Sorry! Search is currently unavailable while the database is being updated, it will be back in 5 mins!

Irregular Verbs - Part 2

Irregular Verbs - Part 1

Irregular Verbs - Part 3

In last month's first part, we saw how a regular verb conjugates into the past tense and past participle by simply adding -ed to the end of the infinitive: ask/asked, talk/talked, watch/watched etc. Irregular verbs, on the other hand, each follow their own set of rules of conjugation. There are, however, some more basic patterns that can help you remember how to conjugate some of these irregular verbs. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Some verbs switch their central vowels to an "o" in the past and past participle, such as the verbs "to break" (broke, broken),"to choose" (choose, chosen), "to forget" (forgot, forgotten), "to freeze" (froze, frozen), "to get" (got, gotten), "to speak" (spoke, spoken), "to tear" (tore, torn) "to wake" (woke, woken) and "to wear" (wore, worn). Here is the verb "to steal" in the past and past participle:

 

Then they took you away, stole you out of my life

Caption 41, Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans

 Play Caption

 

They've stolen my heart away. 

Captions 49-50, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four - BBC TV Movie

 Play Caption


Many verbs with "ee" as the central vowels change to a single "e" in past and past participle, and these are made easier in that the past and past participle forms are the same: "to bleed" (bled), "to feel" (felt), "to keep" (kept), "to lead" (led), and "to meet" (met). A few more examples using the verbs "to sleep" and "to feed":
 

The Frog slept all night and it was hardly light.

Caption 8, Fairy Tales - The Frog King

 Play Caption

 

They have fed quite well.

Caption 53, Nature & Wildlife - Search for the Ghost Bear

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Find examples of the verbs listed above in past and past participle and learn them by searching for examples on Yabla English to see them used in a real-world context.