Hear 3 forms of the English verb. Regular and irregular verbs in English. How the main irregular verbs of the English language are formed

The main difficulty with English verbs is that in English there is no rule by which their past form is formed. And worse than that, there is no logic in her education.

To use these verbs in the past tense, you need to memorize them. Moreover, many do not regular verbs have two different past tense forms. To do this, you will need constant practice, which you can get in English courses for adults from Easy Speak.

Since you will come across the concepts of “verb forms” more than once when using irregular verbs, in this article we will look at what they are.

What are the forms of English verbs?

A verb is an action that someone/something does. For example: lie down, run, jump, swim.

All English verbs are divided into regular and irregular. Knowing whether a verb is regular or irregular is necessary in order to use it in the past tense.

In Russian we add "l" at the end to put the verb in the past tense.

Present time: reading, writing, walking, swimming.

Past tense: read, wrote, walked, swam.

In English, some verbs are formed according to rules, while others are not. I think you've already guessed that this is the difference between regular and irregular verbs.

Regular verbs in English- these are those verbs whose past form is formed according to the rules by adding the ending -ed.

For example

work - worked,
work - worked.

Irregular Verbs in English (irregular verbs)- these are verbs whose past form is not formed according to the rules. At the same time, there is no logic in its education.

For example

buy - bought,
buy - bought.

One of the main difficulties for students is that there is no rule by which one can determine whether a verb is regular or irregular. You can find out only by looking it up in the dictionary or memorizing it.

Verb form is how the verb changes depending on the time it is used.

Both regular and irregular verbs have 3 forms.

Verb forms in English

All verbs have 3 forms.

First form verb is the verb itself in the present tense, in initial form.

For example

(to) work - to work,
(to) do - to do,
(to) buy - buy.

Second form verb is a verb in the past tense (this form is used in all simple past tenses).

worked - worked,
did - did,
bought - bought.

Third form of the verb is a verb in the past tense, which also carries the characteristics of an object (this form is used in the tenses of the Perfect group).

worked - worked,
done - done,
bought - bought.

Note: Of course, when using the 3rd form in our speech, we do not translate it literally, but translate it in the usual past tense.

For example

I have done my homework.
I did my homework (Literally: I did my homework).

How are English verb forms formed?

In regular verbs, both forms of the past tense are formed according to the same rule, so attention is usually not focused on them.

To form the 2nd and 3rd forms, we add the ending -ed to the verb.

Work - worked - worked.

For irregular verbs, the 2nd and 3rd forms can:

• coincide with each other.

Have-had-had,
have - had.

• differ.

Do - did - done,
do - did.

This is precisely the complexity of irregular verbs. To use all 3 forms correctly, you need to memorize them.

Let's look again at the table of formation of 3 forms of verbs.

Table of verb forms in English.

In the article, we looked at the most popular ways to memorize irregular verbs and chose the most effective one.

In the past tense, the verb after any pronoun comes in the same form - with the ending - ed - or completely changes its shape. In the first case, we are dealing with regular verbs whose endings are - ed . In the second case, we are faced with irregular verbs.

You cannot add to them - E.D. , because in the past tense these verbs change completely.

This is exactly what we are seeing with do. It's not in the past tense done (as it should be according to the rule), and did , because do is an irregular verb.

So how do you determine whether a verb is regular or not?

A little “female” logic will help us here: you just need to learn the table of irregular verbs and their translation. Those not on this list are correct. But the catch is that there are about 200 irregular verbs! And multiply this number by 3 (an irregular verb has 3 forms: one is the present tense, the second is the past tense, the third is the participle). However, the list of necessary Everyday life verbs are not so extensive - almost 2 times less. You need to know them first of all.

How to remember irregular verbs?

Repeat out loud 3 forms of each verb, so they are perfectly remembered - like a rhyme! Or print out a book to quickly memorize irregular verbs ().

Table of irregular verbs with translations

Table. Irregular verbs with translation

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 history in English. 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;
• consonant in monosyllabic verbs when added it is duplicated. 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 are called irregular general rule during the formation of temporary forms. 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).

Due to the fact that each irregular verb has its own inflection, they should 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 come from the 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.

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 everyone grammatical construction Two examples are given - one with regular and one with irregular verbs.

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.

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

Answers to exercises

Exercise 1.

Exercise 2.

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

Exercise 3.

1. I read a book.
2. We saw them yesterday.
3. The Smiths lived in London till 2000. Then they moved to Manchester.
4. Alice was a student of Univercity in 2014.
5. They worked in the same company two years ago.
6. He has just finished training.
7. When we were children we took for a walk to this park.
8. 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.

Verb- this is an independent part of speech that answers the questions what to do?, what to do? (to be, to study, to dream, to go...)

According to the method of formation of past tense forms (V2) and past participles (V3), all verbs of the English language are divided into 2 groups: regular verbs (Regular Verbs) and irregular verbs (Irregular verbs).

The English verb has three forms. Verb forms are designated by Roman numerals I, II, III.

I form(or an infinitive without to), for example: to make (to do) – make – the first, or main form, which answers the question what to do?, what to do? Using the first form of the verb, the Present Simple Tense is formed. When forming Present Simple Tense to the 1st form of the verb in the 3rd person singular(he, she, it – he, she, it) the ending is added –s or -es(he jumpes, she jumpes, it jumpes, he cries, she cries, it cries, he does, she does, it does) . With other pronouns (I, we, you, you, they - I, we, you, you, they) the I form of the verb is used without changes.

II form serves to form the simple past tense (Past Simple Tense). When forming the simple past tense, both regular and irregular verbs are used. Regular verbs form II and III forms by adding a suffix to the stem I form –ed(jump – jumped – jump – jumped) . If the verb is not regular, then its past tense form corresponds to the second column in the table of irregular verbs (be – was/were, do – did, make – made).

III form- Participle II (Participle II) is a special form of the verb that denotes the attribute of an object by action and answers the questions of the adjective (lost, baked, made). For regular verbs, form III coincides with form II: jump (I) – jumped (II) – jumped (III) (jump – jumped – jumped). II and III forms of irregular verbs can be formed different ways listed below.

Regular verbs

Regular verbs form II and III forms by adding a suffix to the stem I form -ed (-d), which is pronounced like:

• [ d] after vowels and voiced consonants: to clean (clean) – cleaned (cleaned); to play (play) - played (played);
• [ t] after the deaf ones: to work (work) – worked (worked), to look (look) – looked (looked);
• after [d] And [t]: to want (want) – wanted (wanted), to mend (repair) – mended (repaired).

When forming II and III forms of verbs, pay attention to the following spelling rules:

• If the I form is a short root syllable and ends with one consonant, then when adding the ending –ed the last vowel of the root is doubled: to stop (stop) – sto pped(has stopped).
• -y, preceded by a consonant, the letter y changes to i: to carry (carry) - carried (carried), to study (study) - studied (studied). But if the stem of the verb ends in -y, preceded by a vowel, then simply adds to the base of the verb - ed: to play (play) – played (played), to stay (stay) – remained (remained).
• If the stem of the verb ends in -e, which is not pronounced, then II and III forms of the verb are formed by adding the ending - d: to arrive (arrive) – arrived (arrived).

Irregular Verbs

Irregular Verbs- these are verbs that have special, fixed forms of the past tense and participles; their forms do not have a clear formation algorithm and are acquired by memorizing: to make (to do) - made (made) - made (made). Most English irregular verbs are native English, derived from verbs that existed in Old English. Most irregular verbs exist as remnants of historical conjugation systems (changing the verb according to persons - I'm going, you're going, he's going...).

Irregular verbs are used to form the past simple (Past Simple), present perfect (Present Simple), past perfect tenses (Past Perfect), in passive voice (Passive voice), when converting direct speech into indirect (Reported speech), in conditional sentences(Conditional sentences).

table of irregular verbs

How to remember forms of irregular verbs?

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for shameless and daring cramming! This is how you can remember the most commonly used irregular verbs with pronunciation, which we have carefully selected for you, just as the leaves of the best varieties of tea are selected. Autumn is in full swing - brew some tea and let's go over the 3 forms of irregular verbs. Let's go!

Good to know that some of these verbs have the same spelling and pronunciation of all 3 forms, but there is also an insidious verb read, 2 and 3 forms of which are read . So pay attention! And don't screw this up!

Basic irregular verbs with the same forms

So, at first it will be much easier to memorize the above-mentioned irregular verbs of the English language than to cram everything. Here they are:

bet bet
burst explode)
cast cast a shadow, drop
cost cost, estimate
cut cut
fit fit (about clothes)
hit hit, hit
hurt injure, hurt, damage
let allow, allow
put put, put
quit leave, leave
rid rid
set install, install, configure
shed[ʃed] to shed (tears)
shit shit
shut[ʃʌt] close
slit cut
split divide, split, split
spread distribute
wet wet

In general, there are as many as 638 irregular verbs in the English language. But, fortunately, about 200+ are mostly used, and of these, the 100 most popular ones are used. Of course, you can learn all 638 and write a bestseller or retell Shakespeare in English. But do you really need that?

3 more verbs, the 1st and 3rd forms of which are the same:

come came come come
become became become become
run ran run run

Ways to form irregular verbs

So, easy! If the verb in Past Simple and Past Participle does not have the ending “- ed"(I felt / she has forgiven) - then he wrong, that is, verbs forming the Past Simple and Past Participle forms don't add ending «- ed» to the infinitive form, but are formed in other wonderful ways.

Like this, for example:

• Change root vowels on " o"and adding graduation To 3 form:

break[brek] br o ke br o k en["brəuk(ə)n] (c)break
choose ch o se ch o se n["tʃəuz(ə)n] choose
forget forg o t forg o t ten forget
freeze fr o ze fr o ze n freeze, freeze
get g o t gott en["gɔtn] receive
speak sp o ke sp o ke n["spəuk(ə)n] talk
steal st o le st o le n["stəulən] steal
tear t o re t o r n tear
wake w o ke w o ke n["wəuk(ə)n] wake up
wear w o re w o r n put on

• Change root vowels on " o» only in 2 verb form:

drive dr o ve driven ["drɪv(ə)n] to drive a car
ride r o de ridden ["rɪd(ə)n] to ride on horseback
rise r o se risen ["rɪz(ə)n] rise
write wr o te written ["rɪt(ə)n] write

• Appearing in 2 form graduation «- ew", and in 3 — «- own"

blow bl ew bl own blow
fly fl ew fl own fly
grow gr ew gr own grow, grow
know kn ew kn own know
throw[θrəu]thr ew[θru:]thr own[θrəun] to throw

• Changing endings 2 And 3 forms on "- ought" And "- aught»

bring br ought br ought bring
buy b ought b ought buy
catch c aught c aught catch
fight f ought f ought fight
seek s ought s ought search
teach t aught t aught teach
think[θɪŋk]th ought[θɔ:t]th ought[θɔ:t] to think

• Change " ee" on " e» in 2 And 3 verb form + change in pronunciation

keep k e pt k e pt hold
sleep sl e pt sl e pt sleep
feel f e lt f e lt feel
bleed bl e dbl e d bleed
feed f e d f e d feed
meet m e t m e t meet
lead l e d l e d lead

• Alternating vowels at the root of the word in all 3 forms according to the principle “ i-a-u»:

begin beg a nbeg u n start
drink dr a nk dr u nk drink
ring r a ng r u ng call
shrink[ʃrɪŋk] shr a nk [ʃræŋk] shr u nk [ʃrʌŋk] to shrink
sing s a ng s u ng sing
sink s a nk s u nk to sink, to sink
spring spr a ng spr u ng to arise, jump out
swim sw a m sw u m swim

• And now! The most incorrect English verbs at all! They are so wrong that Dr. Evil himself (from the Austin Powers films) would be shocked! They defy explanation and logic, they do whatever they want, in a word, they are simply destroyers of the system! But what are the necessary and useful ones:

be was/were been to be, to be
do did done do
go went gone go
have had had have
make made made do, manufacture

• Is there some more incorrect and at the same time correct verbs, kind of inverted verbs. Check it out!

We recommend remembering the form that is most familiar to you. After all, even the verb “ work" It has irregular shapes Past Indefinite and Past Participle (in both cases wrought), but it is outdated and practically not used. Create your own lists of irregular verbs and distribute them into categories that are convenient for you to memorize. And everything will be just fine!

100 most popular irregular verbs in English

Memory game

We are talking about the analogy of a card “fool”. Irregular verbs in English are written on the cards, each form on a separate card. One deck contains about 20 verbs, that's 60 cards. Players are dealt 6 cards. The one with the initial form of the verb goes first. The next one must put the first or second form of this verb, or another verb in the initial form. For example: the first player makes a move with “go”, the second must put “went” or “gone”, or another verb in the initial form, for example, “come”. Further - by analogy. There is also a joker - this is a verb in which all forms are the same, for example “hit-hit-hit”. With the Joker, you can change the top card, that is, order the form of the verb that the owner of the Joker needs. If there are no suitable cards, then you need to take from the deck until you get one. The deck is disassembled to the end, and the one who does not have a single card left wins. The game is going great! Try it!

We hope that learning English irregular verbs will now become easier! And so that you have no doubts, we invite you to take a trial lesson! Don't be shy ;)

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