Irregular verbs in English language have 3 forms. The first is the infinitive or initial form (as the word is written in the dictionary), the second is used to form the Past Simple tense, and the third is the past participle (used to form the Perfect tenses, passive voice and some other forms).

Often students ask the question: how many irregular verbs are there in English? Various educational resources provide different options, and sometimes the lists are up to a thousand words! But don't be alarmed: there are about two hundred basic verbs, and it is absolutely realistic to learn them, and the number of words often increases due to the fact that words with the same stems are included in the list. For example, the verb "make": make - made - made and the verb "remake": remake - remade - remade are often considered separate words, although the prefix "re" is just added.

Verbs can be taught simply alphabetically, or they can be divided into several groups according to the formation of the second and third forms, which are similar for many verbs. Below are the verbs divided according to this principle.

Invariable verbs:

Verbs with the same second and third forms

Verbs with the same second and third forms ending in -t

–ught verbs

Verbs with -d changed to -t

Verbs with a vowel change: i - a - u

Verbs with the same first and third forms

Verbs with a double consonant in the third form

Verbs with a short vowel in the second and third forms

Verbs with -e- in the second form and third form in -wn

Verbs with a third form ending in –en

Here you can find a table of irregular English verbs with translation into Russian and transcription, videos on learning and memorizing irregular verbs, links.

In English, there is a special category of verbs that does not follow the generally accepted rules when forming the past participle. They are called "wrong". Unlike “regular” verbs, to which the ending –ed is added to form the past participle, these verbs either remain unchanged or take unusual forms that are not always easy to remember. For example:

put - put - put;
drive - driven - driven.

If the first verb is easy to learn and use in sentences, then the second has to be learned directly by memorization.

Where did such difficulties with some verbs come from? Scientists have come to the conclusion that these are some kind of "fossils" that have remained in the language since ancient times. During its development, the English language has a large number of words from other European languages, but some words remained unchanged. Irregular verbs fall into this category.

Table of irregular English verbs:

Video on learning and memorizing irregular English verbs:

Top 100 irregular verbs in English.

In this video, the author analyzes the most popular irregular verbs in English (top 100 compiled by himself). Examples are given for all irregular verbs, voice acting, etc. The most used irregular verbs come first, followed by the less used ones.

Pronunciation of irregular English verbs.

British Irregular English Verbs. The author makes it possible to repeat after him and thus hone the correct pronunciation of irregular verbs.

Learning irregular English verbs with the help of rap.

An interesting video for learning irregular English verbs superimposed on rap.

Examples of the use of irregular verbs:

Irregular Verbs in English, these are verbs that have special forms (Past Simple) and (Past Participle). Among them there are both very common (feel - to feel, speak - to speak), and rare (cleave - to dissect, forswear - to renounce). The tables below show common irregular verbs.

Read also:

Despite the fact that irregular verbs change in a special way, they still have some regularity. In the table below, the verbs are given with translation and transcription and are distributed on the basis of matching forms:

1. Verbs AAA - all three forms are the same (cut - cut - cut, cut).
2. Verbs ABA - the 1st and 3rd forms coincide (run - ran - run, run).
3. ABB verbs - the 2nd and 3rd forms coincide (teach - taught - taught, teach).
4. ABC verbs - all forms are different (know - knew - known, know).

Inside the table, words are distributed not alphabetically, but by frequency, i.e. the higher the word, the more often it is used. Attached to the tables pdf files- they can be printed, pasted on cardboard and cut out cards for memorizing words.

Pay attention to the words read And wind. In the 2nd and 3rd forms, read is read as . And the verb wind - to twist, should not be confused with the noun wind - wind.

The Ten Most Basic Irregular Verbs

Among the commonly used irregular verbs, one can distinguish the most basic. They need to be known first. Start learning verbs from them, not in alphabetical order. You can learn them literally in 5-10 minutes.

These verbs need to be learned first

Notes:

1. Over time, some verbs from irregular have almost turned into regular ones. For example, even in not very old textbooks it is written that the verb to work- incorrect, it has the form: work - wrought - wrought. Now form wrought almost never used, except in established expressions like "wrought iron" (forged iron), so I did not include it in this table.
2. Verbs to learn(learn), to lean(lean) are also more often used as correct ones: learned, leaned, especially in the USA.
3. Pay attention to forms read-read-read. The word is spelled the same but pronounced differently.
4. Don't confuse the verb wind(twist) and noun wind- wind. They are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings.
5. In the British version, the verbs sew pronounced like

English is the language of exceptions, where when studying a new grammatical rule, students are faced with a dozen buts in which this rule does not work. One of these rules is the use of irregular verbs in the past tense. For many English learners, this topic is a nightmare. But without them it is impossible, because these are the realities of English! However, there is good news - modern English is gradually getting rid of irregular verbs, replacing them with regular ones. Why and how - we will consider in the article.

Why are English verbs irregular?

The difficulty in using irregular verbs is experienced not only by foreigners, but also by the speakers themselves. Nevertheless, for English philologists, the non-standard nature of this part of speech is not a drawback, but a reason for pride. They believe that irregular verbs are a cultural monument that perpetuates the history of the English language. The explanation for this fact is the Germanic roots of the origin of irregular verbs, which makes British English a traditional variant of the language. For comparison, the Americans are trying with might and main to get rid of irregular shape, converting it to the correct one. Therefore, the list of non-standard verbs increases for those who learn both variants of the language. Thus, the incorrect version is ancient, which is reflected in prose and poetry.

How many forms does a verb have in English?

Speaking about verbs in English, it should be noted that they have 3 forms:

• infinitive, aka ;
• I, or Participle I, - this form is used in the simple past tense (Past Simple) and the 2nd and 3rd cases conditional mood(Conditional of the 2-d and of the 3-d case);
• Past Participle II, or Participle II, for the simple perfect tense of long past tense ( past perfect), passive voice (Passive Voice) and conditional mood of the 3rd case (Conditional of the 3-d case).

The table "Three in English" is presented later in the article.

What are regular and irregular verbs? Education rules

Regular verbs are those in which the past form (Past Simple) and the form Participle II (Participle II) are formed by adding the ending -ed to initial form. The table "Three forms of the verb in English. Regular verbs" will help you better understand this rule.

When forming the forms Participle I and Participle II, there are some features:

• if the verb ends with the letter -e, then adding -ed does not double it;
• the consonant in monosyllabic verbs is duplicated when added. Example: stop - stopped (stop - stopped);
• if the verb ends in -y followed by a consonant, then y is changed to i before adding -ed.

Irregular verbs are those that do not obey the general rule when forming temporary forms. In English, these include the simple past tense verb forms (Past Simple) and Participle II (Participle II).

Irregular verbs are formed with:

ablaut, in which the root is changed. Example: swim - swam - swum (swim - swam - swam);

the use of suffixes that are different from those accepted in the grammar of the language. Example: do - did - done (do - did - did);

the same or unchanged form. Example: cut - cut - cut (cut - cut - cut).

Due to the fact that each irregular verb has its own form of change, they should be learned by heart.

In total, there are 218 irregular verbs in English, of which approximately 195 are in active use.

Recent studies in the field of language show that rare verbs are gradually disappearing from the language due to the replacement of the 2nd and 3rd forms with regular verb forms, that is, the addition of the ending - ed. This fact is confirmed by the table "Three forms of the verb in English" - the table represents a number of verbs that have both regular and irregular forms.

table of irregular verbs

The table "Three forms of irregular verbs in English" includes the most frequently used verbs. The table shows 3 forms and a translation.

Irregular verbs came into modern English from Old English, which was spoken by the Angles and Saxons - British tribes.

Irregular verbs originated from the so-called strong verbs, each of which had its own type of conjugation.

Harvard researchers found that most of the verbs used are irregular, and they will remain so, as they are used more often than others.

In the history of the English language there is such a phenomenon when the correct verb became irregular. For example, sneak, which has 2 forms - sneaked and snuck.

Not only English learners have problems with verbs, but also native speakers, as even they get into awkward situations when it comes to this difficult part of speech.

One of them is Jennifer Garner, who has been sure all her life that the verb sneak is correct.

She was corrected by the host of one of the programs in which the actress took part. Dictionary in hand, he pointed out to Jennifer her mistake.

Therefore, do not be upset if you make mistakes when using irregular verbs. The main thing is that they do not become systematic.

Regular verbs

The table "Three forms of regular verbs in English with transcription and translation" is compiled on the basis of the most commonly used verbs.

Examples of the use of 3 forms of verbs with translation

Above we looked at 3 forms of verbs in English. A table with examples of usage and translation will help reinforce the topic.

Here, for each grammatical construction, two examples are given - one with regular, the other with irregular verbs.

Exercises

For better memorization of irregular verbs, you need not only to learn them by heart and repeat, but also to perform various exercises.

Exercise 1. Before you is a table "Three forms of the verb in English. Irregular verbs." Fill in one of the three missing forms.

Exercise 2. Before you is a table "Three forms of the verb in English. Regular verbs." Insert forms Participle I and II.

Exercise 3. Using the tables, translate the following sentences into English.

1. I was reading a book.
2. We saw them yesterday.
3. The Smiths lived in London until 2000. Then they moved to Manchester.
4. Alice was a university student in 2014.
5. They worked for the same company two years ago.
6. He just finished training.
7. When we were children, my mother often took us to this park.
8. I drove a toy car as a child.

Answers to the exercises

Exercise 1.

Exercise 2.

asked, borrowed, closed, decided, explained, helped, started, travelled, used, worked.

Exercise 3

1. I read a book.
2. We saw them yesterday.
3. The Smiths lived in London till 2000. Then they moved to Manchester.
4. Alice was a student of Univercity in 2014.
5. They worked in the same company two years ago.
6. He has just finished training.
7. When we were children we were taken for a walk to this park.
8. I drove a toy car in my childhood.

Get in the habit of repeating basic shapes periodically English verb. A table with irregular verbs, exercises and periodic repetition will help you quickly cope with the difficulties of the English language.