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Do NOT say -ed with these irregular verbs! They’re tough to get right but I’ll help you master them. It will help you sound more natural and smooth when you’re speaking English—and that’s my #1 goal!
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I beginned my work day at 8:00.
Beginned is not a word. Past tense in English, add ED. That’s the pattern. But what about when it’s not? English is full of irregular verbs each with their own way of forming the past tense, and you just have to memorize them. And a lot of them are some of the most common words in English. And some of them get pretty funky, like this word: present tense, read, [ɹid] simple past: read [ɹɛd], the spelling doesn’t change but the pronunciation does. And now it sounds just like the color red. Today we’ll cover over more than 90 of the most common irregular verbs in English, and you’ll understand not just the spelling but the pronunciation too. You’re going to need to know this, so stick with us.
The first one you probably know, but do you have the pronunciation down pat? The phrase ‘to have something down pat’ means to have something memorized perfectly.
Present tense, base form, be. Simple past, was or were. Past participle, been. Did you hear that? Been. This is the only word in American English that I know of where ‘ee’ makes the IH vowel. You see this and you see this and you think, “be”, “been”. “Been” is a pronunciation in British English, but not American English. We’re ‘bin’ or ‘Ben’. We do have the word ‘bean’ in American English and it’s spelled ea and it’s this.
Coffee bean, or black bean or pinto bean. But this word, bin. Bin is a word B-I-N, like a bin for storage or trash and remember how I said you can also pronounce this word as ‘Ben’? That’s also a word in American English, a name, usually short for ‘Benjamin’, like my friend Ben who has been in a couple of my videos here on my channel.
Base form, present tense – be
I want you to be there.
Simple past – was or were
I was there. We were there.
Past participle – been
I’ve been there.
Be. was/were. been.
Bear – the noun is the animal. The verb has a bunch of different meanings, like to carry the weight of or to take responsibility for.
Base form, present tense – bear
They have to bear so much stress.
Simple past – bore
They bore so much stress.
Past participle – born
They have born so much stress.
Bear. bore. born.
Beat
We’re gonna beat them.
beat
We beat them last year. – same spelling, same pronunciation for simple past.
beaten
We’ve always beaten them.
Beat. beat. beaten. Notice with ‘beaten’, the T is a stop T. You don’t hear tttt the release, that’s because it’s part of the pattern T-schwa-N, so it’s a stop T. You’ll hear that later in this video as well, like with the word ‘bitten’.
become
This caterpillar can become a butterfly.
became
The caterpillar became a butterfly.
become
The caterpillar hasn’t become a butterfly yet.
Now it’s the past participle that has the same spelling and same pronunciation as the base form present tense
Become. Became. become.
begin
Every January, I begin a new exercise program.
began
I began my exercise program last week.
begun
I’ve already begun my exercise program, and it’s going great.
Begin. began. begun.
bet
I bet you $20 your team loses.
bet
We each bet $20, and I lost.
bet
She’s never bet more than $20 on a game.
Wait? Okay all of those are the same spelling and the same pronunciation.
Bet. bet. bet.
bite
Mosquitos bite me all summer long.
bit
A mosquito bit me just now.
bitten
I’ve been bitten several times.
Bite. Bit. Bitten.
Oh hey, before we jump to number 8, I want to thank the people here on YouTube who support my channel through the membership. Just click the join button to find out how you can support my channel and get perks like audio lessons and private posts.
bleed
If you bleed, apply pressure to stop it.
bled
My finger bled a little bit when I cut it while chopping carrots.
bled
My finger hadn’t bled long before it stopped.
Bleed. bled. bled.
blow
Let’s blow off class and go see a movie.
blew
We blew off class Friday and went to see a movie.
blown
I’ve never blown off class before today.
Blow. blew. blown.
Notice this word “blue”. It’s a homophone with a color. Blue. They sound exactly the same.
break
She doesn’t want to be the one to break the bad news.
broke
She broke the bad news, and it made us all sad.
broken
She hasn’t broken the bad news yet.
Break. Broke. Broken.
bring
Can you bring a dessert?
brought
You all brought desserts?
brought
We’ve brought desserts to the office party every year.
Bring. Brought, brought
build
The kids always build Lego towers at preschool.
built
The kids built a Lego tower again today.
built
The kids have never built a Lego tower at home.
Build, built, built
buy
There are several items in my Amazon wish list that I’d like to buy.
bought
I bought two things from my wish list today.
bought
I have no idea how much I’ve bought on Amazon over the past 12 months.
Buy. Bought, bought.
catch
I don’t want to catch a cold.
caught
I caught a cold.
caught
I’ve already caught 3 colds this winter.
Catch. Caught, caught
choose
You typically choose tea over coffee, right?
chose
You chose tea instead of coffee this morning, right?
chosen
You’ve rarely chosen coffee if tea is available.
Choose. Chose, chosen
come
Come over after work.
came
She came over after work.
come
Have you come over since starting the new job?
Come. came, come.
cost
You cost this company a lot of money with your mistakes.
cost
Last year you cost this company a lot of money with your mistakes.
cost
You have cost this company so much money over the last five years.
All the same: Cost. Cost, cost
cut
We’re going to cut that clip out of the video.
cut
We cut that clip out before finalizing the video.
cut
We’ve always cut out clips when the camera goes out of focus.
Again, all three the same. Cut. cut, cut.
do
I do that all day.
did
I did that yesterday.
done
I’ve done that for years.
Do. did, done.
dive
Let’s dive right in.
Dove – now, here I should say that ‘dived’ is also acceptable, but ‘dove’ is more common in American English and ‘dived’ is more common in British English.
So, dove, “We dove right in.”
Dived
We’ve never dived there; the water is too shallow.
Dive. Dove, dived.
draw
Draw a picture for me.
drew
You drew a picture for me.
drawn
You’ve drawn so many pictures.
Draw. Drew, drawn.
drink
First thing every morning, I drink a glass of water.
drank
I drank a glass of water before I ate breakfast.
drunk
By the end of the day, I’ve usually drunk 6 glasses of water.
Now drunk, as an adjective, means had too much alcohol to drink, you’re in an altered state, you should not drive, you’re drunk.
Drink. Drank, drunk.
drive
I don’t have to drive much for my job.
drove
For my previous job, I drove 30 minutes one-way every day.
driven
This year, I’ve only driven about 2,000 miles in this car.
Drive. Drove, driven.
eat
I try to eat protein at every meal.
ate
Yesterday, I ate about 30 grams of protein.
eaten
Before this year, I had never regularly eaten protein for breakfast.
Eat. ate, eaten.
fall
Don’t let me fall.
fell
She fell on the ice.
fallen
She has fallen several times today.
Fall. Fell, fallen.
feed
Let’s feed the dog before we go.
fed
I fed him last night.
fed
We’ve already fed him today
Feed. fed. Fed.
feel
You look like you feel better.
felt
You felt horrible yesterday.
felt
You’ve never felt so bad, have you? Also, felt is also a material, kind of textured. Actually, I coaster is made of felt.
Felt
Feel. Felt, felt.
fight
Siblings fight.
fought
I fought with my sisters as a kid.
fought
I haven’t fought with my sisters since we were kids.
Fight, fought, fought
find
Let’s find your sunglasses.
found
His wife found them under the seat.
found
She’s found a lot of interesting things under the car seat since having kids.
Find. found, found
fly
We’re going to fly non-stop.
flew
We flew through Atlanta last time.
flown
I’ve never flown through Nashville.
Fly. Flew, flown.
forget
Don’t forget your phone.
forgot
I forgot my phone.
forgotten
I’ve forgotten my phone twice this week.
Forget. Forgot, forgotten.
forgive
Can you forgive me?
forgave
I can’t believe you forgave him.
forgiven
Forget about it; I’ve already forgiven you.
Forgive, forgave, forgiven.
freeze
Let’s freeze the leftover chicken.
froze
We froze the leftovers and reheated them for dinner.
frozen
We had frozen the dough, so it took a while to thaw.
Freeze, froze, frozen.
get
You got all A’s.
got
Last year you got a B in math.
gotten
You’ve never gotten a bad grade.
Get. Got, gotten.
give
Give me a hand, please.
gave
I gave you lots of attention earlier.
given
I’ve given you all my free time today.
Give. Gave, given.
go
Go away.
went
It went away.
gone
It’s gone away now.
Go, went, gone.
grow
I want to grow more tomatoes.
grew
I grew 12 plants last summer.
grown
I’ve always grown tomatoes in my garden.
Grow, grew, grown.
hang
Hang up your coat.
hung
She hung all the coats in the closet.
hung
We’ve always hung Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving.
Now, I want to point out there is another definition for hang, here I’ve used the definition “to be suspend or to suspend”. We hang the coat, we hang the lights. But hang can also mean to kill someone or to kill yourself by hanging from the neck. For that definition, we do use hanged for past tense and past participle. For example, “He hanged himself.”
Hang. hung, hung.
Or, hang, hanged, hanged.
have
Have a great time!
had
We had a great time!
had
We’ve had a great time!
Have, had, had
hear
I hear you’re sick.
heard
I heard you were sick.
heard
I’ve heard several people have gotten sick this week.
Hear, heard, heard
hide
Please hide this chocolate from me before I eat it all.
hid
He hid the chocolate behind some books.
hidden
He has hidden several desserts from me while I’ve been on this diet.
Hide. Hid, hidden.
hit
Hit the ball as hard as you can.
hit
He hit it as hard as he could.
hit
He’s hit the ball every time he’s been up to bat.
All the same, hit, hit, hit.
hold
Hold this for me.
held
She held my bag while I went to the restroom.
held
I’ve held bags a lot heavier than this one.
Hold, held, held.
hurt
My feet hurt right now.
hurt
My feet hurt for a few hours before I took some ibuprofen.
hurt
My feet have never hurt like that before.
All three Hurt, hurt, hut.
keep
Keep trying!
kept
I just kept trying!
kept
Over the years, I’ve kept trying; that’s how I’ve gotten better at it.
Keep. Kept, kept
kneel
I kneel to tie my shoes.
knelt
My husband knelt on one knee when he proposed to me.
Knelt
I’ve knelt to put on my shoes since there is no bench to sit on.
Actually, the -ed ending in these cases is also grammatically correct, though maybe less common.
Kneel, knelt, knelt
Or
Kneel, kneeled, kneeled.
know
Do you know about this?
knew
You knew about this and didn’t tell me?
known
How long have you known about this?
Know. Knew, known
lead
You lead the way.
led
You led our team for 3 seasons.
led
You haven’t led the team before.
Lead, led, led.
Now, here’s something that’s confusing. We’ve said this is lead with the EE vowel, and this is led with the EH vowel. But this word has another pronunciation, and it’s lead with the EH vowel. With this pronunciation it’s a different definition. It’s the chemical element, Lead. So lead, led, led, but this can also be pronounced ‘lead’.
leave
Leave your shoes at the door, please.
left
I left my shoes outside.
left
I’ve never left my shoes on in the house.
Leave. Left, left
lend
Would you lend me some tools?
lent
My dad lent me some tools for the project.
lent
My dad has lent me tools for various projects over the years.
Lend, lent, lent
let
Let me help.
let
I let my son help me fix this.
let
I’ve only let him help one other time.
All three, let. Let, let, let.
The next verb has two different forms depending on the definition.
First, lie – tell an untruth, something that is false.
Don’t lie to me.
lied
You lied to me?
lied
You’ve never lied to me before!
Lie. Lied, lied. Ok, so that’s regular. But another definition is irregular. And that’s the definition “lie”, to assume a horizontal position.
You can lie down on the couch if you feel tired.
lay
She lay down for an hour yesterday.
lain
She’s lain down after breakfast every day this week.
Lie, lay, lain.
So depending on the definition it’s lie, lied, lied, or lie, lay, lain
lose
I lose track of time when I’m listening to music.
lost
I lost an hour of work time because the internet was down.
lost
I’ve lost 5 pounds this month.
Lose, lost, lost
make
Let’s make a cake.
made
Who made the cake?
made
Have you ever made a cheesecake?
Make, made, made
mean
What do you mean?
meant
She explained what she meant. Look here, we’ve only added a T, but the vowel changed too. We went from ee as she to the EH as in BED. Mean, ee, meant, eh.
meant
They’ve never meant to make us feel bad.
Mean, meant, meant. EE, eh, eh happens with our next word set too.
meet
Let’s meet at 10.
met
I met your parents the other day.
met
I’ve never met your brother.
Meet, met, met. Ee, eh, eh happens yet again in our next set.
mislead
That statement might mislead customers.
misled
The advertisement misled customers.
misled
That company has misled customers many times.
Mislead, misled, misled,
pay
You can pay me back later.
paid
I paid you back on Venmo.
paid
I’ve never paid anyone on Venmo.
Pay, paid, paid
put
Put your shoes on.
put
I put Sawyer’s shoes on for him this morning.
put
Have you ever put shoes on the wrong feet?
All three put: put, put, put.
proofread
You proofread everything for me.
Proofread. Notice the spelling doesn’t change here but the vowel does proofread, proofread, EH.
My editor proofread everything.
Proofread. Again with the EH vowel.
She’s proofread everything I’ve ever published.
Proofread, proofread, proofread.
So of course this is true for ‘read’ as well. We have read with an EE.
Let’s read over it together.
Then we have read, same spelling but past tense now with the EH vowel.
We read it as soon as it came.
And again, read.
Have you read a novel in another language?
ride
We could ride bikes this afternoon.
rode
We rode bikes for two hours last week.
ridden
We’ve never ridden that trail.
Ride, rode, ridden
ring
Sometimes my phone doesn’t ring even though the volume is all the way up.
rang
My phone only rang one time, so I missed the call.
rung
My phone has never rung during a meeting until now—oops!
Ring, rang, rung
rise
You usually rise early.
rose
The sun rose at 7:19 yesterday.
risen
After the sun has risen, we can go for a hike.
Rise, rose, risen. Notice in all three of these words, the letter S is pronounced with a Z sound.
run
Let’s run a marathon.
ran
They ran two marathons last year.
run
They’ve always run a marathon during winter break.
Run, ran, run
say
Say hi to her.
said
I said hi.
said
I’ve never said anything rude to her.
Say, said, said.
see
See what time the movie starts.
saw
We saw that movie last week.
seen
I haven’t seen that movie yet.
See, saw, seen
sell
They sell shoes made from recycled plastics.
sold
They sold 5,000 pairs of shoes during the holidays.
sold
They’ve never sold so many shoes.
Sell, sold, sold
send
Send me that picture.
sent
I sent the picture on Messenger.
sent
I’ve never sent a picture on Messenger before.
Send, sent, sent
set
We’re all set.
set
I was set to go, but our flight was cancelled.
set
We’ve been set to go for an hour.
All three are the same. Set, set, set
shoot
He’s going to shoot some group pictures of us.
shot
He shot about 200 pictures.
shot
He’s shot dozens of group photo sessions.
Shoot, shot, shot
show
Show them your receipt.
showed
I showed the manager my receipt.
shown
I’ve shown them my receipt; now I’m waiting for a refund.
Show, showed, shown
shut
Shut the door.
shut
I shut the door already.
shut
I’ve already shut the door.
All three shut: shut, shut, shut.
sing
Sing a little more quietly.
sang
She sang so loud that I couldn’t hear myself think.
sung
She has never sung in public.
Sing, sang, sung
sink
Let’s sink all our shots today.
sank
She sank four three-pointers in the first half.
sunk
I’ve sunk almost every free throw this season.
Sink, sank, sunk.
sit
Sit over there.
sat
I sat over there.
sat
She’s sat outside for most of the party.
Sit, sat, sat
sleep
My kids usually sleep from about 8:00pm-7:00am.
slept
They slept at their grandparents’ last night.
slept
They’ve slept at my sister-in-law’s, too.
Sleep, slept, slept
speak
I want to speak to you.
spoke
I spoke to him yesterday.
spoken
I’ve spoken to her several times.
Speak, spoke, spoken.
spend
You spend too much time on your phone.
spent
You spent the whole day on your phone.
spent
How much time have you spent watching Rachel’s English videos this week?
Spend, spent, spent.
stand
I stand with you on that.
stood
We stood with you during that difficult time.
stood
We’ve stood together through thick and thin.
Stand stood stood
steal
I don’t want to steal your idea.
stole
You stole my idea.
stolen
I’ve never stolen your ideas.
Steal stole stolen
stick
Stick with me.
stuck
He stuck with me when my dad was sick.
stuck
We’ve stuck together through some tough times.
Stick, stuck, stuck
swim
We swim at the Y.
swam
We swam at the lake yesterday.
swum
We’ve swum at that pool a lot.
Swim, swam swum
Take
Can you take that next door?
Took
He took it next door.
Taken
He hasn’t taken it yet.
Take, took, taken.
Teach
I teach on Youtube.
Taught
I taught in a traditional classroom before becoming a Youtuber.
Taught
I’ve always taught with technology.
Teach, taught, taught.
Tell
Tell us the whole story.
Told
You told us the whole story.
Told
Have you told us the whole story?
Think
I think so.
Thought
I thought so.
Thought
I’ve thought about it all day.
Think, thought, thought.
Throw
We need to throw this out.
Threw
We threw it out on recycling day.
Thrown
We’ve already thrown out lots of stuff.
Throw, threw, thrown.
understand
I understand.
understood
She understood.
understood
She’s understood more since she got hearing aids.
Understand, understood, understood.
undo
Just undo that edit.
undid
I undid the edit.
undone
I’ve undone all the bad edits.
Undo, undid, undone
wake
I need to wake up earlier.
woke
I woke up late this morning.
woken
Have you ever woken up and forgotten where you were?
Wake, woke, woken.
wear
I’m going to wear jeans.
wore
I wore jeans last time.
worn
I’ve worn jeans every time I’ve been there.
Wear wore worn
win
Let’s win this!
won
We won!
won
We’ve won the last six games.
Win, won, won
withdraw
Let’s withdraw some cash in the morning.
withdrew
He withdrew some cash before leaving.
withdrawn
He has already withdrawn $200.
Withdraw withdrew withdrawn
write
Write your name in the book.
wrote
I wrote my name in the back of the book.
written
I’ve written a note to you in the back of the book.
Write, wrote, written
Whew, that was a lot. But aren’t you glad to know so much more about these irregular verbs? I also have a series of videos on regular verbs, where you add an –ed, check that out if you haven’t because there are actually some crazy tricks to the pronunciations. And now keep your learning going now with this video and be sure to subscribe with notifications on so you never miss a lesson. I love being your English teacher and accent coach. That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
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