How many irregular verbs are there in English?

There are around 200 irregular verbs in total, but most aren't common. In everyday conversation you'll use roughly 100, and a core group of about 20 to 30 covers the majority of what you actually say. Focus on the common ones first instead of trying to memorise every rare verb.

What is the difference between the past tense and the past participle?

The simple past is the plain past form (I went, she ate). The past participle is the form used after have or was/were (I have gone, it was eaten). For regular verbs they're identical, both ending in -ed. For many irregular verbs they're different, which is why the participle needs separate practice.

What is the best way to memorise irregular verbs?

Learn them in small groups by pattern rather than as one long list, and say them out loud in full sentences about your own life. Repetition in context is what makes the correct form automatic. A few verbs a day, spoken and reused, sticks far better than reading a whole table once.

Is "got" or "gotten" correct?

Both are correct, but they're regional. American English uses "gotten" as the past participle ("it has gotten cold"), while British English usually uses "got" ("it has got cold"). The simple past is "got" in both. Pick one and stay consistent.

Do irregular verbs follow any rules at all?

Not strict rules, but there are patterns. Many change the same way (keep/kept, sleep/slept, feel/felt), and some don't change at all (cut, put, let). Learning these small groups turns a random-looking list into something predictable, which is why grouping them is faster than rote memorisation.

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Grammar·9 min

Irregular Verbs in English: A Clear List With Examples

Irregular verbs are verbs that don't add "-ed" to make the past tense (go became went, not "goed"). English has a few hundred, but you only use about 100 often, and many of those follow small patterns you can group and learn together. The list below covers the most common ones with their past and past participle forms and an example sentence for each.

What makes a verb irregular

Most English verbs are regular: you add "-ed" for the past. Walk becomes walked, play becomes played, watch becomes watched. Irregular verbs break that rule. Their past forms change in ways you can't predict from spelling, so "go" becomes "went" and "buy" becomes "bought".

Every verb has three key forms: the base (go), the simple past (went), and the past participle (gone). The past participle is the form you use after have or was/were: "I have gone", "it was broken". Regular verbs use the same word for both past forms. Irregular verbs often don't, which is exactly why they need memorising.

The fastest way to learn them: by pattern, not one by one

Trying to memorise a flat list of 100 verbs in random order is slow and forgettable. It's far easier to notice that many irregular verbs change in the same way, then learn them in small groups. Once your ear knows a pattern, new verbs in that group feel familiar instead of random.

The lists below are grouped by how the verb changes. You don't have to learn all of them at once. Start with the group that has the verbs you actually say every day (be, have, go, get, make, take), and add more over time.

Group 1: all three forms are the same

The easiest group. Base, past, and past participle are identical, so there's nothing extra to remember. "I cut it yesterday" and "I have cut it" both use cut.

•cut / cut / cut: "I cut my finger while cooking."
•put / put / put: "She put the keys on the table."
•let / let / let: "They let us leave early."
•set / set / set: "He set an alarm for 6 a.m."
•hit / hit / hit: "The ball hit the window."
•cost / cost / cost: "The tickets cost too much last year."
•shut / shut / shut: "I shut the door quietly."
•hurt / hurt / hurt: "My back hurt all week."

Group 2: past and past participle are the same

A big, useful group. The past and past participle match each other, so you learn two forms instead of three. This covers a lot of everyday verbs.

•have / had / had: "We had lunch together."
•make / made / made: "She made a cake for the party."
•say / said / said: "He said he was tired."
•buy / bought / bought: "I bought a new phone."
•bring / brought / brought: "They brought some food."
•think / thought / thought: "I thought about it all night."
•teach / taught / taught: "She taught me how to drive."
•find / found / found: "He found his wallet."
•tell / told / told: "I told you the truth."
•sell / sold / sold: "They sold their car."
•feel / felt / felt: "I felt nervous before the test."
•keep / kept / kept: "She kept the receipt."
•sleep / slept / slept: "He slept for ten hours."
•leave / left / left: "We left at noon."
•meet / met / met: "I met her last summer."
•pay / paid / paid: "He paid the bill."
•sit / sat / sat: "They sat in the front row."
•stand / stood / stood: "She stood near the door."
•win / won / won: "Our team won the match."
•hold / held / held: "He held the baby carefully."

Group 3: all three forms are different

The group people find hardest, because you have to remember three separate words. The good news: it includes the verbs you use most, so you'll get plenty of natural practice. Watch the past participle especially, since it's the one learners forget.

•be / was, were / been: "I was late. I have been busy."
•go / went / gone: "She went home. She has gone already."
•do / did / done: "I did my homework. It's done."
•take / took / taken: "He took a photo. I have taken notes."
•give / gave / given: "She gave me advice. I've given up."
•see / saw / seen: "I saw the film. Have you seen it?"
•eat / ate / eaten: "We ate early. I haven't eaten yet."
•speak / spoke / spoken: "He spoke slowly. I've spoken to her."
•write / wrote / written: "She wrote a letter. It's written in English."
•drive / drove / driven: "I drove to work. Have you driven before?"
•know / knew / known: "I knew the answer. I've known him for years."
•get / got / gotten (US), got (UK): "I got a message. It has gotten cold."
•break / broke / broken: "He broke the glass. It's broken."
•choose / chose / chosen: "She chose blue. I've chosen already."
•begin / began / begun: "It began to rain. The show has begun."
•drink / drank / drunk: "I drank water. He has drunk too much coffee."
•swim / swam / swum: "We swam in the sea. I've swum there before."
•wear / wore / worn: "She wore a red dress. It's been worn once."

The handful worth learning first

If you only have time for a short list, learn these ten. They show up in nearly every conversation, so getting them right instantly makes your English sound more natural: be, have, do, go, get, make, take, say, know, and see.

Notice how often the past participle appears in real speech: "I've been there", "have you done it?", "she's gone out". Present perfect is common in everyday English, so the third form isn't optional extra study, it's something you'll say every day.

How to actually remember them (not just read a list)

Reading a list once won't make the forms stick. They become automatic when you say them out loud in full sentences, many times, until the right form comes without thinking. That's how children and fluent speakers get them: repetition in context, not memorising a table.

A simple routine helps. Pick five verbs, put each into a short sentence about your own life in the past, and say them out loud. Do the same five the next day. When they feel easy, swap in five new ones. Speaking beats silent reading here, because the goal is to fix the sound of the correct form in your memory. Our guide on common English grammar mistakes covers the errors these verbs cause most, and daily English speaking practice has short routines to drill them.

Irregular verbs only stick when you use them out loud, in real sentences, enough times that the right form comes automatically. Rozy gives you a place to do exactly that: an AI English tutor you can talk to any time about everyday topics, so verbs like went, taken, and bought come up naturally in conversation. When you use the wrong form, it shows you what you said, the corrected version, and why, so you fix the mistake and hear the correct form in context instead of just reading it on a list.

Frequently asked questions

How many irregular verbs are there in English?: There are around 200 irregular verbs in total, but most aren't common. In everyday conversation you'll use roughly 100, and a core group of about 20 to 30 covers the majority of what you actually say. Focus on the common ones first instead of trying to memorise every rare verb.
What is the difference between the past tense and the past participle?: The simple past is the plain past form (I went, she ate). The past participle is the form used after have or was/were (I have gone, it was eaten). For regular verbs they're identical, both ending in -ed. For many irregular verbs they're different, which is why the participle needs separate practice.
What is the best way to memorise irregular verbs?: Learn them in small groups by pattern rather than as one long list, and say them out loud in full sentences about your own life. Repetition in context is what makes the correct form automatic. A few verbs a day, spoken and reused, sticks far better than reading a whole table once.
Is "got" or "gotten" correct?: Both are correct, but they're regional. American English uses "gotten" as the past participle ("it has gotten cold"), while British English usually uses "got" ("it has got cold"). The simple past is "got" in both. Pick one and stay consistent.
Do irregular verbs follow any rules at all?: Not strict rules, but there are patterns. Many change the same way (keep/kept, sleep/slept, feel/felt), and some don't change at all (cut, put, let). Learning these small groups turns a random-looking list into something predictable, which is why grouping them is faster than rote memorisation.

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