Regular verbs follow the same pattern in the simple past and the past participle forms. They all take the –ed ending. If the verb ends in –e, just add –d. Here are some regular verbs:
 

Base form	Simple past	Past participle
Work	Worked	Worked
Live	Lived	Lived
Remember	Remembered	Remembered

If a regular verb ends in –y (*but not –ey), change the –y to –i. Then add –ed.
 

Base form	Simple past	Past participle
Cry	Cried	Cried
Study	Studied	Studied
*Obey	Obeyed	Obeyed

What is a past participle?
Past participles are used in the perfect tenses, such as the present perfect and the past perfect:

• Present perfect: I have worked for this company since 2010.
• Past perfect: I had never lived in another country before moving to Spain.

Past participles are also used in the passive voice. The structure of the passive is be + past participle. These examples use irregular verbs:

• This bike was given to me by my parents.
• Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare.
• The Statue of Liberty can be seen from New Jersey.

Some past participles can be used as adjectives (tired, frustrated, ruined, closed). This can only happen if the past participle describes a state (tired) and not an action (jumped).

• A group of tired students left the classroom.
• I wore these shoes in the rain, and now they are ruined.

 Some of the most common English verbs are irregular. They do not take the –ed ending in the simple past and past participle forms, and their irregular forms need to be memorized.

How many irregular verbs are there?
Many sources count around 200 irregular verbs in English, but not all of those are commonly used. Most grammar books list around 100 common irregular verbs.

Irregular verb types
Although irregular verbs do not follow a pattern, they can be grouped into several types in order to help you to learn them:

1. Verbs that have the same base form, simple past and past participle. For example:
   • Cost, cut, fit, hit, hurt, let, put, quit, set, shut, spread
   • Note: The spelling of read is the same in the base form, simple past and part participle, but the pronunciation is different. Read in the base form rhymes with need. Read in the simple past and past participle is pronounced like the color red.
      
2. Verbs that have the same base form and past participle (but a different simple past form). For example:
   • Become, come, run

     Base form	Simple past	Past participle
     Become	Became	Become
     Come	Came	Come
     Run	Ran	Run

     
     
3. Verbs that have the same form in the simple past and past participle. For example:
   • Bring, build, buy, catch, feel, find, have, keep, lose, make, meet, read, say, sell, send, sit, teach, win
   • Note: This is not a complete list. Consult an irregular verbs list in a grammar book to find more verbs of this type.

     Base form	Simple past	Past participle
     Bring	Brought	Brought
     Build	Built	Built
     Catch	Caught	Caught
     Find	Found	Found
     Have	Had	Had

     
     
4. Verbs that have a different base form, simple past and past participle: For example:
   • Be, begin, break, choose, do, drink, eat, fall, give, go, know, ring, rise, see, sing, swim, speak, take, wear
   • Note: This is not a complete list. Consult an irregular verbs list in a grammar book to find more verbs of this type.

     Base form	Simple past	Past participle
     Be	Was/were	Been
     Begin	Began	Begun
     Break	Broke	Broken
     Choose	Chose	Chosen
     Do	Did	Done

      
   
   
   • Some verbs of this type can be grouped together based on similarity:

     Base form	Simple past	Past participle
     Break	Broke	Broken
     Freeze	Froze	Frozen
     Speak	Spoke	Spoken
     Steal	Stole	Stolen
     Wake	Woke	Woken

      

     Base form	Simple past	Past participle
     Drink	Drank	Drunk
     Ring	Rang	Rung
     Swim	Swam	Swum
     Sing	Sang	Sung

      

     Base form	Simple past	Past participle
     Bear	Bore	Born
     Swear	Swore	Sworn
     Tear	Tore	Torn
     Wear	Wore	Worn



5. Strategies for learning irregular verbs
   • Memorize verbs according to the type above. The lists for type 1 and 2 are the shortest, so it may be easier to start with those. The list for type 4 is the longest but can be broken down into smaller groups, as shown.
   • When you learn a new verb, check the list to see if it is irregular. If it is, add both the simple past and the past participle forms to your vocabulary list for the week.
   • Write a list of 5 new verbs each week, and put the list in a place where you will see it several times a day.
   • Create a playlist of songs with irregular verbs. Listen to the songs regularly to remember the verb forms.