Examples of Irregular Past Tense Verbs: The Unpredictable World of Verb Conjugation

When it comes to learning English, one of the most challenging aspects is mastering the irregular past tense verbs. These words can create havoc for conscientious speakers of English, as they require old-fashioned memorization - there are no secret formulas or shortcuts. According to Steven Pinker, an American experimental psychologist and linguist, 'the ten commonest verbs in English (be, have, do, say, make, go, take, come, see, and get) are all irregular,' and about 70% of the time we use a verb, it is an irregular verb.

In total, there are over 470 irregular verbs in English, including rare ones such as bestrew, enwind, and hagride. While there are far fewer irregular verbs than regular ones, we use them all the time. However, the simple past form of an irregular verb cannot function as an adjective, unless it differs from the participle. For example, a broke dish is substandard English, whereas a broken dish is grammatically correct.

Another important rule to remember is that you should never add a helping verb to the simple past form of an irregular verb. This can lead to embarrassing mistakes, such as 'I have broke your dish.' Instead, we use the compound verb 'have broken' or 'has broken,' which consists of a helping verb (have) and the main verb's past participle (broken).

Some irregular verbs change significantly in their simple past tense and past participle forms. For example, the verb 'go' has a simple past tense that is not recognizable from its present form ('went'), while the verb 'break' changes both to form its simple past tense ('broke') and past participle ('broken'). Other irregular verbs, like 'feel' and 'teach,' become modified versions of themselves when forming their past tenses and participles.

Finally, some irregular verbs never change, regardless of whether they are in the present or past tense. Examples include 'let,' 'shut,' and 'spread,' which form their simple past tense and past participle in unpredictable ways. Regular verbs, on the other hand, always have identical simple past tenses and participles, formed by adding ed (e.g., 'wonted') or sometimes just d (e.g., 'created').

In conclusion, mastering irregular past tense verbs is an essential part of learning English. By understanding the unique characteristics of each verb and practicing its conjugation in context, learners can improve their language skills and communicate more effectively with native speakers.

Examples of irregular past tense verbs