ENGLISH GRAMMAR | Irregular Verbs

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.