Learn Irregular Verbs Easily

Most irregular verbs follow specific sound and spelling patterns. This guide groups irregular verbs into 8 pattern families to help you see how they change and memorize them more easily.

What do V1, V2, and V3 mean?

The 8 Irregular Verb Patterns

1. No Change

V1 = V2 = V3

cost, cut, hit, hurt, let, put, quit, shut

2. Vowel Change

V2 = V3

find–found–found

get–got–got

sell–sold–sold

sit–sat–sat

stand–stood–stood

tell–told–told

understand–understood–understood

win–won–won

3. V2 and V3 End in -t

build–built–built

burn–burnt–burnt

deal–dealt–dealt

dream–dreamt–dreamt

learn–learnt–learnt

lend–lent–lent

send–sent–sent

spend–spent–spent

Note: In British English, these verbs end in -t (burnt, dreamt, learnt), while American English typically uses -ed (burned, dreamed, learned).

4. -ought / -aught

V2 and V3 both end in -ought or -aught

bring–brought–brought

buy–bought–bought

catch–caught–caught

teach–taught–taught

think–thought–thought

5. -ew / -own or -awn

V2 ends in -ew, V3 ends in -own or -awn

blow–blew–blown

draw–drew–drawn

fly–flew–flown

grow–grew–grown

know–knew–known

throw–threw–thrown

6. V3 = V2 + n

break–broke–broken

choose–chose–chosen

speak–spoke–spoken

steal–stole–stolen

wake–woke–woken

7. V3 = V1 + n

(sometimes the last letter doubles)

bite–bit–bitten

drive–drove–driven

forgive–forgave–forgiven

give–gave–given

hide–hid–hidden

ride–rode–ridden

rise–rose–risen

write–wrote–written

8. i → a → u

V1 has i, V2 has a, V3 has u

begin–began–begun

drink–drank–drunk

ring–rang–rung

sing–sang–sung

swim–swam–swum

How to Use This Guide

• Keep it visible. Print it out, put it on your wall, or save it on your phone so you see it every day.

• Learn a little every day. Focus on 1 or 2 groups at a time and say the words out loud (sing – sang – sung).

• Use them when you speak. Try making your own sentences or short stories using the past forms you just learnt.

Irregular verbs are one of the trickiest parts of English grammar. Unlike regular verbs, which simply add "-ed" to form the past tense, irregular verbs change in different ways, and there's no single rule to follow. This makes them a common challenge for English learners and a frequent topic in ESL classes and grammar lessons. Instead of memorizing a long, random list, grouping irregular verbs by pattern makes them easier to recognize, remember, and use correctly when speaking and writing.