What is the difference between regular and irregular verbs?

There are two main types of verbs in English: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Regular verbs follow the same pattern every time, so you can guess what the past, present and future tenses are just by looking at the verb’s name. Examples include play (play/played/playing), eat (eat/ate/eating) and can (can/could/able). Irregular verbs do not follow this pattern, although there are some clues to tell you how to conjugate them correctly.

What is Regular verb?

Regular verbs are those which have a predictable, fixed pattern in their conjugation. The following table shows the present tense of regular English verb to sing:

Sing (present) Singing (past participle) Sings (present participle) Singed or sung (past participle)

The verb to sing is an example of a regular verb because it has a predictable, fixed pattern in its conjugation. For example, its past tense form, meaning what you did with your voice before you sang, would be singing.

Regular Verbs list

Regular verbs are typically easy to understand because they follow an established pattern. For example, if you add an ed or ing at the end of a verb, it will become past tense. If you change the vowel in a word, it will become past tense. When you break down this rule for regular verbs, you can see that all of them follow this same pattern.

What is irregular verb?

Regular verbs are those that follow a set pattern for conjugation, meaning they always end in -ed, -ing, or -d. Irregular verb, on the other hand, are those that don't follow this pattern. For example: to eat is a regular verb while to sleep and to give are irregular. There are also four irregular verbs in English whose past tense forms do not end in -ed: is, are, was, and were.

Irregular verbs are harder to learn

Regular verbs are easier to learn because they follow a pattern. For example, if you know how to conjugate the verb to run, then you can also conjugate other similar-sounding words such as to sneak or to rock. Irregular verbs don't follow this pattern; for example, if you know how to conjugate the verb to sing, then it will not necessarily help you with other irregular verb like to drink or to laugh.

There are thousands of English irregular verbs

The English language has hundreds of irregular verbs which are not formed in a standard way. These irregular verbs fall into three categories: strong, weak, and mixed. Strong irregulars are ones that have completely different stems (e.g., to sing becomes sang) while weak irregulars have some similarities with their standard counterparts (e.g., to sit becomes sat). Mixed irregularities combine both strong and weak verb patterns (e.g., to lay becomes either laid or lain). Irregular verbs make up over a third of the English language!

Irregular Verbs List – Our Recommendation

The list of irregular verbs below are some of our favourites. 

There are many irregular English verbs, including: to be (am, is, are, was, were), to have (have), to do (do), to go (go), and many others. The main ones to watch out for are: be ‍(am/is/are/was/were); have‍(had)‍; do ‍(did)‍; go ‍(went)‍. Irregular verbs are important to know because they change their form in a lot of ways!

Examples, Examples, Examples (and Exceptions)

Regular verbs are used more often in the English language than irregular ones, but there are some important exceptions. For example, 'to go' is a regular verb, while 'to throw' or 'to break' are not. Irregular verbs have many different forms, so it's best to look them up individually. The two most common words that people think of when they talk about irregular verbs are 'to be' and 'to have.'

So how do you learn these tricky things?

Learning about irregular verbs can be tricky. Luckily, there are a few tricks that can help you remember them. First, you should know that most irregular verbs just have a different pattern from their regular counterparts. Second, to learn the general meaning of an irregular verb, memorize its past tense or past participle form by thinking about what would happen if it were a regular verb. Finally, once you have learned an irregular verb's spelling pattern and general meaning, practice using it in sentences as often as possible!

Get it done by doing. Practice, practice, practice. Read everything, watch TV, listen to music in English. Every time you notice an irregular verb in action and use it correctly, a little light goes on in your brain.

Verbs are words that show an action or a state of being. There are two types of verbs: regular and irregular. Regular verbs follow a pattern in the way they form their past tense, for example to be -> was. Irregular verbs don't follow this pattern, for example to be -> was -> were.

Summary

There are two main types of verbs: Regular Verbs, which follow a consistent pattern in the past tense, present tense, and third person singular form; and Irregular Verbs, which do not follow this pattern. Examples of Regular Verbs are eat (eat-ate-eaten), write (write-wrote-written), live (live-lived-lived), listen (listen-listened-listened). Examples of Irregular Verbs are know (know/knew/known), be (be/was/been), go (go/went/gone).