Three forms of the verb to sing. How many forms do irregular verbs have?

The English language requires a detailed and systematic approach. Of course, if the priority is to gain knowledge that will help in practice. A special place within this goal is occupied by, for which there are quite rational explanations.

Verb / Verb
be	was, were	been	Be
beat	beat	beaten ["bi:tn]	Beat
become	became	become	Become
begin	began	begun	Start off
bleed	bled	bled	Bleed
blow	blew	blown	Blow
break	broke	broken ["brouk(e)n]	Break
bring	brought	brought	Bring
build	built	built	Build
burn	burnt	burnt	burn
burst	burst	burst	Break out
buy	bought	bought	Buy
catch	caught	caught	Catch, grab, catch
choose	chose [ʃəuz]	chosen	Choose
come	came	come	Come
cost	cost	cost	Cost
creep	crept	crept	Crawl
cut	cut	cut	Cut
do	did	done	Do
draw	drew	drawn	Draw, drag
dream	dream	dream	Dream, doze
drink	drank	drunk	Drink
drive	drove	driven ["drivn]	Drive
eat	ate	eaten ["i:tn]	Eat
fall	fell	fallen ["fɔ:lən]	Fall
feed	fed	fed	Feed
feel	felt	felt	Feel
fight	fought	fought	Fight
find	found	found	Find
fit	fit	fit	Fit to size
fly	flew	flown	Fly
forget	forgot	forgotten	Forget
forgive	forgave	forgiven	Forgive
freeze	froze	frozen ["frouzn]	Freeze
get[get]	got	got	Receive
give	gave	given	Giving
go	went	gone	Go

grow	grew	grown	Grow
hang	hung	hung	Hang
have	had	had	Have
hear	heard	heard	Hear
hide	hid	hidden ["hidn]	Hide
hit	hit	hit	Hit the target
hold	held	held	Hold
hurt	hurt	hurt	Hurt
keep	kept	kept	Contain
kneel	knelt	knelt	Kneel
know	knew	known	Know
lay	laid	laid	Putting
lead	led	led	News
lean	leant	leant	Tilt
learn	learn	learn	Learn
leave	left	left	Leave
lend	tape	tape	Occupy
let	let	let	Let
lie	lay	lain	Lie
light	lit	lit	illuminate
lose	lost	lost	Lose
make	made	made	Produce
mean	meant	meant	To mean
meet	met	met	Meet
mistake	mistook	mistaken	To be wrong
pay	paid	paid	To pay
prove	proved	proven	Prove
put	put	put	Put
quit	quit	quit	Go out
read	read	read	Read
ride	rode	ridden ["ridn]	Ride a horse
ring	rank	rung	Ring
rise	rose	risen ["rizn]	Get up
run	ran	run	Run
say	said	said	Speak
see	saw	seen	See
seek	sought	sought	Search
sell	sold	sold	Sell
send	sent	sent	Send

set	set	set	Put
sew	sewed	sewn	Sew
shake [ʃeik]	shook [ʃuk]	shaken ["ʃeik(ə)n]	Shake
show [ʃəu]	showed [ʃəud]	shown [ʃəun]	Show
shrink [ʃriŋk]	shrank [ʃræŋk]	shrunk [ʃrʌŋk]	Reduce
shut [ʃʌt]	shut [ʃʌt]	shut [ʃʌt]	Close
sing	sang	sung	Sing
sink	sank, sunk	sunk	Drown
sit	sat	sat	Sit
sleep	slept	slept	Sleep
slide	slide	slide	Slide
sow	sowed	south	Sow
speak	spoke	spoken ["spouk(e)n]	Speak
spell	spelled	spelled	To spell
spend	spent	spent	Spend
spill	spilt	spilt	Shed
spoiler	spoilt	spoilt	Spoil
spread	spread	spread	spread out
spring	sprang	sprung	Jump
stand	stood	stood	Stand
steal	stole	stolen ["stəulən]	Steal
stick	stuck	stuck	prick
sting	stung	stung	Sting
sweep	swept	swept	Sweep
swell	swelled	swollen ["swoul(e)n]	Swell
swim	swam	swum	Swim
swing	swung	swung	Sway
take	took	taken ["teik(ə)n]	Take, take
teach	taught	taught	Learn
tear	tore	torn	Tear
tell	told	told	Tell
think [θiŋk]	thought [θɔ:t]	thought [θɔ:t]	Think
throw [θrəu]	threw [θru:]	thrown [θrəun]	Throw
understand [ʌndə"stænd]	understood [ʌndə"stud]	understood [ʌndə"stud]	Understand
wake	woke up	woken ["wouk(e)n]	Wake up
wear	wore	worn	Wear
weep	wept	wept	Cry
wet	wet	wet	Get wet
win	won	won	Win
wind	wound	wound	Wriggle
write	wrote	written ["ritn]	Write

Why is it important to know English irregular verbs?

So, irregular verbs, as mentioned above, play a key role in the successful learning of the English language. Many people were able to verify this. Let's consider the main nuances.

Practice shows: half of the mistakes made in speech and writing are in the incorrect use of verb forms and tenses. Often a verb is superfluous in a sentence or used falsely. This can completely change the meaning. The principle of learning English is that you need to start with those topics in which mistakes are often made. That's why table of irregular verbs must be fully studied. Otherwise, you can really get negative consequences consisting of confusion of phrases. When a lot of mistakes occur, the desire to learn a language disappears. This cannot be allowed. It is important to focus on the success of the task. With the right approach, all goals will be achieved.

Irregular verbs can be used as builders of phrases and sentences that are unique in their impact and originality. English philologists are proud of such verbs, attributing them to the origins of the ancient Germanic language. Many English-speaking poets and writers drew creative strength from them. Readers may say that they are not going to write poetry in English (although in time everything is possible, it is difficult to predict the twists of fate). However, they form its foundation. Without them it is impossible to master the English language. Many people who devoted their free time to studying an international language were able to verify this. A systematic approach will allow you to master all topics, including those that are considered difficult to study.

The study of irregular verbs is also required for the reason that some regular verbs are very similar to them. For example, found is similar to an irregular verb. If you perceive it this way, then in practice you will end up with confusion. Every nuance is important and should be taken into account.

You need to start learning irregular verbs as early as possible. They are mostly based on exceptions rather than rules. This difficult moment should spur and stimulate. Regular verbs will become much easier to learn later. At all, basic irregular verbs in English still have a certain system. She will help in their development.

Irregular verbs are difficult, that's a fact. However, it is worth devoting at least 10 minutes every day to these “insidious parts of speech” so that they are learned once and for all. Having a certain system will make the task a little easier. It is important to understand: without irregular verbs there will be no English language. Therefore, it is worth spending time on them.

Our topic today is getting to know such an interesting phenomenon as forms of irregular verbs. As you know, the English language is very cunning. This language often lays all sorts of traps for us. One of them is irregular verbs. English is not the only language that has irregular verbs. The French language is also rich in irregular verbs. Irregular English verbs have three or four forms?

Romanian language, German language, Latin language, Greek language also contain irregular verbs. And even the Russian language is replete with them. I think you have repeatedly heard about irregular verbs in English, in other words Irregular Verbs. Why are such verbs called irregular? It's very simple: in the past tense they are conjugated in their own way, have their own special form, while all other verbs in the past tense have an ending -ed.

How to distinguish irregular verbs from regular ones?

For comparison, let's conjugate 3 regular regular verbs in the Past Simple:

*Work -* ra		sing
I worked	I translated	I managed
You worked	You translated	You managed
He worked	He translated	He managed
She worked	She translated	She managed
It worked	It translated	It managed
We worked	We translated	We managed
They worked	They translated	They managed

As you can see, all 3 verbs are conjugated the same way, according to the pattern of stem + ending -ed.

The situation is completely different in the case of irregular verbs. Let's conjugate 3 more verbs in the simple past tense (Past Simple), which are irregular, and here pay attention to the fact that each of these verbs has its own, completely different form at the end or even at the root of the word:

*Blow* blow	*Go -* go	*Bring -* bring
I blew	I went	I brought
You blew	You went	You brought
He blew	He went	He brought
She blew	She went	She brought
It blew	It went	It brought
We blew	We went	We brought
They blew	They went	They brought

Even the naked eye can see that each of these verbs appeared in its own form, completely different from the others. The catch is that there is no specific rule by which you can find out the form of an irregular verb. Each of them is conjugated differently. The English language, friends, is full of tricks and underwater reefs. Another catch is that each irregular verb has not one form, but three.

Three forms of irregular verbs

So what are these three forms?

The first is the infinitive or initial (indefinite) form of the verb
The second is Past Participle I, that is, the form that corresponds to the simple past tense (Past Simple), it is also used in the 2nd and 3rd cases of the conditional mood (Conditional of the 2-d and of the 3-d case)
The third is Past Participle II, the one that is used in the present perfect tense (Present Perfect) and in the long past tense (Past Perfect). The same form is used in the passive voice (Passive Voice), in the conditional mood of the 3-d case and some other grammatical rules.

Here are some examples of 3 forms of irregular verbs:

To arise - arose - arisen - to rise
To be - was, were - been - to be
To bear - bore - born - to give birth
To become - became - become - become, become
To begin - began - began - to begin
To catch - caught - caught - to catch, to catch
To choose - chose - chosen - to choose
To dig - dug - dug - dig, dig
To dream - dreamt - dreamt - dream, dream
To feel - felt - felt - to feel
To forget - forgot - forgotten - to forget
To have - had - had - to have

Now let’s look at these 3 forms using example sentences in all of the above verb tenses.

So, the simple past tense of the verb (Past Simple Tense):

Yesterday she felt herself bad ( to feel). — Yesterday she felt bad. Last Wednesday we met Jim ( to meet). — Last Wednesday we met Jim. Last night I dream you ( to dream). “Last night I dreamed about you.” I was in Paris last year ( to be) — I was in Paris last year.

Present Perfect Tense:

I have just seen him ( to see). - I just saw him. Tom has already brought my books ( to bring). — Tom has already brought my books. Have you ever been in London ( to be)? - Have you ever been in London? Ann has already forgotten her boy-friend ( to forget).- Anna has already forgotten her boyfriend.

Past Perfect Tense:

I noticed that I had forgotten my keys ( to forget). — I noticed that I forgot my keys. He understood that he had lost his documents ( to lose). — He realized that he had lost his documents.

Passive Voice:

The dog is fed by me ( to feed). — The dog was fed by me (I fed the dog). Made in France ( to make). - Made in France.

Conditional mood of the 2nd and 3rd cases (Conditional). The second and third forms appear here:

If I had money, I would buy a car ( to have). — If I had money, I would buy a car (real condition). If I had money, I would have bought a car ( to have, to buy).- If I had money, I would buy a car (unreal condition, past tense).
How to learn all forms of irregular verbs?

Cheat sheet for memorizing Irregular Verbs

As mentioned above, there are no rules by which the forms of irregular verbs are formed; everyone has their own. But we hope that this poetic form will help you quickly remember these irregular verbs:

To write-wrote-written
To eat-ate-eat
To speak-spoke-spoken
To break-broken-broken

To come-come-come
To become-became-become
To run-run-run
To swim-swam-swum

To know-knew-known
To throw-threw-thrown
To blow-blew-blown
To fly-flown

Tossing-sang-sung
To ring-rang-rung
To hide-hid-hidden
To bite-bit-bitten

To send-sent-sent
To spend-spent-spent
To sleep-slept-slept
To keep-kept-kept

To tell-told-told
To sell-sold-sold
To teach-taught-taught
To catch-caught-caught

To fight-fought-fought
To think-thought-thought
To buy-bought-bought
To bring-brought-brought

To cut-cut-cut
To shut-shut-shut
To cost-cost-cost
To lose-lost-lost

To lead-led-led
To feed-fed-fed
To feel-felt-felt
To hold-held-held

From this funny poetic form we see that some irregular verbs have the same letter combinations, which allows them to rhyme and thereby make it easier for us to remember them.

"Fourth" form of irregular verbs

There is a common belief that there is also a 4th form of irregular verbs. This 4th configuration is formed according to the scheme stem + ending -ing. It defines the Present Participle, that is, the present participle in such tenses as the Present Continuous and the Past Continuous. In other words, it is the present and past tense of the imperfect form. It follows from this that there are not 3, but 4 forms of irregular verbs. But this 4th configuration is, as it were, unofficial.

Let's look at this very 4th form using examples of sentences with the Present Continuous:

The same 4th form in sentences with Past Continuous.

Remember the multiplication tables in mathematics? So, in English this is a table of irregular verbs. This is one of the basics in English that you need to learn. An irregular verb is one that does not follow the generally accepted rules of grammar. Below is table of irregular verbs in English with audio accompaniment. And if you really want to speak English fluently, you need to learn these verbs.

Infinitive	Past Simple (simple past tense)	Past participle (past participle)	Translation
be	was / were	been	be
beat	beat	beaten	beat
become	became	become	become
begin	began	begun	start off
break	broke	broken	break
bring	brought	brought	bring
build	built	built	build
burn	burnt	burnt	burn
burst	burst	burst	explode
buy	bought	bought	buy
can	could	could	be able to, be able to
catch	caught	caught	catch, grab
choose	chose	chosen	choose
come	came	come	come
cost	cost	cost	cost
cut	cut	cut	cut
do	did	done	do
draw	drew	drawn	to draw with a pencil)
drink	drank	drunk	drink
drive	drove	driven	drive)
eat	ate	eaten	eat, eat
fall	fell	fallen	fall
feel	felt	felt	feel
fight	fought	fought	fight
find	found	found	find
fly	flew	flown	fly
forget	forgot	forgotten	forget
get	got	got	receive, become
give	gave	given	give
go	went	gone	go
grow	grew	grown	grow, grow
hang	hung	hung	hang, hang
have	had	had	have
hear	heard	heard	hear
hide	hid	hidden	hide
hit	hit	hit	hit, hit
hold	held	held	hold
hurt	hurt	hurt	to cause a pain
keep	kept	kept	keep; continue to do
know	knew	known	know
learn	learn	learn	study)
leave	left	left	leave, leave
let	let	let	let
lie	lay	lain	lie
lose	lost	lost	lose
make	made	made	do, manufacture
mean	meant	meant	keep in mind
meet	met	met	meet; meet
pay	paid	paid	to pay
prove	proved	proven	prove
put	put	put	put
read	read	read	read
ring	rank	rung	call
run	ran	run	run
say	said	said	say
see	saw	seen	see
set	set	set	put
sew	sewed	sewn	sew
sell	sold	sold	sell
send	sent	sent	send, send
shine	shone	shone	shine
show	showed	shown	show
shut	shut	shut	close, slam
sing	sang	sung	sing
sit	sat	sat	sit
sleep	slept	slept	sleep
speak	spoke	spoken	speak
spend	spent	spent	spend time)
spoiler	spoilt	spoilt	spoil
spread	spread	spread	spread out
spring	sprang	sprung	jump
stand	stood	stood	stand
steal	stole	stolen	steal, steal
swim	swam	swum	swim
take	took	taken	take
teach	taught	taught	teach, learn
tell	told	told	tell (to someone)
think	thought	thought	think
throw	threw	thrown	throw
understand	understood	understood	understand
wake	woke up	woken	wake up, wake up
wear	wore	worn	wear clothes)
weep	wept	wept	cry
win	won	won	win
write	wrote	written	write

Anyone who begins to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of learning English often faces a whole bunch of problems and difficulties. This is not surprising. After all, incomprehensible speech patterns, confusing tenses and irregular verbs can darken the science of even the most cheerful student. Let's figure out what to do and Where do irregular verbs come from in English??

It's no secret that every language goes through many stages of its development, formed through the influence of nearby countries and cultures. English is no exception. It is generally accepted that irregular verbs are echoes of the past, when the language was only at the stage of development.

The influence of European society on England was colossal and made its own adjustments to the sphere of communication. But the English are a people who did not like change too much and respected their native speech. Therefore, he continued to communicate in his usual way. Thus, verbs that have passed through centuries have taken root in modern society. It is worth noting that there is nothing wrong with these words, they are correct, they are simply quite original and do not obey any time frame, so they are conjugated in their own way. So how can you master these parts of speech and finally learn them? There are a lot of ways.

How to learn irregular verbs in English?

Table of irregular verbs in English It is quite extensive and contains more than two hundred words. Wow, you say! Don't worry, most native English people don't know them all themselves. It is enough to learn basic words and you will be able to support any conversation and look at a decent level among the English-speaking society. And knowing a couple of effective ways, you can turn boring science into an exciting game.

To simplify this task, it is necessary to visualize the object of study. To do this, write out irregular verbs on cards and hang them throughout the apartment, especially in the places where you visit most often. So, they will always be in front of your eyes, thereby helping you memorize them without much difficulty.

If you want to teach your child a verb, you can prepare cards on which all forms will be written. So, by putting the table together like a puzzle, the child will remember more and more constructions over and over again. Although, this type of study can also be practiced by an adult.

Another effective method is to download the audio version of verbs and listen to them systematically, for example, on the way to work and home. And for a child, an excellent option would be to compose a song that consists of these words. Sing it together on the way to the store or when doing something together and after a week you will notice the first results.

English is quite easy to learn if you approach it creatively. Throw away boring memorization and monotonous repetition, and soon you will not even notice how you will begin not only to speak, but also to think in this language.

English is a language of exceptions, where when learning a new grammatical rule, students are faced with a dozen buts in which this rule does not apply. One of these rules is the use of irregular verbs in the past tense. For many English learners, this topic is a nightmare. But you can’t do without them, because these are the realities of English! However, there is good news - modern English is gradually getting rid of irregular verbs, replacing them with regular ones. Why and how - we'll look at it in the article.

Why are English verbs irregular?

Not only foreigners, but also native speakers themselves experience difficulty in using irregular verbs. But nevertheless, for English philologists, the non-standardity of this part of speech is not a drawback, but a reason for pride. They believe that irregular verbs are a cultural monument that perpetuates the history of the English language. The explanation for this fact is the Germanic roots of the origin of irregular verbs, which makes British English a traditional variant of the language. For comparison, Americans are trying hard to get rid of the irregular shape, converting it into the correct one. Therefore, the list of non-standard verbs increases for those who learn both versions of the language. Thus, the incorrect version is ancient, which is reflected in prose and poetry.

How many forms does a verb have in English?

Speaking about verbs in English, it should be noted that they have 3 forms:

infinitive, aka ;
I, or Participle I, - this form is used in the simple past tense (Past Simple) and the 2nd and 3rd cases of the conditional mood (Conditional of the 2-d and of the 3-d case);
Past Participle II, or Participle II, for the simple perfect tense of the past tense (Past Perfect), passive voice (Passive Voice) and conditional of the 3-d case.

The table "Three in English" is presented later in the article.

What are regular and irregular verbs? Education rules

Regular verbs are those in which the past form (Past Simple) and the form Participle II (Participle II) are formed by adding the ending -ed to the initial form. The table "Three verb forms in English. Regular verbs" will help you better understand this rule.

There are some features when forming Participle I and Participle II:

if the verb ends with the letter -e, then adding -ed does not double it;
The consonant in monosyllabic verbs is duplicated when added. Example: stop - stopped (stop - stopped);
if the verb ends in -y with a preceding consonant, then y changes to i before adding -ed.

Verbs that do not obey the general rule in the formation of tense forms are called irregular. In English, these include the Past Simple and Participle II verb forms.

Irregular verbs are formed using:

ablauta, in which the root changes. Example: swim - swam - swum (swim - swam - swam);

the use of suffixes different from those accepted in the grammar of the language. Example: do - did - done (do - did - did);

identical or unchangeable form. Example: cut - cut - cut (cut - cut - cut).

Because each irregular verb has its own inflection, they must be learned by heart.

There are a total of 218 irregular verbs in the English language, of which approximately 195 are in active use.

Recent research in the field of language shows that rare verbs are gradually disappearing from the language due to the replacement of the 2nd and 3rd forms with forms of the regular verb, that is, the addition of the ending - ed. This fact is confirmed by the table “Three verb forms in English” - the table presents a number of verbs that have both regular and irregular forms.

table of irregular verbs

The table "Three Forms of Irregular Verbs in English" includes the most frequently used verbs. The table shows 3 forms and translation.

Irregular verbs came to modern English from Old English, which was spoken by the Angles and Saxons - British tribes.

Irregular verbs evolved from so-called strong verbs, each of which had its own type of conjugation.

Researchers from Harvard found that the majority of verbs used are irregular, and they will remain so because they are used more often than others.

There is also a phenomenon in the history of the English language when a regular verb became irregular. For example, sneak, which has 2 forms - sneaked and snuck.

Not only English learners have problems with verbs, but also native speakers, as even they find themselves in awkward situations when it comes to this difficult part of speech.

One of them is Jennifer Garner, who all her life was sure that sneak was the correct verb.

She was corrected by the host of one of the programs in which the actress took part. With a dictionary in hand, he pointed out to Jennifer her mistake.

Therefore, you should not be upset if you make mistakes when using irregular verbs. The main thing is that they do not become systematic.

Regular verbs

The table "Three forms of regular verbs in English with transcription and translation" is compiled on the basis of the most frequently used verbs.

		Past Participle I and II
ask
answer
allow
agree
borrow, borrow

copy, rewrite
prepare
close

carry, drag
call, call
discuss
decide, decide
explain	explain
slide
cry, scream
finish, finish, end

shine
rub
grab
to help
happen, happen
manage
look


like
move, move
manage
to be necessary, to need
open
recall


suggest	sadgesture
study, learn
stop, cease
start off
travel
speak
transfer	translate
try, try
use
worry
walk, walk
look

work

Examples of using 3 forms of verbs with translation

Above we looked at 3 forms of verbs in English. A table with examples of use and translation will help reinforce the topic.

Here, for each grammatical construction, two examples are given - one with regular and one with irregular verbs.

Grammar design	Example in English	Translation
Past Simple	Peter worked yesterday. She felt bad last week.	Peter worked yesterday. She didn't feel well last week.
Present Perfect Tense	James has already helped me. Have you ever been to Thailand?	James has already helped me. Have you ever been to Thailand?
Past Perfect Tense	I understood that I had used my last ticket. Helen noticed that she had forgotten her documents at home.	I realized that I had used the last ticket. She realized that she had forgotten the documents at home.
Passive Voice	Amy was taken to the zoo last Sunday. A baby is sung a lullaby every night.	Amy was taken to the zoo last Sunday. The baby is sung a lullaby every night.
Conditional	If I had money, I would buy a car. If she could help us, she would have done it.	If I had money, I would buy a car. If she could help us, she would.

Exercises

To better memorize irregular verbs, you need not only to learn them by heart and repeat them, but also to perform various exercises.

Exercise 1. Here is the table "Three verb forms in English. Irregular verbs." Fill in one of the three missing forms.

Exercise 2. Here is the table "Three verb forms in English. Regular verbs." Insert forms Participle I and II.

Exercise 3. Using the tables, translate the following sentences into English.

I was reading a book.
We saw them yesterday.
The Smiths lived in London until 2000. They then moved to Manchester.
Alice was a university student in 2014.
They worked in the same company two years ago.
He just finished training.
When we were children, my mother often took us to this park.
I drove a toy car as a child.

Answers to the exercises

Exercise 1.

Exercise 2.

asked, borrowed, closed, decided, explained, helped, started, traveled, used, worked.

Exercise 3.

I read a book.
We saw them yesterday.
The Smiths lived in London till 2000. Then they moved to Manchester.
Alice was a student of Univercity in 2014.
They worked in the same company two years ago.
He has just finished training.
When we were children we took for a walk to this park.
I drove a toy car in my childhood.

Make it a habit to periodically repeat the basic forms of the English verb. A table with irregular verbs, doing exercises and periodic repetition will help you quickly cope with the difficulties of the English language.