VERBS → IRREGULAR VERBS · RULE 19
Irregular verbs
About 200 English verbs ignore -ed. Here are the fifty you will actually meet — learn them in threes: go, went, gone.
FORMULA
V1 → V2 → V3
HOW THE THREE WORK
V1
I see her every day.
base — present
V2
I saw her yesterday.
past simple
V3
I have seen her before.
after have / has / had
V2 lives alone in the past. V3 never walks alone — it always brings have, has or had.
EASY GANGS
no change at allput — put — put · cut — cut — cut
V2 = V3buy — bought — bought · teach — taught — taught
the -ew familyknow — knew — known · grow — grew — grown
START WITH THE TOP 10
be → was/were · been
go → went · gone
have → had · had
do → did · done
say → said · said
get → got · got
make → made · made
see → saw · seen
take → took · taken
come → came · come
THE TOP 50 — V1 · V2 · V3
bewas/were · been
beginbegan · begun
breakbroke · broken
bringbrought · brought
buybought · bought
catchcaught · caught
comecame · come
costcost · cost
cutcut · cut
dodid · done
drinkdrank · drunk
drivedrove · driven
eatate · eaten
fallfell · fallen
feelfelt · felt
findfound · found
flyflew · flown
forgetforgot · forgotten
getgot · got
givegave · given
gowent · gone
growgrew · grown
havehad · had
hearheard · heard
keepkept · kept
knowknew · known
leaveleft · left
loselost · lost
makemade · made
meetmet · met
paypaid · paid
putput · put
readread · read
runran · run
saysaid · said
seesaw · seen
sellsold · sold
sendsent · sent
sitsat · sat
sleepslept · slept
speakspoke · spoken
spendspent · spent
swimswam · swum
taketook · taken
teachtaught · taught
telltold · told
thinkthought · thought
understandunderstood · understood
winwon · won
writewrote · written
COMMON MISTAKES