Irregular verbs

Irregular Verbs List

This is a list of some irregular verbs in English. Of course, there are many others, but these are the more common irregular verbs.

V1 Base Form	V2 Past Simple
awake	awoke
be	was, were
beat	beat
become	became
begin	began
bend	bent
bet	bet
bid	bid
bite	bit
blow	blew
break	broke
bring	brought
broadcast	broadcast
build	built
burn	burned or burnt
buy	bought
catch	caught
choose	chose
come	came
cost	cost
cut	cut
dig	dug
do	did
draw	drew
dream	dreamed or dreamt
drive	drove
drink	drank
eat	ate
fall	fell
feel	felt
fight	fought
find	found
fly	flew
forget	forgot
forgive	forgave
freeze	froze
get	got
give	gave
go	went
grow	grew
hang	hung
have	had
hear	heard
hide	hid
hit	hit
hold	held
hurt	hurt
keep	kept
know	knew
lay	laid
lead	led
learn	learned or learnt
leave	left
lend	lent
let	let
lie	lay
lose	lost
make	made
mean	meant
meet	met
pay	paid
put	put
read	read
ride	rode
ring	rang
rise	rose
run	ran
say	said
see	saw
sell	sold
send	sent
show	showed
shut	shut
sing	sang
sit	sat
sleep	slept
speak	spoke
spend	spent
stand	stood
swim	swam
take	took
teach	taught
tear	tore
tell	told
think	thought
throw	threw
understand	understood
wake	woke
wear	wore
win	won
write	wrote

Hungry shark

You have been shipwrecked, but you have managed to get to a desert island - thousands of kilometres from civilization. You have realised there is no hope of escape. You are surrounded by hungry sharks. What can you do? What five things did you rescue from the ship before it sank? Why?
1………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5………………………………………………………………………………………………………

OH POOR ELENA! THE CAT ATE HER PIGEON!

Elena was happy. She had a good husband, Edward, and two perfect children, a girl and a boy. She used to have a good job, but she gave it up. She left it because the family had enough money. Edward was an early riser so he got up early every morning and made the children’s breakfasts. He helped them get dressed and then he drove them to school before going to the office. Elena stayed in bed and watched TV. However, the news was all bad and she worried about bombings, murders and the problems in the Middle East. She spent a lot of time with her beautiful cat Mamie. Mamie wasn’t an ordinary cat, oh no! Elena told everyone how special the cat was – like a human being; like a third child! How she fussed and faffed with that cat! When Elena looked into her cat’s eyes, she knew they had a really special relationship.

Elena also had a pet woodpigeon. It didn’t live in the house, of course. It lived in her garden. Every morning, Elena put sunflower seeds out for it and it always came for them. Elena loved the white ring round its neck and the way it fluttered its wings. Mamie never bothered that bird – she knew how much it meant to Mummy Elena. She really did.

Until one day when Mamie came in the house with feathers in her mouth. She wouldn’t! She couldn’t! No, she never would! Elena cried out and ran into the garden. Oh no, she had! There was the beautiful pigeon, dead. Killed and chewed on by Mamie, none other.

Elena screamed and started to cry. Then she ran back into the house to face the murderous cat who had betrayed her. Elena looked at the cat as if it was a strange, unknown creature. Mamie licked her paws, rolled over and purred.

‘Look, she’s just a cat!’ Edward said when he got home. ‘That’s what they do, sweetheart. Cheer up, it was only a pigeon! Oh and by the way, we need a receptionist at work. Would you be interested?’

‘Oh! Oh, well maybe I would…’ answered Elena. Perhaps it was time she went back to work. Life as a housewife was far too stressful.  

Answer in full sentences.

1)     Why did Elena give up work? She ….

2)    Why did Edward sort the children in the mornings? He…..

3)    Do you think that Elena should have got up to make the children’s breakfasts and get them ready for school? Was she being fair?

4)    What things did Elena worry about? Why do you think she worried about these things?

5)    How did Elena view her cat Mamie? Do you think her relationship with the cat was healthy and normal?

6)    How did Elena care for the woodpigeon?

7)    Why did she think the cat wouldn’t harm the pigeon?

8)    What happened to the pigeon? Who do you blame?

9)    How did Elena react to the pigeon’s fate?

10)  How did she view the cat after the ‘murder’?

11)   How did Edward react to the sorry tale of the pigeon?

12)  Do you think Elena should consider the job? Why or why not?