What are Irregular Verbs & How to Use them?

Verbs are essential in English because they represent an action performed in a sentence. They also demonstrate a state of being in a sentence. They are mainly of two types: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Regular verbs end with the letters “d” or “ed” in their past and past participle forms. It means that you can change the base form of a regular verb into its past and participle form by adding “-d” or “-ed” at the end. However, irregular verbs do not follow the same way to form their verbs forms.

Irregular verbs are most commonly used in English and they are important to learn because they do not follow the rule of adding -d or -ed at the end of their base form.

In this article, you will learn the meaning and definition of irregular verbs, why they are important, and how to use them correctly in the present, past, and future tenses. In addition, you will learn how to use them in you daily communication with practical examples.

So, what are irregular verbs in English?

Irregular verbs are verbs in English that do not follow the usual or regular pattern of inflection when used in past and participle. This means that we can not use -d or -ed at the end of the base verb to form their past and past participle forms. In other words, irregular verbs do not use “d” or “ed” at the end of the base form to form their past and past participle forms.

Take a look at the following examples and see how irregular verbs are used in past and past particple forms;

Like regular verbs, irregular verbs are also essential because they are frequently used in daily communication. Look at the following everyday life examples when we use them in English.

• I wake up early in the morning.
• He runs fast.
• I eat food.
• He reads a newspaper.
• She writes a letter.

In these examples, we used irregular verbs: wake, run, eat, read, and write. Their past and past participle forms are different, and they do not follow the rule of adding -d or -ed at the end of the base form.

Irregular verbs are verbs that we use most commonly in the English language. We use them widely in everyday life. Based on the pattern of their forms in present, past, and past participle, we can categorize them into four different groups.

In this type of group, irregular verbs change their past and past participle forms. This means that their present, past, and past participle forms are entirely different from each other. Here, you must remember that the past participle form is the third form of the verb, often used in perfect tenses and passive voice sentences. Take a look at the following examples of irregular verbs in this group category!

The base verb and its past participle form are the same in this group of irregular verbs—however, the past form (also known as the second form of a verb) changes. Let’s see some examples of irregular verbs in this category!

In this group, irregular verbs have similar forms in present, past, and past participles. Their spelling and pronunciation are the same.

However, sometimes we use irregular verbs with the exact spelling, but we pronounce their second form differently. For example, when we use the verb “read” in the past tense, we read it as “Red.”

In this group of irregular verbs, the past and past participle forms remain the same.

Using irregular verbs correctly in different sentence structures depends on the practice you do every day. One of the best method of learning and memorizing them is to use them in your speaking and writing practice. Take a look at the following examples used in everyday life;

Irregular verbs are those verbs in English grammar that do not follow the similar pattern of regular verbs while using them in present, past, and past particle forms. Learning the correct use of irregular verbs is not only useful but also a significant part of your proper communication skills in English. Memorizing and using irregular verbs in your communication is the best method to learn them.

I hope this article helped you to learn what are irregular verbs and how to use them correctly in English. If you liked this article, please subscribe to our newsletter for more articles and language-learning tips. You can also follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.