Verbs are words that help describe an action that we can do. They basically express what someone or something does. Without verbs, it will become impossible to express our thoughts and ideas. Hence, they are a basic unit in English grammar, and it is important to know its use and significance.
However, when we say verbs, it is necessary to learn that verbs are of mainly two forms – Regular verbs and Irregular verbs. In this post, we will focus on irregular verbs. To define irregular verbs, we can say they are the kind of verbs that cannot be conjugated with a traditional method. They can take different forms and patterns while forming different tenses.
They are the harder and the most common types. But if you are already acquainted with regular verbs, you are one step closer.
What are irregular verbs?
Verbs are used in three forms in a sentence that is past, present, and future. Now, the simple present form is the base form of a verb. It is basically the verb that is in the present tense. When these verbs that are at their base form, do not adhere to the usual rule of adding “ed” or “d” at the end while changing into simple past or past participle, they are called irregular verbs.
In short, irregular verbs are those kinds that change their pattern every time they are conjugated to a different tense. They do not follow a certain pattern like regular verbs. For example, if we have a verb “run”, it is “run” in its base form. When we turn it into its simple past or past participle, it will not be “runned“. Instead, it will be “ran” or “run” accordingly. Therefore, it is an irregular verb.
Irregular verbs are mostly expected to be memorized because, unlike regular verbs, they do not have only one pattern of adding “ed” or “d“. However, it is possible to study them into specific groups. They are as follows.
The first group of irregular verbs consists of words that maintain their base form constantly, even in their past forms. That means they remain the same in both their base, simple past and past participle form.
Some examples are hurt, cut, cost, let, etc.
- Base form – “I hurt my hand.”
- Simple past – “He hurt me.”
- Past participle – “My knees were hurt while playing.”
The second group of irregular verbs consists of those that have the same past forms. That means when these verbs are altered from their base form, their simple past form and past participle will be the same.
Such as
- find – found, has found
- lay – laid, has laid
- tell – told, has told
The third group of verbs consists of those with similar base and past participle forms but different simple past forms.
- Run – ran, has run
- Become – Became, has become
The last group consists of those verbs that have different patterns in every form. That means their base form, simple past form, and their past participle are all different.
- Write – wrote, has written
- Sing – sang, has sung
- Grow – grew, has grown
Thus, it is noticeable that these are a bit tricky. However, with regular practice, it will become easier. And once you get a hold of its concept, irregular verbs will be as easy as regular verbs.
