Learning grammar and language skills can be a daunting task for kids, but it doesn’t have to be boring! One of the fundamental aspects of English grammar is verbs, and within this category, there are regular and irregular verbs. Irregular verbs can be tricky for young learners, as they don’t follow the standard rules for verb conjugation. However, with the right approach and a handy list of irregular verbs, kids can master them in no time. In this article, we’ll explore the world of irregular verbs and provide you with a comprehensive list to help your child’s language development.

Table of Contents

What Are Irregular Verbs?

Before we dive into the list of irregular verbs, let’s briefly understand what irregular verbs are. In English, most verbs follow a regular pattern when conjugated into different tenses. For example, with regular verbs, you can simply add “-ed” to the base form to create the past tense (e.g., “walk” becomes “walked”). However, irregular verbs don’t follow this rule and undergo unique changes in their base form to form the past tense.

Download the Irregular Verb List

(From Here)

List of Irregular Verb

Bare form – Past simple – Past participle

Buy – bought – bought
Shoot – shot – shot
Lent – lent – lent
Swim – swam – swum
Swing – swung – swung
Say – said – said
Take – took – taken
Tear – tore – torn
Think – thought – thought
Cling – clung – clung
Hold – held – held
Understand – understood – understood
Let–let–let
Run – ran – run
Beat – beat – beaten
Forbid – forbade – forbidden
Shake – shook – shaken
Mean – meant – meant
Throw – threw – thrown
Bite – bit – bitten
Break – broke – broken
Tell – told – told
Sit – sat – sat
Swell – swelled – swelled
Set – set – set
Feed – fed – fed
Swear – swore – sworn
Sleep – slept – slept
Stink – stank – stunk
Saw – sawed – sawn
Win – won – won
Wake – woke – woken
Grind – ground – ground
Forget – forgot – forgotten
Leave – left – left
Pay – paid – paid
Rise – rose – risen
Speak – spoke – spoken
Sweep – swept – swept
Burn – burnt – burnt
Overtake – overtook – overtaken
Come – came – come
Hurt – hurt – hurt
Sell – sold – sold
Weep – wept – wept
Shine – shone – shone
Have – had – had
Lay – laid – laid
Become – became – become
Blow – blew – blown
Get – got – got
Make – made – made
Sink – sank – sunk
Go – went – gone
Sing – sang – sung
Fight – fought – fought
Cost – cost – cost
Keep – kept – kept
Sew – sewed – sewn/ sewed
Teach – taught – taught
Spread – spread – spread
Steal – stole – stolen
Cut – cut – cut
Feel – felt – felt
Hang – hung – hung
Know – knew – known
Begin – began – begun
Hit – hit – hit
Ride – rode – ridden
Hide – hid – hidden
Bind – bound – bound
Breed – bred – bred
Do – did – done
Grow – grew – grown
Kneel – knelt – knelt
Meet – met – met
Eat – ate – eaten
Build – built – built
Draw – drew – drawn
Bring – brought – brought
Shut – shut – shut
Fly – flew – flown
Smell – smelt – smelt
Dream – dreamed/dreamt – dreamed/dreamt
Spit – spat – spat
Broadcast – broadcast – broadcast
Slide – slid – slid
Give – gave – given
Lose – lost – lost
Learn – learnt – learnt
Light – lighted/lit – lighted/lit
Catch – caught – caught
Lead – led – led
Stick – stuck – stuck
Put – put – put
Lean – leant/ leaned – leant/ leaned
Show – showed – shown
Find – found – found
Be – was/ were – been
Shrink – shrank – shrunk
Wind – wound – wound
Strike – struck – struck
Sting – stung – stung
Creep – crept – crept
Shed – shed – shed
Choose – chose – chosen
See – sawed – seen
Read – read – read
Arise – arose – arisen
Write – wrote – written
Awake – awoke – awoken
Ring – rang – rung
Freeze – froze – frozen
Fall – fell – fallen
Hear – heard – heard
Stand – stood – stood
Sow – sowed – sown/ sowed
Bet – bet – bet
Bend – bent – bent
Bear – bore – born(e)
Spend – spent – spent
Drive – drove – driven
Bleed – bled – bled
Remake–remade–remade
Misunderstand–misunderstood–misunderstood
Dig – dug–dug
Forgive – forgave – forgiven
Drink – drank – drunk
Wear – wore – worn
Spill – spilt/ spilled – spilt/ spilled
Lie (in bed) – lay – lain
Deal – dealt – dealt
Burst – burst – burst
Send – sent – sent

How to Teach Irregular Verbs to Kids

Visual Aids: Use flashcards or visual aids with colorful images to represent each verb. This visual association can help kids remember the irregular forms more easily.
Engaging Activities: Incorporate fun activities like games, puzzles, or story-telling to practice irregular verbs. For example, you can create a “verb hunt” game where kids search for irregular verbs in a storybook.
Repetition: Practice makes perfect. Encourage your child to use irregular verbs in sentences regularly to reinforce their understanding.
Storytelling: Narrating stories that use irregular verbs can be a captivating way for kids to learn. Create imaginative stories that incorporate the verbs from the list.
Daily Conversation: Encourage your child to use these verbs in their daily conversations. This practical application helps solidify their understanding.