ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Common Irregular Verbs and How to Use Them Correctly

Updated on July 17, 2013

Common Irregular Verbs and How to Use Them Properly

There is a simple rule for changing a verb to past tense. Most verbs can be turned into past tense simply by adding a “d’ or “ed” to the end of the verb. But just like with most rules, there are exceptions that can confuse us. There are many irregular verbs in the English language. Below is a list of irregular verbs that are commonly misused, because they do not follow the rule.


Begin

Past tense: began Past Participle: begun

Incorrect: She beginned to really appreciate 90’s music after hearing a Justin Bieber song.

Correct: She began to really appreciate 90’s music after hearing a Justin Bieber song.


Cling

Past tense: clung Past Participle: clung

Incorrect: Sue clinged to the thought of the hot bath waiting for her at home to make it through her work day.

Correct: Sue clung to the thought of the hot bath waiting for her at home to make it through her work day.


Read

Past tense: read Past Participle: read

Incorrect: I readed her Facebook status about cottage cheese over and over again.

Correct: I read her Facebook status about cottage cheese over and over again.


Understand

Past tense: understood Past Participle: understood

Incorrect: I finally understanded how my parents felt all those years when I first heard my daughter say “I was asked on my first date this weekend.”

Correct: I finally understood how my parents felt all those years when I first heard my daughter say “I was asked on my first date this weekend”


Lend

Past tense: lent Past Participle: lent

Incorrect: I knew she was my best friend the day she lended an ear to hear me complain about the huge pimple on my forehead for over an hour without telling me to shut up.

Correct: I knew she was my best friend the day she lent an ear to hear me complain about the huge pimple on my forehead for over an hour without telling me to shut up.


Forgive

Past tense: forgave Past Participle: forgiven

Incorrect: My puppy forgived me for stepping on his tail.

Correct: My puppy forgave me for stepping on his tail.



Other Irregular Verbs

Base Form
Past Tense
Past Participle
be, is, am, are
was, were
been
beat
beat
beaten
buy
bought
bought
choose
chose
chosen
come
came
come
do
did
done
draw
drew
drawn
eat
ate
eaten
fall
fell
fallen
fell
felt
felt
fight
fought
fought
fling
flung
flung
give
gave
given
go
went
gone
have
had
had
lay
laid
laid
run
ran
run
say
said
said
send
sent
sent
swim
swam
swum
tell
told
told
wear
wore
worn
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)