Irregular Verbs List: V1, V2, V3 Forms With Examples

Some of the most common English verbs are irregular. Go becomes went and gone, write becomes wrote and written, while cut stays cut in all three forms.

An irregular verb does not follow the standard regular pattern for forming its past form, past participle, or both. The V1–V2–V3 list below gives you the base form, past form, and past participle of useful irregular verbs, including important variants that depend on meaning or variety of English.

V1 V2 V3 Quick Chart

The three forms used in an irregular verb list are:

Compare them in sentences:

We take the train to work most mornings.

We took an earlier train yesterday.

We have taken this route several times.

V2 is commonly used in the simple past tense. V3 is the past participle form and is used in structures such as perfect constructions and many passive constructions. You can see its grammatical uses in more detail in participles in English grammar.

If you need the V4 -ing form and V5 third-person singular form as well, see the complete V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 verb forms list.

What Is an Irregular Verb?

An irregular verb is a verb whose past form, past participle, or both do not follow the standard regular -ed pattern.

A regular verb usually changes predictably:

call → called → called

start → started → started

Irregular verbs can change in different ways:

speak → spoke → spoken

leave → left → left

run → ran → run

put → put → put

Sometimes only one of the later forms shows the irregularity:

show → showed → shown

So you cannot identify every irregular verb simply by looking for a V2 form that does not end in -ed.

There is no single rule that forms every irregular verb. However, several recurring patterns appear across the list, and recognizing them can make the forms easier to remember.

For a fuller comparison of the two systems, see regular and irregular verbs.

Irregular Verbs List

An asterisk (*) marks a verb with an important variation or meaning-dependent form explained later on the page.

Irregular Verbs A–F

Irregular Verbs G–L

Irregular Verbs M–R

Irregular Verbs S–Z

Common Irregular Verb Patterns

Irregular verbs do not all change in the same way, but several patterns appear repeatedly. These are useful ways to organize the forms, not rules that can be applied to every verb.

V1, V2, and V3 Stay the Same

Some verbs keep exactly the same form.

hurt → hurt → hurt

let → let → let

spread → spread → spread

split → split → split

The surrounding sentence tells you which form is being used.

These shoes sometimes hurt my feet.

My ankle hurt after the game.

My shoulder has hurt since Monday.

V2 and V3 Are the Same

Many irregular verbs change once and then keep the same form for V2 and V3.

keep → kept → kept

lose → lost → lost

meet → met → met

sell → sold → sold

think → thought → thought

Compare:

Mia lost her keys yesterday.

She has lost them before.

The Vowel Changes

Some irregular verbs form V2 and V3 by changing a vowel inside the word.

begin → began → begun

ring → rang → rung

sink → sank → sunk

spring → sprang → sprung

The exact change is not predictable for every verb, but grouping similar forms can make them easier to notice.

V3 Ends in -n or -en

A number of common past participles end in -n or -en.

bite → bit → bitten

choose → chose → chosen

freeze → froze → frozen

tear → tore → torn

wear → wore → worn

The ending is a useful pattern to recognize, but it is not a general rule for forming V3.

V1 and V3 Are the Same

A few verbs change in V2 and then return to the base form in V3.

become → became → become

come → came → come

run → ran → run

For example:

Ben ran five miles yesterday.

He has run the same route many times.

Important Irregular Verb Notes

Some entries need more context because the correct V2 or V3 form can depend on meaning, region, or usage.

Be Has Several Present and Past Forms

Be is unusually irregular.

Its V1–V2–V3 pattern is:

be → was/were → been

The present form changes according to the subject:

I am available.

Chloe is outside.

We are ready.

V2 also has two forms:

The room was quiet.

The streets were crowded.

V3 remains been:

They have been here before.

Bear: Borne or Born?

For most meanings, the V3 form of bear is borne.

The old bridge has borne heavy traffic for decades.

Born is used when referring to birth:

Ethan was born in Chicago.

So the usual verb pattern is:

bear → bore → borne

while born belongs to the special birth construction.

Cost: Cost or Costed?

When cost means to have a price, V1, V2, and V3 normally look the same.

cost → cost → cost

The replacement parts cost less than we expected.

When cost means to calculate the expected price of a project, service, or plan, costed is used.

The renovation had been costed before the work was approved.

The meaning determines which form is appropriate.

Get: Got or Gotten?

The V2 form of get is got.

Jordan got home after midnight.

For V3, usage differs between varieties of English.

Got is standard in British English:

The weather has got colder.

Gotten remains common in American English in many meanings:

The children have gotten much taller.

This is why the table includes both got and gotten as V3 forms.

Hang: Hung or Hanged?

For ordinary meanings of hang, the forms are:

hang → hung → hung

Leo hung his coat beside the door.

The photographs had been hung in a straight line.

Hanged is conventionally used when the verb refers to execution by hanging.

He was hanged for the crime.

The choice depends mainly on meaning.

Light: Lit or Lighted?

Both lit and lighted are established forms of light.

Someone had lit a fire in the fireplace.

The stage was brightly lighted for the performance.

So both of these patterns can occur:

light → lit → lit

light → lighted → lighted

Certain expressions favor one form, but both are standard.

Prove: Proved or Proven?

The V2 form is normally proved.

The experiment proved that the assumption was wrong.

For V3, both proved and proven are established:

Her explanation has proved useful.

The treatment has been proven effective.

Proven is especially common in American English and also occurs frequently before nouns:

a proven strategy

Read: Same Spelling, Different Pronunciation

The spelling stays unchanged:

read → read → read

The pronunciation does not.

V1 read rhymes with need:

Priya reads before bed.

V2 and V3 read rhyme with bed:

She read the final chapter last night.

She has read the novel twice.

The unchanged spelling can make this verb look regular at first, but the pronunciation and past forms are irregular.

Shine: Shone or Shined?

Both shone and shined are used, but they are not always equally natural in the same context.

When shine refers to giving or reflecting light, shone is common:

Morning sunlight shone across the kitchen floor.

When someone polishes something, shined is common:

Marcus shined the silver before dinner.

Meaning therefore helps determine which form is more natural.

Strike and Stricken

For ordinary uses of strike, the main pattern is:

strike → struck → struck

The clock struck twelve.

The storm has struck several coastal towns.

Stricken appears in particular expressions connected with serious illness, hardship, disaster, or distress:

Medical teams arrived in the disease-stricken area.

For general V1–V2–V3 learning, struck is the main V3 form.

Wake: Woke or Waked?

The most common everyday pattern is:

wake → woke → woken

Nora woke when the alarm rang.

The baby has woken twice tonight.

Waked is also an accepted V2 and V3 form, although it is less common in many everyday contexts.

Weave: Wove, Woven, or Weaved?

When weave refers to making cloth, baskets, or similar objects by crossing materials, the usual forms are:

weave → wove → woven

The artisan wove thin strips of bamboo together.

The rug was woven from wool.

Weaved is often used when describing movement that repeatedly changes direction:

The runner weaved between the cones.

The preferred form can therefore depend on the meaning.

Lie or Lay?

Lie and lay cause confusion because lay is both a separate verb and the V2 form of lie.

Lie

When lie means to rest in a horizontal position:

lie → lay → lain

The cat likes to lie beside the window.

It lay there all afternoon yesterday.

It had lain in the same spot for hours.

This meaning of lie normally does not take a direct object.

Lay

Lay means to put or place something somewhere and normally takes an object.

lay → laid → laid

Lay the towels on the shelf.

Olivia laid the map on the table.

She had laid her phone beside it.

A useful distinction is:

• lie → lay → lain = be or rest in a position
• lay → laid → laid = put something somewhere

There is also a different verb lie, meaning to say something that is not true. That verb is regular:

lie → lied → lied

British and American Verb Form Variants

English sometimes has two accepted forms for the same verb.

For example:

burn → burned / burnt

dream → dreamed / dreamt

kneel → kneeled / knelt

lean → leaned / leant

leap → leaped / leapt

learn → learned / learnt

smell → smelled / smelt

spell → spelled / spelt

spill → spilled / spilt

American English commonly favors forms such as burned, dreamed, learned, smelled, spelled, and spilled.

Forms such as burnt, dreamt, learnt, smelt, spelt, and spilt remain common in British English and other varieties.

These are established variations rather than simple right-or-wrong choices. The form you use can depend on the variety of English you are following.

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