular verbs follow a expected pattern, but irregular verbs don’t, so understanding their forms helps with correct usage in both speaking and writing. Without knowing irregular verbs, it would be difficult to express actions correctly in the past or perfect tenses