IRREGULAR VERBS
abide, -d, -d
‘tolerate’, ‘obey, act according to’
awake, awoke, awoken
The usual past tense and past participle are awoke and awoken respectively.
Awaken and waken are regular verbs.
bear, bore, born/borne
In the sense ‘give birth to’, borne is a past participle used in the active, born is
an adjective and past participle used in the passive. In meanings other than
‘give birth to’ borne is used: This was a child born of/to educated parents. She
has borne (him) six children.
bend, bent, bent
On bended knee is an expression
—, —, bereaved/bereft (adjectives) In the context of death: bereaved is used in the sense ‘having lost a close
friend/relative’, bereft is possible but it means ‘sad and lonely because you
have lost sb’. Typically, bereaved is used before a noun or in the phrase the
bereaved, bereft is used after a verb. In other meanings: bereft is used: The
bereaved mother stood by her son's grave. His death in 1990 left her
completely bereft. The place seemed to be utterly bereft of human life.
beseech, -ed/besought,
-ed/besought
bet, bet, bet
bid, bid, bid
‘make an offer to buy’: She bid 100 pounds for a Victorian chair.
bid, bid/bade, bid/bidden
‘order/tell’, ‘invite’, ‘say as a greeting’: She bade/bid me (to) come in. We had
bid/bidden them good night.
burn, -ed/burnt, -ed/burnt
In AmE burned is preferred, in BrE both burned and burnt can be used. In both
BrE and AmE the irregular form, not the regular, is found in adjectival uses
before nouns: burnt toast. Similarly: spilt milk.
chide, -d, -d
cleave,-d, -d
‘remain faithful/attached to sb/sth’
cleave, -d/cleft/clove,
-d/cleft/cloven
‘split’: cleft palate, cleft stick, cloven hoof, cloven tongue (fixed expressions)
clothe, -d, -d/clad
Clad is an adjective, clothed is a participle and adjective. Only clad is used in
hyphenated compounds (the leather-clad biker). Both clothed and clad are
used in the sense ‘wearing clothes’. Note the typical expressions:
lightly/fully/partially/scantily/casually/warmly etc. clad;
lightly/fully/partially/half clothed. Both forms can be used in the figurative
sense ‘covered’.
cost, -ed, -ed
‘estimate the price to be charged for/estimate how much money will be needed
for sth’: Has your scheme been properly costed?
crow, -ed, -ed
Crew is archaic.
dare, -d, -d
Durst is archaic and rare.
drink, drank, drunk/drunken
Drunk (participle and adjective) is used after a verb, drunken (adjective) before
a noun. For events and situations only drunken is used, in the figurative sense
‘excited’ only drunk is used. Examples illustrating the points above and
showing typical word combinations: drunken
brawl/stupor/singing/reveller/orgy, drunk with success, drink/drunk/drunken
driving, blind drunk
fit, -ted/fit, -ted/fit
BrE: fitted, fitted, AmE: fit/fitted, fit/fitted
forecast, -ed/forecast, -ed/forecast
gild, -ed, -ed/gilt
Gilt is an adjective and it is used usually before nouns: gilded/gilt mirror; The
trees were already gilded by the morning sun.
gird, -ed, -ed
hang, -ed/hung, -ed/hung
Although you can find counterexamples, it is safer to stick to the rule that in the
sense ‘kill sb’ only hanged is used as the past tense and participle. In other
senses only hung is used.
hew, -ed, -ed/hewn
BrE: hewn, AmE: both hewn and hewed are found, with hewn being much
more common. Only hewn is used in rough-hewn.
kneel, -ed/knelt, -ed/knelt
BrE: knelt, knelt, AmE: kneeled/knelt, kneeled/knelt
knit, -ted/knit, -ted/knit
In compounds only knit is used in the sense ‘join’, and knit/knitted in the sense
‘make clothes’ (hand-knit/knitted garments, tight(ly)-knit society). Otherwise
knitted is used in the sense ‘make clothes’, and either knit or knitted can be
used in the expression knit one’s brows. In the sense ‘join’ knit is preferred.
lean, -ed/leant, -ed/leant
BrE: leaned/leant, leaned/leant, AmE: leaned, leaned
light, -ed/lit, -ed/lit
In BrE lit is much more common except as an adjective before a noun, where
lighted is preferred. However, when this adjective is preceded by an adverb lit
is used: a lighted candle, a freshly lit cigarette; He lit/lighted a cigarette. The
room was lit/lighted by a very small, dim bulb. Note: floodlight, floodlit,
floodlit.
melt, -ed, -ed/molten
Molten (an adjective) is used - usually before nouns - when high temperature is
implied, otherwise use melted: molten metal, melted butter.
prove, -d, -d/proven
BrE strongly prefers proved, AmE uses both proved and proven as a participle.
Only proven is used as an adjective before a noun: a well-proven method.
quit, quit, quit
ring, -ed,-ed
‘encircle, surround’, ‘put a ring round the leg of a bird’: The area was ringed
by/with police. The birds have been ringed for identification.
saw, -ed, -ed/sawn
BrE: sawn, AmE: sawed most of the time
sew, -ed, -ed/sewn
Sewn is now the dominant form in both BrE and AmE. Sewn is preferred to
sewed as an adjective before a noun.
shave, -ed, -ed/shaven
Shaved is the usual participle, shaven is used as an adjective both before a noun
and after a verb: The back of his neck was shaven. Only shaven is used in
clean-shaven.
shear, -ed, -ed/shorn
Shorn is found in adjectival use before a noun and in figurative senses, but
sheared is used of metal: She looks terrible, shorn of all her beauty and
dignity. The bolt sheared off and the wheel came off.
shine, -d, -d
‘polish’
shoe, shod, shod
show, -ed, shown
Use only shown as the participle.
shrink, shrank/shrunk,
shrunk/shrunken
Shrunken is an adjective that is used both before a noun and after a verb: a
shrunken old woman; She now looked small, shrunken and pathetic. The
programme’s audience has shrunk dramatically in the last few months. Note
the film title: Honey I Shrunk the Kids.
sink, sank/(sunk),
sunk/sunken
Sunken is used as an adjective before a noun, but when the meaning is ‘hollow’
(of parts of the body), sunken can be used before nouns or after verbs: Try
diving for sunken treasure. Her eyes were sunken and black-ringed. Sunk is
sometimes used as the past tense form.
sow, -ed, -ed/sown
Sown is much more common than sowed in both BrE and AmE.
speed, -ed/sped, -ed/sped
In BrE sped is used in the meaning ‘move somewhere/take sb somewhere
quickly’ and speeded in the meaning ‘drive faster than the legal speed’ and the
phrasal verb speed up ‘(make sth) move/happen faster’: The robbers sped off in
their getaway car. Ambulances sped the injured people away from the scene.
Tom speeded up and overtook them. In AmE sped is more common.
spell, -ed/spelt, -ed/spelt
AmE: spelled, spelled, BrE: spelled/spelt, spelled/spelt.
spill, -ed/spilt, -ed/spilt
AmE: spilled, spilled except before a noun (spilt milk), BrE: spilled/spilt,
spilled/spilt
spit, spat/spit, spat/spit
BrE: spat, spat, AmE: spat/spit, spat/spit
spring, sprang/sprung, sprung
BrE: sprang, AmE: sprung/sprang
stride, strode, (strode/stridden)
The past participle of this verb is rarely used, but in BrE it is stridden, in AmE
it is strode.
strike, struck, struck/stricken
Struck is the participle, stricken is an adjective that is used in the sense
‘afflicted’: a leukaemia-stricken child; A thought struck her. I was really
struck by the house and bought it immediately. Note: horror-stricken/struck,
panic-stricken, grief-stricken
strive, -ed/strove, -ed/striven
BrE: strove, striven, AmE: stirved/strove, strived/striven
swell, -ed, -ed/swollen
Swollen is usually used when the swelling is physical and visible, swelled is
used especially for increasing numbers and increased extent. But note that
swollen tends to indicate an undesirable or harmful increase, and swelled is the
more neutral word. Swollen is the usual adjectival form before a noun: My eyes
were so swollen I could hardly see. The population has swelled in recent years.
thrive, -d, -d
tread, trod, trodden/trod
wake, woke, woken
Waked is rare.
weave, -d, -d
‘move along by twisting and turning to avoid obstructions’: Cindy weaved her
way through the crowd.
wind, -ed, -ed
‘cause to be breathless’: Simon is so unfit - he gets winded just from walking up
a flight of stairs.