The 63 most common
Learn these by heart before anything else: they come up in almost every conversation and text.
| Base | Past simple | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| be | was / were | been |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| break | broke | broken |
| bring | brought | brought |
| build | built | built |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | cut |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| do | did | done |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feel | felt | felt |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| get | got | got (UK) / gotten (US) |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grow | grew | grown |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hold | held | held |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | knew | known |
| lead | led | led |
| learn | learnt / learned | learnt / learned |
| leave | left | left |
| let | let | let |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | read |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| set | set | set |
| show | showed | shown |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spend | spent | spent |
| stand | stood | stood |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| understand | understood | understood |
| wear | wore | worn |
| win | won | won |
| write | wrote | written |
Learn them by pattern
Irregular verbs follow patterns. Learning them by family is much faster than one by one:
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| Same form all three times | cut, put, set, let, cost, hit, shut, quit, split, spread, bet, broadcast, forecast |
| Past = past participle | buy/bought, bring/brought, think/thought, teach/taught, keep/kept, send/sent, spend/spent, find/found, make/made |
| Vowel i – a – u | begin, drink, ring, sing, sink, swim, shrink, spring |
| Participle in -en | take/taken, give/given, write/written, speak/spoken, choose/chosen, break/broken, forget/forgotten |
British or American English? The -t forms (learnt, burnt, dreamt) are mostly British; American English prefers learned, burned, dreamed. Both are correct, including in the TOEIC. Likewise, gotten is American, got British.
The complete list (142 verbs)
No match.
| Base | Past simple | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| arise | arose | arisen |
| awake | awoke | awoken |
| be | was / were | been |
| bear | bore | borne |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid | bid | bid |
| bind | bound | bound |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| bleed | bled | bled |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| breed | bred | bred |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burnt / burned | burnt / burned |
| burst | burst | burst |
| buy | bought | bought |
| cast | cast | cast |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| cling | clung | clung |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| creep | crept | crept |
| cut | cut | cut |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| dream | dreamt / dreamed | dreamt / dreamed |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feed | fed | fed |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| flee | fled | fled |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forbid | forbade | forbidden |
| forecast | forecast | forecast |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got (UK) / gotten (US) |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grind | ground | ground |
| grow | grew | grown |
| hang | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| keep | kept | kept |
| kneel | knelt / kneeled | knelt / kneeled |
| know | knew | known |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| lean | leant / leaned | leant / leaned |
| leap | leapt / leaped | leapt / leaped |
| learn | learnt / learned | learnt / learned |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie | lay | lain |
| light | lit / lighted | lit / lighted |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| mislead | misled | misled |
| overcome | overcame | overcome |
| oversee | oversaw | overseen |
| pay | paid | paid |
| prove | proved | proven / proved |
| put | put | put |
| quit | quit | quit |
| read | read | read |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| seek | sought | sought |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| set | set | set |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| shine | shone | shone |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| show | showed | shown |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| slide | slid | slid |
| smell | smelt / smelled | smelt / smelled |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| speed | sped | sped |
| spell | spelt / spelled | spelt / spelled |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spill | spilt / spilled | spilt / spilled |
| split | split | split |
| spread | spread | spread |
| spring | sprang | sprung |
| stand | stood | stood |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| strike | struck | struck |
| swear | swore | sworn |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| swim | swam | swum |
| swing | swung | swung |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| understand | understood | understood |
| undertake | undertook | undertaken |
| upset | upset | upset |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| weep | wept | wept |
| win | won | won |
| wind | wound | wound |
| withdraw | withdrew | withdrawn |
| write | wrote | written |
Classic traps
- lie / lay: lie, lay, lain (be lying down) ≠ lay, laid, laid (put down). Yesterday I lay on the sofa / She laid the files on the desk.
- rise / raise: rise, rose, risen (go up, no object) ≠ raise, raised, raised (increase something). Prices rose / They raised prices.
- fall / feel / fill: fell is the past of fall; felt of feel; fill is regular.
- find / found: found is also a regular verb (to establish): founded in 1998.
How to remember them for good
Reciting the list in one go doesn't last more than a few days. What works: a few verbs a day, reviewed the next day, then at growing intervals — spaced repetition, which the LexiLoop app applies automatically.
Now put it into practice
Estimate your score in 20 minutes with our free TOEIC test, then review vocabulary at the right time with the LexiLoop app.
Frequently asked questions
How many irregular verbs are there in English?
About 200 counting rare verbs and compounds (undertake, overcome…). A hundred or so are more than enough for everyday use and the TOEIC.
Which irregular verbs should I learn first?
The 63 most common ones on this page: be, have, do, go, get, make, take, say, see, know, come, give… They account for the vast majority of uses.
Learned or learnt?
Both are correct: learnt is more British, learned more American and increasingly common everywhere.