Regular and irregular verbs
Regular and irregular verbs are two groups of verbs classified by how they form their past tense and past participle. Regular verbs add "-ed" (walk, walked, walked), following a predictable pattern. Irregular verbs change form in unpredictable ways (go, went, gone), so their past tense and participle must be learned individually rather than by a fixed rule.
Types of regular and irregular verbs
Regular verbs
Verbs that form the past simple and past participle by adding -ed (or -d, -ied) to the base form.
e.g. walk, walked, walked, play, played, played, study, studied, studied
Irregular verbs with all forms different
The base form, past simple and past participle are all different words.
e.g. go, went, gone, eat, ate, eaten, break, broke, broken
Irregular verbs with two identical forms
The past simple and past participle are the same, but different from the base form.
e.g. buy, bought, bought, sit, sat, sat, find, found, found
Irregular verbs with all forms identical
The base form, past simple and past participle are all the same word.
e.g. cut, cut, cut, put, put, put, set, set, set
Rules to remember
- Regular verbs always add -ed to the base form for both past simple and past participle (unless the verb already ends in -e, in which case only -d is added).
- For regular verbs ending in a consonant plus -y, change the -y to -ied (study becomes studied); if a vowel comes before the -y, just add -ed (play becomes played).
- For short regular verbs ending in a single vowel plus a consonant, double the final consonant before adding -ed (stop becomes stopped).
- Irregular verbs do not follow a spelling rule; each one has its own past simple and past participle form that must be memorised (see, saw, seen).
- The past participle (not the past simple) is used with have/has/had for perfect tenses and with be for passive voice, so it is essential to know both irregular forms.
Examples in sentences
| Example | How it works |
|---|---|
| She walked to the office yesterday morning. | Regular verb 'walk' takes -ed in the past simple. |
| They have studied English for three years. | Regular verb 'study' changes y to ied for the past participle. |
| He went to Paris last summer. | Irregular verb 'go' changes completely to 'went' in the past simple. |
| I have never eaten sushi before. | Irregular verb 'eat' uses the distinct past participle 'eaten' with 'have'. |
| The window was broken during the storm. | Irregular past participle 'broken' is used in the passive voice. |
| We cut the cake before the guests arrived. | Irregular verb 'cut' keeps the same form in base, past and participle. |
Common mistakes
Incorrect: She goed to the shop yesterday.
Correct: She went to the shop yesterday.
Incorrect: I have wrote three essays this week.
Correct: I have written three essays this week.
Incorrect: He studyed hard for the exam.
Correct: He studied hard for the exam.
Why this matters for IELTS
Accurate use of regular and irregular verb forms directly affects the Grammatical Range and Accuracy score in IELTS Writing and Speaking. Common irregular verb errors, such as "have went" or "buyed", signal limited control of tense and can cap your band even if vocabulary is strong. Practising irregular past participles for perfect tenses and passive structures allows you to produce more complex, accurate sentences, which examiners reward with higher marks.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between regular and irregular verbs?
Regular verbs form the past simple and past participle by adding -ed following a predictable pattern, while irregular verbs change form in ways that are not predictable and must be memorised individually.
How many irregular verbs are there in English?
There are around 150 to 200 commonly used irregular verbs in English, though some lists include over 250 when rarer forms are counted.
Why do irregular verbs not follow spelling rules?
Irregular verbs come from older forms of English that survived changes in the language over time, so they kept unique patterns instead of adopting the regular -ed ending.
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