Essential English Irregular Verbs: Forms and Meanings

Essential English Irregular Verbs

• be - was/were - been (ser/estar)
• beat - beat - beaten (golpear, latir)
• become - became - become (convertirse en, hacerse)
• begin - began - begun (empezar)
• bite - bit - bitten (morder)
• blow - blew - blown (soplar)
• break - broke - broken (romper)
• bring - brought - brought (traer)
• build - built - built (construir)
• buy - bought - bought (comprar)
• can - could - could (poder)
• catch - caught - caught (coger, atrapar)
• choose - chose - chosen (elegir, escoger)
• come - came - come (venir)
• cost - cost - cost (costar)
• cut - cut - cut (cortar)
• do - did - done (hacer)
• draw - drew - drawn (dibujar)
• dream - dreamt/dreamed - dreamt/dreamed (soñar)
• drink - drank - drunk (beber)
• drive - drove - driven (conducir)
• eat - ate - eaten (comer)
• fall - fell - fallen (caer)
• feel - felt - felt (sentir)
• fight - fought - fought (luchar, pelear)
• find - found - found (encontrar)
• fly - flew - flown (volar)
• forget - forgot - forgotten (olvidar)
• get - got - got/gotten (obtener, conseguir)
• give - gave - given (dar)
• go - went - gone (ir)
• grow - grew - grown (crecer)
• hang - hung - hung (colgar)
• have - had - had (tener, haber)
• hear - heard - heard (oír, escuchar)
• hide - hid - hidden (esconder)
• hit - hit - hit (golpear)
• hold - held - held (sostener, celebrar)
• hurt - hurt - hurt (herir, doler)
• keep - kept - kept (mantener, guardar)
• know - knew - known (saber, conocer)
• learn - learnt/learned - learnt/learned (aprender)
• leave - left - left (dejar, irse)
• lend - lent - lent (prestar)
• let - let - let (permitir, dejar)
• lie - lay - lain (yacer, tumbarse)
• lose - lost - lost (perder)
• make - made - made (hacer, fabricar)
• mean - meant - meant (significar, querer decir)
• meet - met - met (conocer, encontrarse)
• pay - paid - paid (pagar)
• put - put - put (poner)
• read - read - read (leer - Note: pronunciation changes)
• ride - rode - ridden (montar)
• ring - rang - rung (sonar, llamar)
• run - ran - run (correr)
• say - said - said (decir)
• see - saw - seen (ver)
• sell - sold - sold (vender)
• send - sent - sent (enviar)
• set - set - set (poner, establecer)
• shine - shone - shone (brillar)
• show - showed - shown/showed (mostrar)
• shut - shut - shut (cerrar)
• sing - sang - sung (cantar)
• sit - sat - sat (sentarse)
• sleep - slept - slept (dormir)
• speak - spoke - spoken (hablar)
• spend - spent - spent (gastar, pasar tiempo)
• stand - stood - stood (estar de pie)
• steal - stole - stolen (robar)
• swim - swam - swum (nadar)
• take - took - taken (tomar, llevar)
• teach - taught - taught (enseñar)
• tell - told - told (decir, contar)
• think - thought - thought (pensar)
• throw - threw - thrown (lanzar, tirar)
• understand - understood - understood (entender, comprender)
• wake - woke - woken (despertar)
• wear - wore - worn (llevar puesto, desgastar)
• win - won - won (ganar)
• write - wrote - written (escribir)

Time Expressions and Usage Notes

• I have just seen him. (Acabo de verlo - Present Perfect example)
• already / yet (ya / todavía, aún - common with perfect tenses)
• life (vida)
• 20 years ago (hace 20 años - specific past time)
• for 20 years (durante 20 años - duration)
• since 1989 (desde 1989 - starting point)

Irregular Verbs Review List

• learn - learnt/learned - learnt/learned (aprender)
• leave - left - left (dejar, irse)
• lend - lent - lent (prestar)
• let - let - let (permitir, dejar)
• lie - lay - lain (yacer, tumbarse)
• lose - lost - lost (perder)
• make - made - made (hacer, fabricar)
• mean - meant - meant (significar, querer decir)
• meet - met - met (conocer, encontrarse)
• pay - paid - paid (pagar)
• put - put - put (poner)
• read - read - read (leer - Note: pronunciation changes)
• ride - rode - ridden (montar)
• ring - rang - rung (sonar, llamar)
• run - ran - run (correr)
• say - said - said (decir)
• see - saw - seen (ver)
• sell - sold - sold (vender)
• send - sent - sent (enviar)
• set - set - set (poner, establecer)
• shine - shone - shone (brillar)
• show - showed - shown/showed (mostrar)
• shut - shut - shut (cerrar)
• sing - sang - sung (cantar)
• sit - sat - sat (sentarse)
• sleep - slept - slept (dormir)
• speak - spoke - spoken (hablar)
• spend - spent - spent (gastar, pasar tiempo)
• stand - stood - stood (estar de pie)
• steal - stole - stolen (robar)
• swim - swam - swum (nadar)
• take - took - taken (tomar, llevar)
• teach - taught - taught (enseñar)
• tell - told - told (decir, contar)
• think - thought - thought (pensar)
• throw - threw - thrown (lanzar, tirar)
• understand - understood - understood (entender, comprender)
• wake - woke - woken (despertar)
• wear - wore - worn (llevar puesto, desgastar)
• win - won - won (ganar)
• write - wrote - written (escribir)