Irregular Verbs Table With Pronunciation: 100+ Irregular Verbs

What are irregular verbs?

Irregular verbs don’t follow the same conjugation rules as regular verbs when we conjugate them into the past. The conjugation of a regular verb in the past simple and past participle is usually done by adding “-ed”. For example, “work” becomes “worked”. If the regular verb ends with an “e” then you just add a “-d”. For example, “use” becomes “used”.

However, irregular verbs don’t conjugate into the past simple and past participle with a fixed pattern. For example, “do” becomes “did” and then “done”. There is no other verb that conjugates in this way. So, irregular verbs are verbs that don’t have an "-ed" past simple and past participle conjugation ending. As there is no set rule for them they must be memorised individually.

Are there irregular verbs in the present simple tense?

No, there are no irregular verbs in the present simple tense. All verbs conjugate in almost the same way when we use the third person singular form. We can add an “-s”, “es” or “ies” depending on the ending of the verb. For example, “play: she plays football”, “watch: she watches TV”, and “study: she studies Portuguese”. The verb “have” is a little bit different because it becomes, “she has a car”.

For more information click here: Present Simple Rules and Exercises

How many irregular verbs are there?

There are more than 200 irregular verbs. But no, you don’t need to remember them all. There are many irregular verbs that are not often used, for example, “cleave” or “stave”. However, there are easily more than 100 irregular verbs that are commonly used and should be memorised.

Do irregular verbs follow a rule?

There are some similarities between how some irregular verbs are conjugated. However, it is not a fixed rule and there are many exceptions. It is important to note that there really isn’t a rule to follow on how irregular verbs are conjugated, but there are some similarities.

What are the similarities in irregular verb conjugations?

The table below has been sorted into 10 different similar conjugating patterns.

1st pattern: no pattern

2nd pattern: the past participle ends in “-een”

3rd pattern: the past participle ends in “-orn”

4th pattern: the past participle ends in “-own”

5th pattern: the past simple has an “a” and the past participle has a “u”

6th pattern: the infinitive has “ee” and the past simple and participle only has one “e”

7th pattern: the past simple and past participle end in “-ght”

8th pattern: the past participle ends in “-en”

9th pattern: the past simple and the past participle are the same

10th pattern: the infinitive, past simple and past participle are the same

It is important to note that even though some verbs conjugate in a similar way it is almost impossible to know which ending to use. For example “tear” becomes “tore” and “torn”, which is the same for “bear, “swear” and “wear”. So we can say that verbs with “ear” conjugate in the same way. Verbs with an “i” in the infinitive like “swim”, use an “a” in the past simple and a “u” in the past participle. For example, “swim”, “swam”, “swum”. So, you would think “give” would follow the same rule but it doesn’t. “Give” becomes “gave” and then “given”.

Irregular Verbs Table: More than 100 irregular verbs with pronunciation

This irregular verbs table is interactive.
By default it is organised alphabetically.
You can click “Sort by Pattern” and the table organises itself into the 10 different patterns mentioned earlier.
You can click any word and you will hear the pronunciation of that row. To stop the pronunciation click “Stop”.
Some pronunciations are read wrongly. “Read” in the past simple and past participle is read wrongly, the correct pronunciation of “read” in the past simple and past participle is “red”. “Understood” is also pronounced incorrectly as is “dove”. All the other verbs are pronounced correctly.