{"id":51903,"date":"2025-04-08T13:24:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T11:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/?p=51903"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T11:24:15","slug":"a-beginners-guide-to-regular-and-irregular-verbs-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/a-beginners-guide-to-regular-and-irregular-verbs-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"A Beginner\u2019s Guide to Regular and Irregular Verbs in English"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nobody would blame you if you said that regular and irregular verbs were one of the most frustrating parts of learning English.<\/p>\n

To start with, irregular verbs don\u2019t seem to have any hard and fast rules<\/strong><\/span><\/em>. And for another, there are lots of them and they\u2019re some of the most common verbs in the language.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder that many people are still confused about the verb forms even after years of learning English grammar.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s take it from the top<\/strong><\/span><\/em>. Our article looks at the basics of regular and irregular verbs in English and how you can memorise them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are regular and irregular verbs in English?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Verbs describe actions and states. They take different forms depending on factors like who performed the action and when it happened in relation to now.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

The dog barks<\/u> all night.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like<\/u> pineapple on pizza.<\/em><\/p>\n

Watch out<\/u> for that tree!<\/em><\/p>\n

Regular verbs follow all<\/strong> the standard rules of English, whereas irregular verbs only follow some<\/strong> of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What rules do regular and irregular rules have in common?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can apply the rules here to all verbs regardless of whether they\u2019re regular or irregular.<\/p>\n

Add -s<\/em>, -es<\/em> or -ies<\/em> to form the third person<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most verbs simply take the -s<\/em>:<\/p>\n

He runs<\/u> to school.<\/em><\/p>\n

She works<\/u> from home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Verbs ending in -ch, -sh, -x, -s, -z, or -o take -es<\/em> instead:<\/p>\n

Anne watches<\/u> television.<\/em><\/p>\n

The teacher <\/em>shushes<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/em> the students.<\/p>\n

My brother relaxes<\/u> by the beach.<\/em><\/p>\n

The cat hisses<\/u> at people it doesn\u2019t know.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cola fizzes<\/u> when you add mints.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nobody goes<\/u> to school on Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n

And verbs ending in a consonant followed by -y take -ies<\/em>.<\/p>\n

John always tries<\/u> his best.<\/em><\/p>\n

My sister denies<\/u> doing anything wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n

Add -ing<\/em> to form the continuous tenses and gerunds<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many verbs take -ing<\/em>:<\/p>\n

The show is starting<\/u>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Killing<\/u> is wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n

Verbs that end in a single -e, lose the -e<\/em> before the -ing<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Moving<\/u> house is stressful.<\/em><\/p>\n

Everyone is taking<\/u> turns.<\/em><\/p>\n

Verbs ending in -ie, change to -y<\/em> before the -ing<\/em>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m <\/em>dying<\/u> to\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/em> meet your new boyfriend.<\/p>\n

Lying<\/u> won\u2019t get you anywhere.<\/em><\/p>\n

Verbs ending in c, add a -k<\/em> before the -ing<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Stop panicking<\/u>! It won\u2019t help matters.<\/em><\/p>\n

The children are picnicking<\/u> today.<\/em><\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the trickiest one. Verbs ending in a consonant, a vowel and another consonant double the final consonant<\/p>\n

Everyone\u2019s just sitting<\/u> around today.<\/em><\/p>\n

No running<\/u> in the corridors.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unless they end in -w, -x or -y:<\/p>\n

Look! It\u2019s snowing<\/u>!<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m staying<\/u> at home today.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What rules do regular verbs follow that irregular verbs don\u2019t?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Regular verbs follow the same rules to form the past and past participle (that\u2019s the verb used to form the perfect and passive).<\/p>\n

Most verbs just take -ed<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Grandma reported<\/u> the burglary to the police.<\/em><\/p>\n

The telephone was invented<\/u> by Alexander Graham Bell.<\/em><\/p>\n

If they already end in -e, they just add -d<\/em>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lived<\/u> here my whole life.<\/em><\/p>\n

Who used<\/u> all my shampoo?<\/em><\/p>\n

Verbs ending in a consonant followed by -y change the -y to an -i<\/em>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tried<\/u> just about everything.<\/em><\/p>\n

As before, verbs ending in a consonant, a vowel and another consonant double the final consonant:<\/p>\n

Serena tipped<\/u> the waiter.<\/em><\/p>\n

The students crammed<\/u> for the test.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are the rules for irregular verbs?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The irregular verbs don\u2019t follow these rules whatsoever<\/strong><\/span><\/em>. It might seem like they have a pattern but there are some distinct groups.<\/p>\n

No change<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

A very small group of irregular verbs don\u2019t change form.<\/p>\n

\"Irregular<\/a><\/p>\n

So, you could say:<\/p>\n

We always put<\/u> a star on our Christmas tree.<\/em><\/p>\n

I put<\/u> the baby to sleep an hour ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you put<\/u> any sugar in my tea?<\/em><\/p>\n

These irregular verbs don\u2019t change their pronunciation either except for \u2018read\u2019. While the infinitive form of \u2018read\u2019 has a long \u2018ee\u2019 sound, the past and past participle forms have a short \u2018i\u2019.<\/p>\n

Same past and past participle<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lots of irregular verbs have the same past and past participle form, meaning there\u2019s not as much to memorise.<\/p>\n

\"Irregular<\/a><\/p>\n

So we can say:<\/p>\n

I find<\/u> art very interesting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Louis finally found<\/u> his car keys.<\/em><\/p>\n

You haven\u2019t found<\/u> love yet but you will.<\/em><\/p>\n

Better yet, \u2018have\u2019, \u2018got\u2019 and \u2018make\u2019 are three of the most important verbs in the English language and they\u2019re on this list. If you learn their past and continuous forms, you can make any tense with them.<\/p>\n

Different past and past participle<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

All the other irregular verbs have a different past and past participle form.<\/p>\n

\"Irregular<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes the word can change almost completely depending on the tense. For example:<\/p>\n

They often do<\/u> yoga outside when it\u2019s sunny.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure you did<\/u> your best.<\/em><\/p>\n

The housework better be done<\/u> by the time I\u2019m home.<\/em><\/p>\n

As you\u2019re probably aware, the verb \u2018be\u2019 takes this a step further. It has a different past form according to the person and the tense.<\/p>\n

Why weren\u2019t<\/u> you at school today?<\/em><\/p>\n

He was<\/u> my best friend growing up.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thankfully, the past participle of \u2018be\u2019 is always \u2018been\u2019 no matter who\u2019s performing the action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How can you learn irregular verbs in English?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The trouble with learning irregular verbs is that none of them follow a pattern. Some may seem to have the same spelling but this is often misleading.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Jim sang<\/u> in front of hundreds of people.<\/em><\/p>\n

The doorbell rang<\/u>.<\/em><\/p>\n

BUT<\/p>\n

Grandma brought<\/u> me this lovely scarf.<\/em><\/p>\n

That means the best way to learn irregular verbs is simply to memorise them. The good news is that they\u2019re only a small percentage of the English language. All you have to do is learn the ones we\u2019ve already given you on this page.<\/p>\n

If you do encounter a new irregular verb, the odds are<\/strong><\/span><\/em> that it\u2019ll have the same root as one you already know. You can then simply apply the same spelling rules.<\/p>\n

\u2018Take\u2019 and \u2018retake\u2019 are a good example of this.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Everyone took<\/u> the test last month.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyone who failed the first time retook<\/u> it yesterday.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Closing thoughts<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although you learn about irregular verbs from an early stage, you might not be comfortable with them until much later on. Don\u2019t be hard on yourself<\/strong><\/span><\/em> if you make mistakes in the meantime.<\/p>\n

Getting plenty of practice can help you learn irregular verbs faster. You can read or listen to the verbs in context and get immediate feedback on your writing and speaking.<\/p>\n

Looking for a tutor to practice irregular verbs? Book a lesson with Oxford House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\">
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>\n

Glossary for Language Learners<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Hard and fast rules (id):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> strict rules with no exceptions.<\/p>\n

Take something from the top (id):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to start again from the beginning.<\/p>\n

To shush (v):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to ask people to be quiet, often by making a \u2018ssh\u2019 noise.<\/p>\n

To die to (v):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to really want to do something.<\/p>\n

Whatsoever (adv):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> used to emphasise there\u2019s none or nothing.<\/p>\n

The odds are (phr):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> something is likely to happen.<\/p>\n

Be hard on someone (id):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to treat someone harshly.<\/p>\n

\">
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>\n

Key<\/strong><\/p>\n

id = idiom<\/p>\n

v = verb<\/p>\n

adv = adverb<\/p>\n

phr = phrase<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nobody would blame you if you said that regular and irregular verbs were one of the most frustrating parts of learning English. To start with, irregular verbs don\u2019t seem to have any hard and fast rules. And for another, there are lots of them and they\u2019re some of the most common verbs in the language. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":51916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[]},"categories":[268],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51903"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51928,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51903\/revisions\/51928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51903"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=51903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}