Past & Past Participles of Common Irregular Verbs

Dozens and dozens of English verbs have irregular past tense forms, as well as irregular past participles. If you are studying English grammar, you may want to memorize the common irregular past and past participles listed here. This list is not exhaustive by any means, but these are common verbs English speakers use every day.

Lucky for you, English present participles, except for the occasional change from the letter y to the letter i, are fairly straightforward. Just add ing.

If you have questions about a particular verb, check your dictionary. In the following table, the first column is the infinitive form of the verb. (The infinitive is the “to + verb” form — to laugh, to cry, to learn grammar, and so on.) The second column is the simple past tense. The third column is the past participle, which is combined with has (singular) or have (plural) to form the present perfect tense. The past participle is also used with had to form the past perfect tense.