ESL Lesson: Irregular Verbs

In contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur. The idea of an irregular verb is important in second language acquisition, where the verb paradigms of a foreign language are learned systematically, and exceptions listed and carefully noted. Thus for example a school French textbook may have a section at the back listing the French irregular verbs in tables. Irregular verbs are often the most commonly used verbs in the language.

In linguistic analysis, the concept of an irregular verb is most likely to be used in psycholinguistics, and in first-language acquisition studies, where the aim is to establish how the human brain processes its native language. One debate among 20th-century linguists revolved around the question of whether small children learn all verb forms as separate pieces of vocabulary or whether they deduce froms by the application of rules. Since a child can hear a verb for the first time and immediately reuse it correctly in a different tense which he or she has never heard, it is clear that the brain does work with rules, but irregular verbs must be processed differently.

Historical linguists rarely use the category irregular verb. Since most irregularities can be explained historically, these verbs are only irregular when viewed synchronically, not when seen in their historical context.

When languages are being compared informally, one of the few quantitative statistics which are sometimes cited is the number of irregular verbs. These counts are not particularly accurate for a wide variety of reasons, and academic linguists are reluctant to cite them. But it does seem that some languages have a greater tolerance for paradigm irregularity than others.

Irregular Verbs 1

Fill in the missing forms of the irregular verbs below. The first one has been done for you.

1. go went gone
2. _______________ saw _______________
3. _______________ _______________ had
4. break _______________ _______________
5. _______________ sang _______________
6. fly _______________ _______________
7. _______________ did _______________
8. become _______________ _______________
9. _______________ _______________ won
10. _______________ threw _______________
11. tell _______________ _______________
12. _______________ _______________ rung
13. _______________ _______________ made
14. quit _______________ _______________
15. _______________ heard _______________
16. _______________ _______________ paid
17. run _______________ _______________
18. _______________ _______________ worn
19. put _______________ _______________
20. _______________ sold _______________
21. _______________ thought _______________
22. _______________ _______________ begun
23. read _______________ _______________
24. _______________ _______________ met
25. _______________ _______________ left

Irregular Verbs 2

Fill in the missing forms of the irregular verbs below. The first one has been done for you.

1. dig dug dug
2. withdraw _______________ _______________
3. _______________ _______________ lain
4. shake _______________ _______________
5. _______________ _______________ frozen
6. bet _______________ _______________
7. mistake _______________ _______________
8. sting _______________ _______________
9. _______________ forgave _______________
10. _______________ _______________ swung
11. tear _______________ _______________
12. draw _______________ _______________
13. spin _______________ _______________
14. _______________ _______________ bled
15. _______________ swore _______________
16. _______________ meant _______________
17. stick _______________ _______________
18. _______________ _______________ lent
19. shoot _______________ _______________
20. _______________ built _______________
21. _______________ _______________ cost
22. lead _______________ _______________
23. _______________ slept _______________
24. forget _______________ _______________
25. _______________ slid _______________

Irregular Verbs 1 Answers

1. go went gone
2. see saw seen
3. have had had
4. break broke broken
5. sing sang sung
6. fly flew flown
7. do did done
8. become became become
9. win won won
10. throw threw thrown
11. tell told told
12. ring rang rung
13. make made made
14. quit quit quit
15. hear heard heard
16. pay paid paid
17. run ran run
18. wear wore worn
19. put put put
20. sell sold sold
21. think thought thought
22. begin began begun
23. read read read
24. meet met met
25. leave left left

1. dig dug dug
2. withdraw withdrew withdrawn
3. lie lay lain
4. shake shook shaken
5. freeze froze frozen
6. bet bet bet
7. mistake mistook mistaken
8. sting stung stung
9. forgive forgave forgiven
10. swing swung swung
11. tear tore torn
12. draw drew drawn
13. spin spun spun
14. bleed bled bled
15. swear swore sworn
16. mean meant meant
17. stick stuck stuck
18. lend lent lent
19. shoot shot shot
20. build built built
21. cost cost cost
22. lead led led
23. sleep slept slept
24. forget forgot forgotten
25. slide slid slid