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English irregular verbs: full list with audio (169 verbs)

Base form, past simple and past participle of the 169 most useful irregular verbs, with meaning, example, pronunciation and the CEFR level of each verb.

Test yourself: 10 random verbs

Write the past simple and the past participle.

Base	Past simple	Past participle	Meaning	Example
B1 arise	arose	arisen	to appear or begin to happento arise	A problem arose just before the meeting started.
A1 awake	awoke	awoken	to wake up or wake someoneto awake	I awoke to the sound of heavy rain.
A1 be	was/were	been	to exist or have a qualityto be	She was very tired after the long flight.
A1 bear	bore	borne	to carry or endure somethingto bear	He bore the pain without complaining.
B1 beat	beat	beaten	to defeat someone or hit repeatedlyto beat	Our team beat the champions last night.
A1 become	became	become	to start to be somethingto become	My brother became a teacher in 2019.
A1 begin	began	begun	to start doing somethingto begin	The concert began at eight o’clock.
A2 bend	bent	bent	to curve or lean the bodyto bend	She bent down to tie her shoe.
B1 bet	bet	bet	to risk money on an uncertain resultto bet	He bet ten euros on the home team.
B2 bid	bid	bid	to offer a price at an auctionto bid	She bid two hundred pounds for the old clock.
B2 bind	bound	bound	to tie or fasten tightlyto bind	They bound the old books with a leather strap.
A2 bite	bit	bitten	to cut something with the teethto bite	The dog bit the postman on the leg.
B1 bleed	bled	bled	to lose bloodto bleed	His finger bled after he cut it.
A1 blow	blew	blown	to move air or push air outto blow	The wind blew my hat into the river.
A1 break	broke	broken	to separate into pieces or stop workingto break	I broke my phone screen yesterday.
B1 breed	bred	bred	to produce young animals or raise themto breed	Her family bred horses for many years.
A1 bring	brought	brought	to carry something to a placeto bring	Please bring your passport to the interview.
B1 broadcast	broadcast	broadcast	to send out a radio or TV programmeto broadcast	The station broadcast the match live to millions.
A1 build	built	built	to make something by putting parts togetherto build	They built a small cabin near the lake.
A2 burn	burned/burnt	burned/burnt	to be on fire or damage with fireto burn	I burnt the toast again this morning.
B1 burst	burst	burst	to break open suddenlyto burst	The balloon burst with a loud bang.
A1 buy	bought	bought	to get something by paying moneyto buy	We bought fresh bread at the market.
B2 cast	cast	cast	to throw or give a role to an actorto cast	The director cast a young unknown actress.
A1 catch	caught	caught	to take hold of something movingto catch	He caught the ball with one hand.
A1 choose	chose	chosen	to select from several optionsto choose	She chose the blue dress for the party.
cling	clung	clung	to hold on tightlyto cling	The child clung to her mother’s hand.
A1 come	came	come	to move towards the speakerto come	My cousin came to visit us last week.
A2 cost	cost	cost	to have a priceto cost	The repair cost more than the old car.
creep	crept	crept	to move slowly and quietlyto creep	The cat crept across the kitchen floor.
A1 cut	cut	cut	to divide or remove with a sharp toolto cut	She cut the cake into eight pieces.
A2 deal	dealt	dealt	to handle a situation or give out cardsto deal	He dealt with the complaint very calmly.
A1 dig	dug	dug	to make a hole in the groundto dig	The children dug a deep hole in the sand.
A1 do	did	done	to perform an action or taskto do	I did my homework before dinner.
A1 draw	drew	drawn	to make a picture with a pencil or pento draw	She drew a small house on the paper.
A1 dream	dreamed/dreamt	dreamed/dreamt	to imagine events while sleepingto dream	Last night I dreamt about my old school.
A1 drink	drank	drunk	to swallow a liquidto drink	He drank two glasses of water after running.
A1 drive	drove	driven	to control a vehicleto drive	We drove through the mountains all afternoon.
dwell	dwelt/dwelled	dwelt/dwelled	to live in a placeto dwell	Wild bears once dwelt in these forests.
A1 eat	ate	eaten	to put food in the mouth and swallowto eat	They ate dinner on the balcony.
A2 fall	fell	fallen	to drop down to a lower placeto fall	Snow fell all night long.
A1 feed	fed	fed	to give food to a person or animalto feed	She fed the ducks in the park.
A1 feel	felt	felt	to experience a physical or emotional stateto feel	I felt nervous before the exam.
A1 fight	fought	fought	to struggle against someone physically or in warto fight	The two brothers fought over the remote control.
A1 find	found	found	to discover something by looking or chanceto find	I found my keys under the sofa.
B2 flee	fled	fled	to run away from dangerto flee	Many families fled the city during the flood.
fling	flung	flung	to throw something with forceto fling	He flung his bag onto the bed.
A1 fly	flew	flown	to travel through the airto fly	We flew to Dublin early in the morning.
A2 forbid	forbade	forbidden	to order someone not to do somethingto forbid	My parents forbade me to go out late.
B1 forecast	forecast/forecasted	forecast/forecasted	to predict what will happento forecast	The experts forecast heavy rain for the weekend.
B2 foresee	foresaw	foreseen	to know in advance what will happento foresee	Nobody foresaw how quickly prices would rise.
A1 forget	forgot	forgotten	to fail to rememberto forget	I forgot her birthday again this year.
B1 forgive	forgave	forgiven	to stop being angry with someoneto forgive	She forgave him for breaking the vase.
A2 freeze	froze	frozen	to become hard because of coldto freeze	The lake froze during the night.
A1 get	got	got (UK) / gotten (US)	to receive, obtain or becometo get	I got a letter from the bank today.
A1 give	gave	given	to hand something to someoneto give	He gave me a book for my birthday.
A1 go	went	gone	to move to another placeto go	We went to the beach last summer.
grind	ground	ground	to crush into small pieces or powderto grind	She ground the coffee beans every morning.
A1 grow	grew	grown	to increase in size or developto grow	Tomatoes grew well in our small garden.
B1 hang	hung	hung	to attach something so it is above the groundto hang	She hung her coat on the hook.
A1 have	had	had	to own, hold or experienceto have	We had a great time at the festival.
A1 hear	heard	heard	to notice sounds with the earsto hear	I heard strange noises in the attic.
A1 hide	hid	hidden	to put something where it cannot be seento hide	The kids hid behind the big tree.
A2 hit	hit	hit	to strike someone or something with forceto hit	The ball hit the window and broke it.
A1 hold	held	held	to carry or keep in the handsto hold	He held the baby very gently.
A1 hurt	hurt	hurt	to cause pain or injuryto hurt	I hurt my knee playing football.
A1 keep	kept	kept	to continue to have or do somethingto keep	She kept all his letters in a box.
B2 kneel	knelt/kneeled	knelt/kneeled	to go down on the kneesto kneel	He knelt down to look under the bed.
A1 know	knew	known	to have information in the mindto know	I knew the answer immediately.
B1 lay	laid	laid	to put something down carefullyto lay	She laid the baby in the cot.
A2 lead	led	led	to guide or be in frontto lead	The guide led us through the old town.
B1 lean	leaned/leant	leaned/leant	to bend or rest against somethingto lean	She leant against the wall and waited.
B1 leap	leapt/leaped	leapt/leaped	to jump a long way or highto leap	The cat leapt onto the kitchen table.
A1 learn	learned/learnt	learned/learnt	to gain knowledge or a skillto learn	I learnt to swim when I was six.
A1 leave	left	left	to go away from a placeto leave	They left the party at midnight.
A2 lend	lent	lent	to give something for a short timeto lend	Could you lend me your umbrella for today?
A1 let	let	let	to allow someone to do somethingto let	My boss let me leave early on Friday.
A2 lie	lay	lain	to be in a flat positionto lie	The dog lay in the sun all afternoon.
A1 light	lit	lit	to start a fire or make brightto light	He lit a candle in the dark room.
A2 lose	lost	lost	to be unable to find or to fail to winto lose	We lost the match in the final minute.
A1 make	made	made	to create or produce somethingto make	She made a cake for his birthday.
A1 mean	meant	meant	to have a particular sense or intendto mean	I meant to call you earlier.
A1 meet	met	met	to see someone for the first time or by planto meet	We met at university ten years ago.
B1 mislead	misled	misled	to give someone a wrong ideato mislead	The advert misled many customers about the price.
A2 mistake	mistook	mistaken	to wrongly think one thing is anotherto mistake	I mistook him for his older brother.
B1 overcome	overcame	overcome	to succeed in dealing with a problemto overcome	She overcame her fear of flying.
override	overrode	overridden	to cancel or ignore a decisionto override	The manager overrode the committee’s decision.
oversleep	overslept	overslept	to sleep longer than plannedto oversleep	I overslept and missed the first bus.
B2 overtake	overtook	overtaken	to pass a vehicle or person going the same wayto overtake	The red car overtook us on the bridge.
A1 pay	paid	paid	to give money for somethingto pay	I paid for the tickets online.
A1 put	put	put	to place something somewhereto put	She put the keys on the table.
A2 quit	quit	quit	to stop doing something or leave a jobto quit	He quit his job and moved abroad.
A1 read	read	read	to look at and understand written wordsto read	I read the whole book in two days.
B1 rebuild	rebuilt	rebuilt	to build something againto rebuild	They rebuilt the bridge after the flood.
B1 rewrite	rewrote	rewritten	to write something again to improve itto rewrite	He rewrote the essay after the teacher’s comments.
A1 ride	rode	ridden	to sit on and control a bicycle or horseto ride	We rode our bikes along the river.
A1 ring	rang	rung	to make a bell sound or phone someoneto ring	The phone rang twice and then stopped.
B1 rise	rose	risen	to go up or increaseto rise	Prices rose sharply last year.
A1 run	ran	run	to move quickly on footto run	She ran to the station to catch the train.
A1 say	said	said	to speak wordsto say	He said he would be late.
A1 see	saw	seen	to notice with the eyesto see	We saw a rainbow after the storm.
A2 seek	sought	sought	to look for or try to getto seek	They sought help from a local lawyer.
A1 sell	sold	sold	to give something in exchange for moneyto sell	He sold his old bike for fifty euros.
A2 send	sent	sent	to make something go to another placeto send	I sent her a message this morning.
A1 set	set	set	to put in a position or prepareto set	He set the table for six people.
A2 sew	sewed	sewn/sewed	to join cloth using a needle and threadto sew	My grandmother sewed all our costumes by hand.
A1 shake	shook	shaken	to move quickly up and down or side to sideto shake	He shook my hand and smiled.
B2 shed	shed	shed	to lose or drop naturallyto shed	The trees shed their leaves in October.
A2 shine	shone	shone	to give out bright lightto shine	The sun shone brightly all morning.
A2 shoot	shot	shot	to fire a weapon or kick at a goalto shoot	He shot the ball into the net.
A1 show	showed	shown	to let someone see somethingto show	She showed us photos from her trip.
B2 shrink	shrank	shrunk	to become smallerto shrink	My sweater shrank in the wash.
A2 shut	shut	shut	to close somethingto shut	He shut the door quietly behind him.
A1 sing	sang	sung	to make music with the voiceto sing	The children sang a song for their teacher.
A2 sink	sank	sunk	to go down below the surface of waterto sink	The old boat sank in a few minutes.
A1 sit	sat	sat	to rest with the body on a seatto sit	We sat by the fire and talked.
A1 sleep	slept	slept	to rest with the eyes closedto sleep	The baby slept through the whole night.
A2 slide	slid	slid	to move smoothly over a surfaceto slide	The boy slid down the hill on a tray.
sling	slung	slung	to throw carelessly or hang looselyto sling	She slung her bag over her shoulder.
A1 smell	smelled/smelt	smelled/smelt	to notice or give off an odourto smell	The kitchen smelt of fresh bread.
sow	sowed	sown/sowed	to plant seeds in the groundto sow	Farmers sowed the wheat in early spring.
A1 speak	spoke	spoken	to say words aloudto speak	She spoke to the manager about the delay.
A2 speed	sped/speeded	sped/speeded	to move very fastto speed	The ambulance sped down the empty street.
A1 spell	spelled/spelt	spelled/spelt	to write or say letters of a wordto spell	He spelt his surname for the clerk.
A1 spend	spent	spent	to use money or timeto spend	We spent two weeks in Italy.
A2 spill	spilled/spilt	spilled/spilt	to let liquid fall out by accidentto spill	I spilt coffee on my new shirt.
B2 spin	spun	spun	to turn around quicklyto spin	The dancer spun around on one foot.
spit	spat	spat	to send liquid out of the mouthto spit	He spat the bitter medicine into the sink.
A2 split	split	split	to divide into partsto split	We split the bill between the four of us.
B1 spoil	spoiled/spoilt	spoiled/spoilt	to damage or ruin somethingto spoil	The rain spoilt our picnic completely.
A2 spread	spread	spread	to cover a surface or reach more placesto spread	The news spread through the village quickly.
A1 spring	sprang	sprung	to jump suddenlyto spring	The tiger sprang from behind the rock.
A1 stand	stood	stood	to be upright on the feetto stand	We stood in line for an hour.
A2 steal	stole	stolen	to take something that is not yoursto steal	Someone stole my bicycle outside the shop.
B1 stick	stuck	stuck	to attach with glue or become fixedto stick	The key stuck in the lock again.
sting	stung	stung	to hurt with a small sharp pointto sting	A wasp stung him on the arm.
B2 stink	stank	stunk	to have a very bad smellto stink	The old fridge stank of fish.
B2 stride	strode	stridden	to walk with long confident stepsto stride	He strode into the room and greeted everyone.
A2 strike	struck	struck	to hit or to stop work in protestto strike	Lightning struck the tall tree in the field.
B2 strive	strove	striven	to try very hard to achieve somethingto strive	She strove to finish the project on time.
B1 swear	swore	sworn	to promise formally or use rude wordsto swear	He swore to tell the whole truth.
B2 sweep	swept	swept	to clean with a brushto sweep	I swept the kitchen floor after dinner.
B1 swell	swelled	swollen/swelled	to become larger or rounderto swell	Her ankle swelled up after the fall.
A1 swim	swam	swum	to move through water using the bodyto swim	We swam in the lake every morning.
B2 swing	swung	swung	to move back and forthto swing	The children swung on the old rope.
A1 take	took	taken	to pick up or carry to another placeto take	She took the bus to work today.
A1 teach	taught	taught	to give lessons or show how to do somethingto teach	My uncle taught me how to drive.
A2 tear	tore	torn	to pull apart or ripto tear	He tore the letter in half.
A1 tell	told	told	to give information to someoneto tell	She told me a funny story about her dog.
A1 think	thought	thought	to use the mind to form ideasto think	I thought about your offer all night.
A1 throw	threw	thrown	to send something through the airto throw	He threw the ball over the fence.
thrust	thrust	thrust	to push something suddenly with forceto thrust	She thrust the map into my hands.
B2 tread	trod	trodden	to walk or step on somethingto tread	He trod carefully on the icy path.
B1 undergo	underwent	undergone	to experience something unpleasant or difficultto undergo	She underwent surgery on her knee last spring.
A2 understand	understood	understood	to know the meaning of somethingto understand	I finally understood the rules of the game.
B2 undertake	undertook	undertaken	to agree to do a taskto undertake	The company undertook the repair of the old bridge.
B1 undo	undid	undone	to open or reverse something done beforeto undo	She undid the knot and freed the rope.
uphold	upheld	upheld	to support a decision or principleto uphold	The court upheld the original decision.
A2 upset	upset	upset	to make someone unhappy or knock overto upset	His rude comment upset everyone at the table.
A1 wake	woke	woken	to stop sleepingto wake	The alarm woke me at six.
A1 wear	wore	worn	to have clothes on the bodyto wear	She wore a red coat to the wedding.
B2 weave	wove	woven	to make cloth by crossing threadsto weave	They wove baskets from long dry grass.
A2 weep	wept	wept	to cry tearsto weep	She wept quietly at the sad news.
A1 win	won	won	to be the best in a competitionto win	Our school won the national chess contest.
A1 wind	wound	wound	to turn something around and aroundto wind	He wound the scarf twice around his neck.
B2 withdraw	withdrew	withdrawn	to take money out or move backto withdraw	I withdrew fifty euros from the cash machine.
withhold	withheld	withheld	to refuse to give somethingto withhold	The bank withheld the money until the form was signed.
withstand	withstood	withstood	to resist something without damageto withstand	The old walls withstood many centuries of storms.
wring	wrung	wrung	to twist and squeeze water outto wring	She wrung out the wet towel.
A1 write	wrote	written	to put words on paper or a screento write	He wrote a long letter to his friend.

Tip: learn verbs in groups with the same pattern — cut/cut/cut, buy/bought/bought, sing/sang/sung. Want more? See the phrasal verbs list.