English irregular verbs: the ones worth memorising
English grammar is mostly regular, which makes the exception stand out: a few hundred verbs do not take -ed in the past, and their forms simply have to be known. The reassuring part is that the ones you actually need are few and very frequent: go/went/gone, have/had/had, take/took/taken. They repeat constantly.
Two forms carry the weight
Beyond the base form, each irregular verb has two worth drilling: the past simple and the past participle (used in perfect tenses and the passive).
| Base | Past simple | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | gone |
| take | took | taken |
| say | said | said |
| buy | bought | bought |
Families behind the chaos
They are not fully random. Most fall into families, and spotting the family makes a new verb easier to guess and remember.
- vowel change: sing, sang, sung
- no change at all: put, put, put
- past simple equals participle: buy, bought, bought
Frequency beats coverage
You do not need all two hundred at once. A short list of high-frequency verbs covers a huge share of real speech and text, so learn those cold before chasing rarer ones like strive or forsake.
- be, have, do
- say, get, make
- go, know, take
- see, come, think
The slip that sticks
In Verboteca each English verb has its base, third person, -ing form, past simple and past participle as separate cards, so you practise the exact piece you are shaky on. A1 covers the present forms; Premium adds the past simple and participle for the full irregular set.