The Most Wildly Irregular Verb in English:
to be ________________
|
Root Form |
Simple Past |
Past Participle |
Present Participle |
|
Am/is/are/be |
Was/were |
Been |
being |
Present Tense
First person singular: I am First person plural: we are
Second person singular: you are Second person plural: you are
Third person singular: he, she, it was Third person plural: they are
Simple Past
First person singular: I was First person plural: we were
Second person singular: you were Second person plural: you were
Third person singular he, she, it was Third person plural: they were
Present Perfect
First person singular: I have been First person plural: we have been
Second person singular: you have been Second person plural: you have been
Third person singular: he, she, it has been Third person plural: they have been
Future
First person singular: I will be First person plural: we will be
Second person singular: you will be Second person plural: you will be
Third person singular: he, she, it will be Third person plural: they will be
Principle Parts of Some Popular Irregular Verbs
|
Root Form |
Simple Past |
Past Participle (needs an auxiliary: a form of “have” or “is”) |
Present Participle (needs an auxiliary) |
|
Bear Beat Begin Bend Bind Bite Bleed Blow Break Breed Bring Build Burst Buy Catch Choose Cling Come Creep Deal Dig Do Draw Drink Drive Dwell Eat Fall Feed Feel Fight Find Flee Fling Fly Forsake Freeze Get Give Go Grind Grow Hang[i] Have Hear Hide Hit Hurt Keep Kneel Know Lay Lead Leave Lend Lie Light Lose Make Mean Meet Pay Put Read[ii] Rend Ride Ring Rise Run See Seek Sell Send Set Shake Shine[iii] Shoot Shrink Sing Sink Sit Slay Sleep Slide Sling Slink Smite Speak Spend Spin Spring Stand Steal Stick Sting Stink Stride Strike String Strive Swear Sweep Swim Swing Take Teach Tear Tell Think Throw Tread Wear Weave Weep Win Wind Wring Write |
Bore Beat Began Bent Bound Bit Bled Blew Broke Bred Brought Built Burst Bought Caught Chose Clung Came Crept Dealt Dug Did Drew Drank Drove Dwelt Ate Fell Fed Felt Fought Found Fled Flung Flew Forsook Froze Got Gave Went Ground Grew Hung Had Heard Hid Hit Hurt Kept Knelt Knew Laid Led Left Lent Lay Lit Lost Made Meant Met Paid Put Read Rent Rode Rang Rose Ran Saw Sought Sold Sent Set Shook Shone Shot Shrank Sang Sank Sat Slew Slept Slid Slung Slunk Smote Spoke Spent Spun Sprang Stood Stole Stuck Stung Stank Strode Struck Strung Strove Swore Swept Swam Swung Took Taught Tore Told Thought Threw Trod Wore Wove Wept Won Wound Wrung Wrote |
Borne Beaten Begun Bent Bound Bitten Bled Blown Broken Bred Brought Built Burst Bought Caught Chosen Clung Come Crept Dealt Dug Done Drawn Drunk Driven Dwelt Eaten Fallen Fed Felt Fought Found Fled Flung Flown Forsaken Frozen Gotten Given Gone Ground Grown Hung Had Heard Hidden Hit Hurt Kept Knelt Known Laid Led Left Lent Lain Lit Lost Made Meant Met Paid Put Read Rent Ridden Rung Risen Run Seen Sought Sold Sent Set Shaken Shone Shot Shrunk Sung Sunk Sat Slain Slept Slid Slung Slunk Smitten Spoken Spent Spun Sprung Stood Stolen Stuck Stung Stunk Stridden Stuck Strung Striven Sworn Swept Swum Swung Taken Taught Torn Told Thought Thrown Trodden Worn Woven Wept Won Wound Wrung Written |
Bearing Beating Beginning Bending Binding Biting Bleeding Blowing Breaking Breeding Bringing Building Bursting Buying Catching Choosing Clinging Coming Creeping Dealing Digging Doing Drawing Drinking Driving Dwelling Eating Falling Feeding Feeling Fighting Finding Fleeing Flinging Flying Forsaking Freezing Getting Giving Going Grinding Growing Hanging Having Hearing Hiding Hitting Hurting Keeping Kneeling Knowing Laying Leading Leaving Lending Lying Lighting Losing Making Meaning Meeting Paying Putting Reading Rending Riding Ringing Rising Running Seeing Seeking Selling Sending Setting Shaking Shining Shooting Shrinking Singing Sinking Sitting Slaying Sleeping Sliding Slinging Slinking Smiting Speaking Spending Spinning Springing Standing Stealing Sticking Stinging Stinking Striding Striking Stringing Striving Swearing Sweeping Swimming Swinging Taking Teaching Tearing Telling Thinking Throwing Treading Wearing Weaving Weeping Winning Winding Wringing Writing |
[i] When to hang means to execute by hanging, the past forms are regular: hanged .
[ii] The past forms of to read are pronounced as if they were spelled red.
[iii] To shine is irregular only when it means to give off light; when it means to polish, its forms are regular: shined.
Practically Painless English, Sally Wallace. Prentice-Hall 1980. pp. 132 – 135.