English Irregular Verbs Groups

group 1: ell turns to old group 2: the verbs have and

sell sold sold make
tell told told have/has had had
make made made

group 3: regular (V2, V3) in US group 4: vowel change with

English, irregular in UK English ought (or *aught) ending d or t
bring brought brought
learn learned \ learnt learned \ learnt
buy bought bought
burn burned \ burnt burned \ burnt
fight fought fought
dwell dwelled \ dwelt dwelled \ dwelt
seek sought sought
smell smelled \ smelt smelled \ smelt
think thought thought
spell spelled \ spelt spelled \ spelt
*catch caught caught
spill spilled \ spilt spilled \ spilt
*teach taught taught
spoil spoiled \ spoilt spoiled \ spoilt

group 5: vowel change , d or t group 6: different pronunciation

creep crept crept of the same vowel d or t ending
feed fed fed deal dealt dealt
feel felt felt dream dreamed/dreamt dreamed/ dreamt
keep kept kept lean leaned/leant leaned/leant
kneel knelt \ kneeled knelt \ kneeled leap leapt leapt
meet met met mean meant meant
sleep slept slept read read (/red/) read (/red/)
sweep swept swept hear heard heard
weep wept wept
*leave left left
group 7: vowel change, V1=V3
come came come
group 8: ay ending changes to aid
become became become lay laid laid
pay paid paid
run ran run
say *said(/sed/) *said(/sed/)

Irregular Verbs DICAF

Groups English Group
group 9: Verbs that do not group 10: The following verbs:
change d or t ending *bite bit *bitten
bet bet bet *hide hid *hidden
bid (to offer) bid bid eat ate eaten
broadcast broadcast/broadcasted broadcast/broadcasted give gave given
burst burst burst forgive forgave forgiven
cost cost cost forbid * forbad(e) forbidden
cut cut cut * bid bade *bidden
fit fit fitted (to command, farewell)
hit hit hit * forget forgot *forgotten
hurt hurt hurt get got *gotten(AmE)/got(BrE)
let let let shake shook shaken
put put put take took taken
set set set see saw seen
shut shut shut beat beat beaten
spread spread spread fall fell fallen
quit quit quit lie lay lain
(down to rest)

group 11: the ear-ore- orn group 12: the ow- ew-own
bear bore born blow blew blown
swear swore sworn grow grew grown
tear tore torn know knew known
wear wore worn throw threw thrown
fly flew flown
draw drew *drawn

group 13: vowel change pattern, group 14: Vowel change, o ending
no ending with en
break broke broken
dig dug dug
choose chose chosen
stick stuck stuck
freeze froze frozen
spin spun spun
speak spoke spoken
sting stung stung
steal stole stolen
Irregular Verbs DICAF
Groups English Group
strike struck struck awake awoke/awaked awoken/ awaked
swing swung swung wake woke \ waked woken \ waked
*hang(a man) hanged hanged weave wove woven
*hang(a picture)hung hung
slide slid slid
light lighted \ lit lighted \ lit
shoot shot shot

group 15: past-regular; regular or group 16: vowel change i - a - u

irregular-past participle begin began begun
show showed showed \ shown drink drank drunk
sow sowed sowed \ sown ring rang rung
mow mowed mowed \ mown shrink shrank shrunk
swell swelled swelled \ swollen sing sang sung
sew sewed sewed \ sewn sink sank sunk
*shine(shoes) shined shined spin span/spun spun
*shine(brightly) shone shone spring sprang sprung
swim swam swum

group 17: vowel change i - ou -ou group 18: vowel change ee - e -e

bind bound bound bleed bled bled
find found found feed fed fed
grind ground ground flee fled fled
wind wound wound *lead led led
*speed speeded/sped speeded/sped

group 19: Vowel change, o to i group 20: d to t, ent to end

arise arose arisen
bend bent bent
rise rose risen
build built built
*ride rode *ridden
lend lent lent
drive drove driven
send sent sent
*write wrote *written
spend spent spent

Irregular Verbs DICAF

Groups English Group
Pay attention!

Do not confuse lie (tell a lie, regular), lie (down to rest, irregular), and lay (the table,
irregular).

*lie (tell a lie) lied lied (regular)

lie (down to rest) lay lain (irregular)
lay (the table, eggs) laid laid (irregular)

group 21: miscellaneous

am/is/are was/were been
go went gone
*dive(jumped head first)dove dived
*dive(scuba-diving) dived dived
do did done
hold held held
stand stood stood
understand understood understood
sit sat sat
babysit babysat babysat
win won won
lose lost lost

Irregular Verbs DICAF

Groups English Group