Essential English Irregular Verbs and Simple Tenses

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Written on October 9, 2025 in English with a size of 4.75 KB

English Irregular Verbs List

Infinitive - Simple Past - Past Participle - Translation (Português)

to be - was/were - been - ser, estar
to become - became - become - tornar-se
to begin - began - begun - começar, iniciar
to break - broke - broken - quebrar, romper
to bring - brought - brought - trazer
to build - built - built - construir
to buy - bought - bought - comprar
to catch - caught - caught - pegar
to choose - chose - chosen - escolher
to come - came - come - vir
to cost - cost - cost - custar
to cut - cut - cut - cortar
to do - did - done - fazer
to drink - drank - drunk - beber
to drive - drove - driven - dirigir
to eat - ate - eaten - comer
to fall - fell - fallen - cair
to feel - felt - felt - sentir
to find - found - found - achar
to fly - flew - flown - voar
to forget - forgot - forgotten - esquecer
to get - got - gotten/got - obter
to give - gave - given - dar
to go - went - gone - ir
to have - had - had - ter, beber, comer
to hurt - hurt - hurt - machucar
to keep - kept - kept - guardar
to know - knew - known - saber
to learn - learnt/learned - learnt/learned - aprender
to leave - left - left - deixar, partir
to lend - lent - lent - dar emprestado
to lose - lost - lost - perder
to make - made - made - fazer
to meet - met - met - encontrar
to pay - paid - paid - pagar
to put - put - put - colocar
to read - read - read - ler
to run - ran - run - correr
to say - said - said - dizer
to see - saw - seen - ver
to sell - sold - sold - vender
to send - sent - sent - mandar
to sing - sang - sung - cantar
to sink - sank - sunk - afundar
to sit - sat - sat - sentar
to sleep - slept - slept - dormir
to speak - spoke - spoken - falar
to spend - spent - spent - gastar
to swing - swung - swung - balançar
to take - took - taken - tomar
to teach - taught - taught - ensinar
to tell - told - told - contar
to think - thought - thought - pensar
to throw - threw - thrown - atirar
to understand - understood - understood - entender
to wake - woke - woken - acordar
to win - won - won - vencer
to write - wrote - written - escrever

Simple Tenses Grammar Rules

Simple Present Tense

Affirmative Form (Third Person Singular)

When the subject is he, she, or it, the verb takes -s, -es, or -ies.

-ies: Used when the verb ends in a consonant + y (e.g., study → studies).
-es: Used when the verb ends in o, x, ch, sh, s, ss, or z (e.g., go → goes, watch → watches).
-s: Used for all other verbs.

Negative Form (Simple Present)

I, you, we, they: Subject + don't + base verb.
He, she, it: Subject + doesn't + base verb.

Interrogative Form (Simple Present)

I, you, we, they: Do + Subject + base verb?
He, she, it: Does + Subject + base verb?

Simple Past Tense

Affirmative Form (Regular Verbs)

Regular verbs add -d, -ed, or -ied:

If the verb ends in e, add -d.
If the verb ends in consonant + y, change y to i and add -ed.
Otherwise, add -ed.

Note: Irregular verbs use the specific Simple Past form listed previously.

Negative Form (Simple Past)

All subjects: Subject + didn't + base verb.

Interrogative Form (Simple Past)

All subjects: Did + Subject + base verb?

Conjugation of 'To Be' in the Simple Past

The verb to be is irregular and does not use did/didn't.

Was is used for the 1st person singular (I) and the 3rd person singular (he, she, it).

Were is used for the 2nd person (you) and all plural subjects (we, they).

Note: 'Was' and 'Were' are used for both questions and short responses.

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Simple Present auxiliary verbs to be conjugation English vocabulary language learning Portuguese translation ESL Simple Past English grammar irregular verbs verb conjugation verb tenses