Category 1: irregular ending with no vowel

change, V2=V3
group 1: d ending changes to t,
ent changes to end

group 3: regular (V2, V3) in US

English, irregular in UK English

Bend

Bent

Bent

Learn

Learnt

Learnt

Build

Built

Built

Burn

Lend

Lent

Lent

Send

Sent

Sent

Spend

Spent

Spent

Learned/lea
rnt
Dwelled/dw
elt
Smelled/sm
elt
Spelled/spel
t
Spilled/spilt

Learned/lea
rnt
Dwelled/dw
elt
Smelled/sm
elt
Spelled/spel
t
Spilled/spilt

Spoiled/spoi
lt

Spoiled/spoi
lt

Dwell
Smell
Spell

group 2: the verbs have and

make
Have/h
as

Had

Had

Make

Made

Made

Spill
Spoil

group 4: ay ending changes to

aid
*said is pronounced /sed/
lay
(the table,
clothes, eggs) laid
laid
pay paid
paid
say *said
(/sed/) *said
(/sed/)

Category 2: Vowel change, irregular

ending, V2=V3
group 5: vowel change , d or
t ending
Creep

Crept

Crept

Feed

Fed

Fed

Feel

Felt

Felt

Keep

Kept

Kept

Kneel

Knelt

Knelt

Meet

Met

Met

Sleep

Slept

Slept

Swee
p

Swep
t

Swep
t

Weep

Wept

Wept

*leav
e

Left

Left

group 6: different
pronunciation of the same
vowel

Deal

Dealt

Dealt

Dream

Leap

Dreamed/
dreamt
Leaned/
Leant
Leapt

Dreamed/
Dreamt
Leaned/
Leant
Leapt

Mean

Meant

Meant

Read

Read
(/red/)
Heard

Read
(/red/)
Heard

Lean

Hear

group 7: ell turns to old

Sell

Sold

Sold

Tell

Told

Told

group 8: vowel change with

ought (or *aught) ending
Bring

Brought

Brought

Buy

Bought

Bought

Fight

Fought

Fought

Seek

Sought

Sought

Think

Thought

Thought

*catch

Caught

Caught

*teach

Taught

Taught

Category 3: Verbs with the same form

V1=V2=V3
group 9: Verbs that do not change
Bet

Bet

Bet

Bid(to offer)

Bid

Bid

Broadcast

Broadcast

Bbroadcast

Burst

Burst

Burst

Cost

Cost

Cost

Cut

Cut

Cut

Fit
Hit

Fit(was the right size)

Fitted(tailored, changed
size)
Hit

Fit(was the right size)

Fitted(tailored, changed
size)
Hit

Hurt

Hurt

Hurt

Let

Let

Let

Put

Put

Put

Set

Set

Set

Shut

Shut

Shut

Spread

Spread

Spread

Quit

Quit

Quit

Category 4: Vowel change, V3 ending with

(e)n
group 10: V2 and V3 with
long /o / sound

group 12: The following

verbs:

Break

Broke

Broken

*bite

Bit

*bitten

Choose

Chose

Chosen

*hide

Hid

*hidden

Freeze

Froze

Frozen

Eat

Ate

Eaten

Speak

Spoke

Spoken

Give

Gave

Given

Steal

Stole

Stolen

Forgive

Forgiven

Awake

Awoke

Awoken

Wake

Woke

Woken

Forgav
e
Forbad
(e)
Bade

Weave

Wove

Woven

group 11: V2 long o sound,

V3 shirt /i/ sound

Forbid

Forbidden

*bid(to
comma
nd,
farewell
)
*forget Forgot

*bidden

Get

Got

*forgotten

Arise

Arose

Arisen

Shake

Shook

*gotten(AmE)/Go
t(BrE)
Shaken

Rise

Rose

Risen

Take

Took

Taken

*ride

Rode

*ridden

See

Saw

Seen

Drive

Drove

Driven

Beat

Beat

Beaten

*write

Wrote

*written

Fall

Fel

Fallen

Lie(dow
n to
rest)
*lie
(tell a
lie)
*lay(th
e tale,
eggs

Lay

Lain

Lied

Lied

Laid

laid

Pay attention!
Do not confuse lie (tell a lie,
regular), lie (down to rest,
irregular), and lay (the table,
irregular).

group 14: V1 with ow, V2

with ew, V3 with own
group 13: the ear-ore-orn
pattern
Bear

Bore

Born

Swear

Swore

Sworn

Tear

Tore

Torn

Wear

Wore

Worn

Blow

Blew

Blown

Grow

Grew

Grown

Know

Knew

Known

Throw

Threw

Thrown

Fly

Flew

Flown

Draw

Drew

*drawn

Category 5: regular V2, regular or

irregular V3
group 15
Show

Showed

Showed/shown

Sow

Sowed

Sowed/sown

Mow

Mowed

Mowed/mown

Swell

Swelled

Swelled/swollen

Sew

Sewed

Sewed/sewn

*shine(the
shoes)

Shined

Shined

*shine(brightly
)

Shone

Shone

Category 6: vowel change, no ending,

V2=V3
group 16: vowel change
pattern, no ending

group 17: vowel change

pattern i - ou - ou

Dig

Dug

Dug

Bind

Bound

Bound

Stick

Stuck

Stuck

Find

Found

Found

Spin

Spun

Spun

Grind

Ground

Ground

Sting

Stung

Stung

Wind

Wound

Wound

Strike

Struck

Struck

Swing

Swung

Swung

*hang(a

Hanged

Hanged

*hang(a
picture)

Hung

Hung

Slide

Slid

Light
Shoot

man)

group 18: vowel change ee e-e

Bleed

Bled

Bled

Feed

Fed

Fed

Slid

Flee

Fled

Fled

Lighted/lit

Lighted/lit

*lead

Led

Led

Shot

shot

*speed

Speeded/sp
ed

Speeded/sp
ed

Category 7: The craziest verbs!

group 19: vowel change
pattern i - a - u
Begin

Began

Begun

Drink

Drank

Drunk

Ring

Rang

Rung

Shrink

Shrank

Shrunk

Sing

Sang

Sung

Sink

Sank

Sunk

Spin

Span/sp
un

Spun

Spring

Sprang

Sprung

Swim

Swam

swum

group 20: vowel change,

V1=V3
Come

Came

Come

Becom
e

Becam
e

Becom
e

Run

Ran

Run

group 21: miscellaneous

Be

Was/were

Been

Go

Went

Gone

*dive(jump
ed head
first)

Dove

Dived

*dive(scuba
-diving)

Dived

Dived

Do

Did

Done

Can

Could

May

Might

Hold

Held

Held

Stand

Stood

Stood

Undestand

Understo
od

Understoo
d

Sit

Sat

Sat

Babysit

Bbabysat

Babysat

Win

Won

Won

Lose

Lost

Lost