The best way to learn irregular verbs in English. How to quickly learn irregular verbs? The good old method is to memorize

Irregular Verbs - important point in learning English that should not be missed. Why? Most of the verbs used by native speakers in English V everyday communication, refers to ir regular verbs . Without their knowledge, you simply will not be able to express your opinion on any issue in full.

How many irregular verbs are there in English? About 500. But this does not mean that you need to learn them all in one fell swoop. Consistency is important in learning foreign languages. You can start with the simplest and most commonly used verbs. And we will tell you about several techniques that will make the process of learning irregular verbs not difficult for you. You are ready? Let's go!

Reception No. 1. Systematization

This technique is especially popular among students Irregular Verbs. What do we have to do? Divide irregular verbs into groups using analogy. For example, words with -O- in the middle of a word in the second column or words with -N at the end of a word in the third.

Words that don't transform

The simplest group of irregular verbs. It is enough to remember only the first column of these and the fact that they do not change forms.

Verbs ending -N in the third column

Everything is simple here. It is enough to remember that these verbs have the ending -N in the Past Participle. But this group can be divided into smaller subgroups.

  • Verbs with -O- in the second and third columns

More detailed information about the distribution of irregular verbs into groups, which will make their study easier and faster, you can view on the website

Reception No. 2. Cards

You may already be familiar with this method of learning new words from your school or university days. All you need for this technique is paper, a pen and a little perseverance. Make identical cards, writing three forms of the verb on each side on one side, and its translation on the other. Of course you can already find ready-made cards on the Internet by printing them. But by preparing them yourself and pronouncing each word, you more chances remember words much faster.

To those who good memory for visual material, we recommend adding small association pictures to the words that you think are most difficult to remember. And progressive individuals can turn to programs for learning foreign languages ​​like or by installing them on their gadget.

Reception No. 3. Video

Periodically watch videos of English-speaking bloggers teaching English. This way you will remember not only all forms of irregular verbs, but also their correct pronunciation.

Reception No. 4. Offers

Surely many have heard that human memory works especially effectively when we are in a good mood. Make up at least 5 funny sentences or one a little story using irregular verbs that are new to you. This way you will not only lift your spirits, but also replenish lexicon.

Reception No. 5. Notice me!

It is this request that should be fulfilled in relation to irregular verbs. Whatever you do: watch a movie, TV series, listen to your favorite music or read a book in English, try to pay attention to all the verbs, checking their presence in the list of irregular ones or remembering their forms if you have learned them before.

Method number 6. Poems

Anything that rhymes is always easier and more fun to remember. Try fun rhymes using all three forms irregular verbs. If such creativity does not appeal to you, use existing material like the rhymes of Alexander Pyltsyn, which you can familiarize yourself with

Choose the most suitable way for you to learn irregular verbs, improve your English and you will be happy! ;)

And we wish you strength and success!

Do you remember when you first encountered irregular verbs at school? Remember how the holidays were hopelessly ruined by the task “learn the table of irregular verbs.” Remember how you mechanically crammed endless columns from the very beginning of the list: begin - began - begun? ...And from that time on you have had a terrible dislike for irregular verbs.

So, before you again lies a huge list of words written in three columns. You have to learn them, and preferably as soon as possible. What are your actions? You take the list and teach again from the very beginning, stepping on the same rake.

The words are not remembered and confused, you get nervous and give up.

However, in English there is nowhere without irregular verbs. Time Past Simple, Perfect tenses and many constructions require a second or third form of the verb. Therefore, you will have to learn verbs, but how exactly to learn them - read on.

For effective learning monotonous series of forms, memorizing words in alphabetical order- not the best method, and most of you are already convinced of this. To make learning not only effective, but also enjoyable, you should look for other ways and patterns. Irregular verbs, like any other lexical material, need to be grouped and structured. In this article you will find some ideas for remembering irregular verbs, although there are undoubtedly many more and you can create your own own method, convenient for you personally.

We can conditionally divide all irregular verbs in the English language into three main groups.

To the first group let's include verbs that have all three forms are the same. This group is the smallest and these verbs are the easiest to remember. Examples of verbs of the first group:

Most irregular verbs fall into second group, where verbs are presented that have two forms coincide. As a rule, these are the second and third forms. But there are also those for whom the first and third coincide (come - came - come). You only need to remember two forms, which makes your task much easier. Examples:

feel felt felt feel
meet met met meet, get acquainted
read read read read
* second and third forms are read /red/
win won won win, win
** second and third form read /wʌn/
run ran run run

Third group is the most difficult to remember, because we include verbs in which all three forms are different. For example:

be was/were been be
* the second form has two options: was for singular, were for plural.
know knew known know
eat ate eaten eat, eat
drink drank drunk drink
take took taken take, take

Divide the verbs from your list into these three groups. Start studying from the first one. When you remember them, you can move on to the second and after memorizing the verbs of the second group, the third will not be difficult for you.

If you look closely at the irregular verbs of the English language, many of them form the second and third forms according to certain principles. I will highlight some of them:

1. Changing a vowel according to the principle: [ɪ] - [æ] - [ ʌ ]

drink drank drunk drink
begin began begun start off
ring rank rung call
sing sang sung sing
swim swam swum swim

2. Changing the vowel in the second and third form:

3. The second and third forms have the ending -ought or -aught, which is pronounced /ɔːt/:

4. Change (deafening) of a consonant:

build built built build
spend spent spent spend time, spend money
lend tape tape lend
bend bent bent bend, bend

5. The second form ends in -ew, and the third -wn:

6. The second form has O or OO, and the third form has the ending -en:

take took taken take, take
break broke broken smash
shake shook shaken shake
speak spoke spoken talk

If, when learning a new irregular verb, you pay attention to the principle by which its forms are formed, then it will be much easier for you to remember it.

This method is perfect for both adults and children. Since many verbs are formed according to the same principles, they rhyme well. Poems, as you know, are remembered much faster than a list. By making short rhymes with four verbs, you will remember them automatically and help your children learn them. I'll give a few examples:

begin began begun
do did done
make made made
pay paid paid
buy bought bought
bring brought brought
break broke broken
speak spoke spoken

I know from my own experience that this method is one of the most effective. Worth a try!

Many people find it easier to comprehend a large amount of vocabulary if it is grouped into semantic categories. Irregular verbs can also be divided into thematic categories. For example:

1. Movements:

go went gone go, walk
ride rode ridden ride a horse
drive drove driven drive

2. Mental activities ( mental activity):

know knew known know
forget forgot forgotten forget
think thought thought think

3. Verbs connected to verbal activity (verbs related to speech):

4. Verbs related to money (verbs related to the topic of money):

5. Education:

teach taught taught teach
learn learn learn study
mistake mistook mistaken be wrong

There can be as many categories as you like, and you can distribute the verbs according to your own associations. This method is suitable for those students who already have a certain stock of irregular verbs and continue to expand their vocabulary. Create your own classification, write down the verbs that are familiar to you, and when you come across a new irregular verb, put it into one of the categories.

Approach your studies creatively and with a smile. WITH positive attitude you will achieve success not only in learning irregular verbs

Irregular verbs cause a lot of difficulties for people learning English. It seems impossible to remember this forever long list. Remember the huge table of irregular verbs. Is it really necessary to contact it every time to view the required form?

In an attempt to simplify their lives, English learners resort to different methods: some people learn irregular verbs in poems and songs, others try to group them by sound and memorize them.

In this article we will look at how effective these ways of learning irregular verbs are and tell you how how to learn them correctly.

How to remember irregular verbs?

Irregular Verbs- these are verbs whose past form does not change according to the rules. There is no logic in its formation, so you just need to remember the verbs. How to do this?

Most often, people resort to 2 methods to remember irregular verbs:

1. Teach in verse.

2. Teach by grouping verbs by sound.

Let's take a closer look at each of them and find out how effective they are.

Attention! Can't remember English words? Find out in Moscow how to learn words correctly so as not to forget them.

Method number 1. Learn irregular verbs in poetry


One way to learn irregular verbs is to memorize them using special rhymes. Let's look at an example of such a poem.

Airplanes fly - flew - flown (fly).
Our children grow - grew - grown (grow).
Well, the wind blow - blew - blown (blow),
He knows - knew - known about everything.

Remembering such a rhyme is much easier than simply learning irregular verbs by heart. Such poems are quickly stored in memory.

But will they help us use these verbs in life? After all, this is what we teach them for. Unfortunately, this method of memorization has significant disadvantages:

1. You will not be able to use the necessary verbs easily and quickly.

Why? Now you will understand. Imagine a situation where you are communicating with a person. You say a sentence that uses an irregular verb. Since you learned them in verse, you will have to mentally recall the entire verse and all verb forms in order to remember the right one. After all, you teach them together (know - knew - known), and not separately. Is it worth telling how long your interlocutor will have to wait until you do this?

2. You learn verbs that rhyme, not ones you will use.

I have said many times that you need to learn those words that you use or will use in life immediately, and not in 10 years. So, you will not be able to find a poem containing the words you need. After all, verbs in poetry are selected according to rhyme. You may not use some of the verbs from such verses because you will never encounter them.

3. It will be difficult for you to remember the translation of verbs.

As you will notice, three forms of the verb are included in the rhyme, and the translation is indicated in parentheses. If you remember exactly the verse, it will be difficult for you to remember the translation. And if you don't understand what a word means, you won't be able to use it. In addition, it is important to understand that all three forms have different translations.

He knows - knew - known (to know) about everything;

know (know) - knew (knew) - known (known).

Despite the ease of memorizing such verses, this method is not effective. Since memorizing a verse is one thing, but using the desired form in your speech is completely different.

This method has a small advantage. It can be used to teach English to young children as a supplement.

Method number 2. Learn irregular verbs by grouping them by sound


Despite the fact that there is no logic for the formation of past forms of irregular verbs, some of them are similar in sound. For example:

catch - caught - caught - to catch;
teach - taught - taught - to teach;
keep - kept - kept - keep;
feel - felt - felt - feel.

It is believed that such rhyming blocks are much easier to remember than learning verbs different sounds. In addition, unlike poetry, there is nothing superfluous here, you only remember the forms of verbs.

But this method also has disadvantages.

1. You will not be able to achieve automaticity in your speech.

Of course, by learning words this way, you won't have to remember an entire verse to say a phrase. However, when you need to remember past form verb, the whole chain starting with this form: feel - felt - felt.

Consequently, the word felt will not immediately appear in your head, but feel will appear first. Because of this, you will constantly make mistakes, or you will not be able to pronounce the phrase without delay, automatically.

2. You will have no idea when to use these verbs.

One translation is given for all three forms. For example: write - wrote - written - to write. However, you must understand that these words are translated differently and, accordingly, are used in different situations: write (write) - wrote (wrote) - written (written).

3. There is no point in learning all three forms until you know how to use them.

Why would you want to learn all 3 forms if you don't know what the third one is for and aren't going to use it? Until you get to those grammar sections ( passive form, Present Perfect), where you need the 3rd form, it is useful for you to know only the first 2.

It turns out that by grouping verbs by sound, it will be easier to memorize them. However quickly remember required verb V certain situation and it will be difficult for you to use in your speech.

It is impossible to say that this method is ineffective. Despite all these disadvantages, many people learn irregular verbs this way. Over time, if a person actively uses verbs in speech and writing, he will be able to get rid of remembering unnecessary forms. But why wait until that time comes?

Now I will tell you which method is the best.

How to learn irregular verbs correctly?

Most main drawback The previous methods consisted in the fact that in order to remember the desired verb, it is necessary to remember a lot of unnecessary information: either a poem or other forms of the verb. Therefore, you will not be able to speak automatically. This method solves this problem.

If you're just starting to learn English, it's best to learn irregular verb forms gradually. That is, learn as you go through the times in which you need to use them.

There is no point in learning all three verb forms at once if you only know the present tense. You will only use initial form. You will not use the remaining two forms, which means you will forget them. But when you get to the past tense, it makes sense to learn the second form of irregular verbs.

If you already know grammar, within which you can use all 3 forms, you can teach with chains of verbs, but you need to do it correctly.

Let's look at an example.

We have a chain of irregular verbs: break (break) - broken (broken) - broken (broken).

Step 1. Look up the meaning and translation in the dictionary.

We need meaning and translation in order to understand in what situations we use it.

Step 2. Make up sentences with this word.

To remember this word, you need to immediately start using this verb in your speech and writing. To do this, make sentences with this word (from 3 to 10 depending on the difficulty of memorizing).

Read more about how to learn words correctly.

Now we do these two steps with words broke And broken.

Having learned verbs in this way, when speaking you will immediately remember the right word, and not go through all the forms of this verb, selecting the one you need. This way, you can easily use irregular verbs in your speech and achieve automaticity in their use.

So, learning these verbs is quite possible. The main thing to always remember is that you learn irregular verbs not just to know them, but in order to be able to use them in your speech.

How do you learn irregular verbs? I would be glad if you share your opinion regarding the methods discussed in the article in the comments!

Perhaps anyone who has studied English has at least once wondered how to quickly learn irregular verbs. Simple logic is not enough; special methods must be used.

The work of human memory is subject to general rules and principles. There is even science that studies the mechanisms effective memorization- mnemonics. Best rules, helping to remember large amounts of information quickly and efficiently, have been developed on its basis.

Understanding

Memory is designed in such a way that understandable things are remembered most effectively. You can’t start learning verb forms that seem like just a bunch of sounds. This is the most ineffective way of all possible. First you need to find and remember the translation of the verb itself, listen to its pronunciation several times (it’s easy to find on the Internet), and only then learn the forms.

Regularity

It is no coincidence that teachers say that it is better to study for 10 minutes, but every day, than for several hours, but once a week. It has been proven that 60% new information is forgotten within 3–4 hours, but with regular repetition it is transferred from random access memory for a long time. This ensures that what you have learned will not fade from memory after a week, but will remain in it for years. In addition, in one lesson, regardless of its duration, it is strictly remembered certain volume information.

Memorization processes do not proceed linearly, but in jumps. It happens that several repetitions in a row do not produce results, but the very next time the forms of the verb fit into memory.

In studying foreign language factors such as understanding, regularity and habit are important

Habit

Finding the time and energy to repeat daily will be easier if you form a habit. This is easier to do than it seems. Psychologists have proven that any habit can be formed in three weeks. To do this, you need to choose 12-15 minutes during the day to repeat verbs, and practice at the chosen time for three weeks in a row. This can be done even in public transport on the way to work. At first it will be psychologically difficult, but if you continue to exercise despite being tired and busy, daily exercise will quickly become a habit and will require much less effort.

Repeating all material

You need to not only learn new irregular verbs, but also repeat old ones at every lesson. It is advisable to organize four repetitions:

  • immediately after memorization;
  • in 20 minutes;
  • in one day;
  • in 2–3 weeks.

During daily classes, it is enough to read the already learned forms of each verb with translation several times, and try to repeat it without looking at the notes. If verb forms are not immediately recalled, you need to relearn them.

How to quickly and easily learn irregular verbs in English

Attempts to remember the forms of irregular verbs should not be reduced to mechanical repetition from memory, or, even worse, reading from a textbook. Information in memory is activated precisely during its active use. Below are best methods, allowing you to effectively remember incorrect English verbs. For achievement best result they can and should be combined.

Working in pairs

It will be more effective to memorize irregular verbs if you do it in pairs. One asks the other, noting any mistakes. The survey must be conducted not only across the entire sequence of forms. You need to ask a variety of questions, they will make your memory work more efficiently. For example, questions for the verb “go” could be:

  1. Name three forms of the verb “go”;
  2. Name the third form of the verb “go”;
  3. Translate the sentence " She has gone";
  4. Translate the sentence “Three years ago I went to school”;
  5. How is the form “gone” translated and with what tenses is it used?

This technique allows you to effectively identify gaps in the studied material.

This method is best suited for those who prefer to absorb information in the form of active dialogue.

Advantages: allows you not only to learn verb forms, but also to introduce them into your active vocabulary.

Disadvantages: impossible to do alone.

The advantage of this method is not only the memorization of verb forms, but also the expansion of vocabulary

Rhyming

People with a creative streak can come up with short poems with irregular verbs, or find ready-made ones. For example:

Airplanes fly-flow-flown.

Lively in the grow-grew-grown field.

South wind blow-blew-blown,

He knows-knew-known about everything.

This method is best suited for young children, but adults will also find it useful.

Advantages: poetic form easy to remember.

Disadvantages: minus one, but global. With this method, it is not the form of the word itself or its translation that is remembered, but the whole rhymed line. Even if you have learned rhyming perfectly, you may not be able to translate the verb form from Russian to English and back. Moreover, to use the verb form correctly, you often have to remember the entire poem, which leads to pauses in speech.

The rhyming method is especially effective when teaching English to children

Layout

Despite the fact that the verbs are irregular, and the formation of their forms does not obey normal rules, these forms often have the same endings different verbs. Eg:

  • bring - brought - brought - to bring, bring;
  • bought- bought - bought - buy, acquire;
  • catch - caught- caught-to catch, to catch, to grab;
  • break - broken - broken - to break, break, destroy;
  • choose - chose - chosen - choose, elect;
  • drive - drove - driven - drive, give a lift.

There can be many examples of layout. After spending an hour working with a list of irregular verbs, you can arrange them into several groups that seem logical. Each group must be written down on a separate sheet of paper and repeated together. It is better to do this yourself rather than rewrite ready-made information. With active analysis and comparison of verb forms, information about them is already stored in memory.

This method is best suited for people with logical thinking.

Advantages: allows you to memorize more than one form at a time - by analogy.

Disadvantages: just like in the previous version, the entire sequence is remembered, not a separate form.

Layout is a way suitable for people with logical thinking

Interactive exercises

They can be found on disks computer courses or in online lessons. Usually represent conventional exercises, improved with the help of latest achievements programming. The best thing verb forms are remembered when performing the following exercises:

Interactive exercises are fun, like computer game, but they help to remember the forms of irregular verbs no worse than classical methods.

Suitable for anyone who knows how to use a computer, as well as those who find it easier to motivate themselves to do interesting activities.

Advantages: game uniform allows you to study with interest, which contributes to improved memorization. If you have a gadget with Internet access and headphones, you can practice in queues, on public transport, or during a work break.

Disadvantages: a computer or comparable software is required to perform the exercises. technical specifications mobile device, as well as Internet access.

Interactive exercises are one of the effective ways to learn a foreign language

Context

Human memory is designed in such a way that it is best foreign words are remembered in the context of the sentence. The memorization algorithm looks like this:

  1. First you need to learn the translation of each verb form separately. For example: “go - go, went - walked, gone - walked in perfect tenses.”
  2. Then make 3 sentences with each form and write them down with translation. For example: “I went to school - I went to school.” It is best to do this without a cheat sheet, from memory, and then check the correctness of what is written.

Suitable for those who have difficulty remembering information taken out of context.

Advantages: All three forms of the verb become active vocabulary. In addition to the forms, the translation and usage features are remembered.

Disadvantages: this method is slower than others.

The essence of the method is to memorize verbs, with which you then need to make sentences and translate them

Consolidation exercises

Many textbooks, tutorials and collections of exercises that focus on grammar contain entire sections devoted to irregular verbs. These are Bonk's self-instruction books, Kachalova's textbooks, and Golitsinsky's collections of exercises. Among the foreign ones we can name benefits for Intermediate level Murphy, Longman and My grammar lab.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that irregular verbs can be studied in more than one lesson.

Suitable for those who have free time.

Advantages: allows you to learn irregular verbs perfectly. When performing exercises, memorization is active, the word and its use turns into long-term memory. Not only the form is remembered, but also its spelling, as well as correct usage in speech.

Disadvantages: requires significant costs time. Many people find doing the same type of exercises boring and quit.

Some textbooks and teaching materials contain separate sections on the study of irregular verbs

At school they teach you to mechanically cram the forms of irregular verbs, but this method is far from the most effective. But it’s worth trying any suitable method described in the article, and the result will not be long in coming.

The problem of memorizing irregular verbs is of course of interest to all those who study English. Working with a table of irregular verbs has always been not the easiest. Are there methods that make this process easier? In this article we will look at the most effective ways studying irregular verbs.

Irregular verbs in English

Verbs in English are divided into regular verbs and irregular verbs, depending on how they form the past tense and participle. Irregular verbs get their name because they form the past tense in a different way. general rule. Linguistic scientists claim that in 70% of cases irregular verbs are used in speech. Means, memorizing or memorization and correct use various forms verbs is important part studying of English language.

Do you need to learn all 470 irregular verbs? In general, no, since only 180 of them are often used. Every second student of English faces some difficulties in remembering irregular verbs.

Irregular verbs with transcription and translation
be was were been be / be
begin began begun start off)
can could could be physically able
come came come come
do did done - do do
find - found found find
get ["ɡet] got ["ɡɒt] got ["ɡɒt] receive/become
give [ɡɪv] gave [ɡeɪv] given [ɡɪvn] give
go [ɡəʊ] went ["went] gone [ɡɒn] go/go
have had had have/possess
hear heard heard hear
keep kept kept keep / store
know knew known know
learn learn learn study/learn
leave left left leave / leave
let let let let / rent out
light lit lit light up/illuminate
make ["meɪk] made ["meɪd] made ["meɪd] do / force
may might might be able / have the right
put put put put
read red red read
saw sawed sawn to nag
say said said talk / say
see saw seen see
set set set place / put
shall [ʃæl] should [ʃud] should [ʃud] be to
show [ʃəu] showed [ʃəud] shown [ʃəun] show
take took taken ["teɪk(ə)n] take
tell told told tell / report
think [θɪŋk] thought [θɔ:t] thought [θɔ:t] think
will would would want to be
write wrote written ["rɪt(ə)n] write

We also suggest studying the top 100 most popular irregular verbs in the English language.

One of the most common ways to learn irregular verbs is mechanical memorization. But as a result, very soon most of learned words are forgotten. Therefore, it is often better to resort to the table of irregular verbs in case of necessary help.

But since all English language learners still need to learn the forms of irregular verbs in any way, we have selected some of the most effective strategies on how to make the learning process effective, simple and, at the same time, fun.

Group verbs by formation method

If you need to work with large volumes of information, then structuring comes to the rescue. Despite the fact that irregular verbs are not formed according to the rules, there are still some patterns, for example: the coincidence of all forms: cut -cut-cut, put-put-put or changing the root vowel: write-wrote-written, drive -drove-driven.

Be sure to learn verbs with translation

First you need to thoroughly understand the meaning of each verb and only then remember its forms. In this case, a person will be able to confidently use verbs correctly both in speech and in writing. For example, come- come, blow- blow.

Learn verbs in songs and poems

Another way to learn irregular verbs is to memorize them through songs or poems that use their different forms. You can compose them yourself. Like this, for example, here:

I'm a brick throw - threw - thrown, (throw)
He's through the window fly - flew -flown, (fly)
My uncle catch - caught -caught, (catch)
To mom and dad bring - brought - brought. (drive)
I'm still surprised -
Fling -flung -flung where is he from? (leap out)
Cling - clung - clung collar, (cling)
Oh, what a nasty old man!
I, of course, say -said - said, (speak)
That the neighbor broke the window,
He doesn't me hear - heard -heard, (hear)
It's like he's leading me to execution.
I'm danger feel - felt -felt(feel)
And I was ready kneel - knelt - knelt... (kneel)
Oh, it hit me hard -
Cost - cost - cost a lot of glass! (cost)

Make up sentences or stories using irregular verbs

To easily remember new verb(this also applies to other parts of speech), you should try to use this verb in oral speech in lessons with the teacher and with friends and in writing. You can use this method anywhere and anytime. You can invent various stories with irregular verbs on the way to work, or you can just try to describe yesterday: Yesterday I went for a walk and visited my friends…

Games using irregular verbs

This strategy is useful not only for children, but also for adults. One of the most common ways is to study irregular verbs using flashcards. These can be either independently compiled cards (word - transcription - translation) or electronic cards, where various technologies are used to memorize words (audio voiceover and visual accompaniment). You can use crossword puzzles to test yourself.

So, remembering irregular verbs is actually not that difficult. The main thing in this process is motivation: the desire to learn how to correctly use irregular verbs in your speech.

Vocabulary
regular verbs- regular verbs
irregular verbs- Irregular Verbs
memorizing- memorization
card- card
transcription- transcription
translation- translation

Big and friendly EnglishDom family