Verb forms | Verb class |
Notes |
be (am, is, are) – was, were – been |
Suppletive |
See Indo-European copula |
bear – bore – borne/born
- forbear – forbore/forbare – forborne/forborn
- overbear – overbore/overbare – overborne/overborn
- underbear – underbore/underbare – underborne/underborn
|
Strong, class 4 |
The spelling born is used in passive or adjectival contexts relating to birth. |
beat – beat – beaten/beat
- browbeat – browbeat – browbeaten/browbeat
- overbeat – overbeat – overbeaten/overbeat
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
become – became – become
- misbecome – misbecame – misbecome
|
Strong, class 4 |
|
beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten
- misbeget – misbegot/misbegat – misbegotten/misbegot
|
Strong, class 5 |
|
begin – began – begun |
Strong, class 3 |
|
bend – bent – bent
- overbend – overbent – overbent
- unbend – unbent – unbent
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
beseech – beseeched/besought – beseeched/besought |
Regular |
Originally weak, class 1, subclass (ii) with Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
bet – bet/betted – bet/betted
- underbet – underbet/underbetted – underbet/underbetted
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
beware – (no other forms) |
Defective |
Formed from be with predicate adjective, used as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive only. Inflected forms (bewares, bewared, bewaring) are considered obsolete. |
bid [in auctions etc.] – bid – bid
- outbid – outbid – outbid
- overbid – overbid – overbid
- rebid – rebid – rebid
- underbid – underbid – underbid
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
bid [meaning to request or say] – bid/bade – bid/bidden |
Strong, class 5 |
|
bide – bided/bode – bided/bidden |
Strong, class 1 |
|
bind – bound – bound
- unbind – unbound – unbound
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
bite – bit – bitten |
Strong, class 1 |
|
bleed – bled – bled |
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
blend – blent/blended – blent/blended |
Weak |
Regular or with devoiced ending |
bless – blessed/blest – blessed/blest |
Weak |
Regular with alternative (archaic) spelling |
blow – blew – blown
- overblow – overblew – overblown
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
break – broke – broken
- outbreak – outbroke – outbroken
- rebreak – rebroke – rebroken
|
Strong, class 4 |
|
breed – bred – bred
- inbreed – inbred – inbred
- interbreed – interbred – interbred
- overbreed – overbred – overbred
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
bring – brought – brought |
Weak, class 1, subclass (i) |
The past and past participle show the effects of the Germanic spirant law. The present form descends originally from a separate strong verb built on the same root.[1] |
build – built – built
- overbuild – overbuilt – overbuilt
- rebuild – rebuilt – rebuilt
- underbuild – underbuilt – underbuilt
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
burn – burned/burnt – burned/burnt
- sunburn – sunburned/sunburnt – sunburned/sunburnt
|
Weak |
Regular or with devoiced ending |
burst – burst – burst |
Strong, class 3 |
|
bust – busted/bust – busted/bust |
Strong, class 3 |
Or regular |
buy – bought – bought
- overbuy – overbought – overbought
- underbuy – underbought – underbought
|
Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) |
With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
can [auxiliary verb] – could – (none) |
Preterite-present |
Defective; see English modal verbs |
cast – cast – cast
- broadcast – broadcast – broadcast
- downcast – downcast – downcast
- forecast – forecast – forecast
- miscast – miscast – miscast
- overcast – overcast – overcast
- podcast – podcast – podcast
- precast – precast – precast
- recast – recast – recast
- simulcast – simulcast – simulcast
- telecast – telecast – telecast
- typecast – typecast – typecast
- undercast – undercast – undercast
- upcast – upcast – upcast
- webcast – webcast – webcast
|
Weak |
Old Norse loanword with coalescence of dentals. Many of the prefixed forms can also take -ed. |
catch – caught – caught |
Weak |
French loanword conjugated perhaps by analogy with teach–taught; regular forms are now dialectal |
chide – chode/chid/chided – chidden/chid/chided |
Strong, class 1 |
Or regular |
choose – chose – chosen
- mischoose – mischose – mischosen
|
Strong, class 2 |
|
clad – clad – clad |
|
Developed from clad, the past form of clothe (see below) |
cleave [meaning to split] – cleft/clove/cleaved – cleft/cloven/cleaved |
Strong, class 2 |
Or weak with vowel shortening; regular when meaning "adhere" |
cling – clung – clung |
Strong, class 3 |
|
clothe – clad/clothed – clad/clothed
- overclothe – overclad/overclothed – overclad/overclothed
- unclothe – unclad/unclothed – unclad/unclothed
- underclothe – underclad/underclothed – underclad/underclothed
|
Weak |
The regular clothed is from OE claþian, while clad (weak with coalescence of dentals) is from OE clæþan (both OE verbs having similar meaning)[2] |
comb – combed – combed/kempt |
|
|
come – came – come
- forthcome – forthcame – forthcome
- overcome – overcame – overcome
- (see also under become)
|
Strong, class 4 |
|
cost [intransitive sense] – cost/costed – cost/costed |
Weak |
French loanword with coalescence of dentals; regular when meaning "calculate the cost of" |
creep – crept/creeped – crept/creeped |
Weak |
With vowel shortening (or regular); originally strong, class 2 |
cut – cut – cut
- clearcut – clearcut – clearcut
- crosscut – crosscut – crosscut
- intercut – intercut – intercut
- recut – recut – recut
- undercut – undercut – undercut
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
dare (dares/dare) – dared/durst/dare – dared/durst |
Preterite-present |
Now most often regular except in the use of dare in place of dares in some contexts; see English modal verbs |
deal – dealt – dealt
- misdeal – misdealt – misdealt
- redeal – redealt – redealt
|
Weak, class 1 |
With vowel shortening and devoiced ending |
dig – dug – dug
- underdig – underdug – underdug
|
|
Past form dug developed by analogy with stick–stuck;[3] originally weak |
dive – dived/dove – dived/dove |
Weak |
The alternative dove (found mainly in American usage) arose by analogy with strong verbs |
do (does /dʌz/) – did – done
- bedo (bedoes) – bedid – bedone
- misdo (misdoes) – misdid – misdone
- outdo (outdoes) – outdid – outdone
- overdo (overdoes) – overdid – overdone
- redo (redoes) – redid – redone
- underdo (underdoes) – underdid – underdone
- undo (undoes) – undid – undone
|
Irregular since Proto-Germanic |
Past tense formed by reduplication; past participle from Old English gedon; related to deed |
dow – dowed/dought – dowed/dought |
|
Related to doughty |
draw – drew – drawn
- bedraw – bedrew – bedrawn
- downdraw – downdrew – downdrawn
- outdraw – outdrew – outdrawn
- overdraw – overdrew – overdrawn
- redraw – redrew – redrawn
- underdraw – underdrew – underdrawn
- updraw – updrew – updrawn
- withdraw – withdrew – withdrawn
|
Strong, class 6 |
Related to draft/draught |
dream – dreamed/dreamt – dreamed/dreamt
- bedream – bedreamed/bedreamt – bedreamed/bedreamt
|
Weak |
With vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
dress – dressed/drest – dressed/drest |
Weak |
With alternative (archaic) spelling |
drink – drank – drunk |
Strong, class 3 |
Related to drench |
drive – drove – driven
- bedrive – bedrove – bedriven
- overdrive – overdrove – overdriven
- test-drive – test-drove – test-driven
- underdrive – underdrove – underdriven
|
Strong, class 1 |
Related to drift |
dwell – dwelt/dwelled – dwelt/dwelled
- bedwell – bedwelt/bedwelled – bedwelt/bedwelled
- outdwell – outdwelt/outdwelled – outdwelt/outdwelled
|
Weak |
With devoiced ending (or regular) |
earn – earned/earnt – earned/earnt |
Weak, class 2 |
With devoiced ending (or regular) |
eat – ate – eaten
- forfret – forfretted – forfretted/forfretten
- fret – fretted/frate – fretted/fretten
- outeat – outate – outeaten
- overeat – overate – overeaten
- undereat – underate – undereaten
|
Strong, class 5 |
Past tense usually /eɪt/ though sometimes /ɛt/ in British English |
fall – fell – fallen
- befall – befell – befallen
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
feed – fed – fed
- bottle-feed – bottle-fed – bottle-fed
- breastfeed – breastfed – breastfed
- force-feed – force-fed – force-fed
- hand-feed – hand-fed – hand-fed
- misfeed – misfed – misfed
- overfeed – overfed – overfed
- self-feed – self-fed – self-fed
- spoon-feed – spoon-fed – spoon-fed
- underfeed – underfed – underfed
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
feel – felt – felt
- forefeel – forefelt – forefelt
|
Weak, class 1 |
With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
fight – fought – fought
- befight – befought – befought
- outfight – outfought – outfought
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
find – found – found
- refind – refound – refound
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
fit – fitted/fit – fitted/fit
- misfit – misfitted/misfit – misfitted/misfit
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
flee – fled – fled |
Weak |
With vowel shortening; originally strong, class 2 |
fling – flung – flung |
Strong, class 3 |
By analogy |
fly – flew – flown
- outfly – outflew – outflown
- overfly – overflew – overflown
- test-fly – test-flew – test-flown
|
Strong, class 2 |
Regular when meaning "hitting a fly ball in baseball" |
forbid – forbid/forbade/forbad – forbidden |
Strong, class 5 |
|
forget – forgot – forgotten |
Strong, class 5 |
|
forsake – forsook – forsaken |
Strong, class 6 |
|
freeze – froze – frozen
- quick-freeze – quick-froze – quick-frozen
- refreeze – refroze – refrozen
- unfreeze – unfroze – unfrozen
|
Strong, class 2 |
|
get – got – got/gotten
- beget – begot/begat – begot/begotten
- forget – forgot – forgotten
|
Strong, class 5 |
Past participle is got in British usage (except in fossilized phrases such as "ill-gotten"), and gotten in American (but see have got) |
gild – gilded/gilt – gilded/gilt |
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
gird - girded/girt - girded/girt |
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending (or regular) |
give – gave – given
- forgive – forgave – forgiven
- misgive – misgave – misgiven
- overgive – overgave – overgiven
|
Strong, class 5 |
|
glide – glided/glid – glided/glid/glidden |
Regular |
Originally strong, class 1 |
go – went – gone
- forego – forewent – foregone
- forgo – forwent – forgone
- undergo – underwent – undergone
|
Suppletive |
See go |
grind – ground – ground |
Strong, class 3 |
|
grow – grew – grown
- outgrow – outgrew – outgrown
- overgrow – overgrew – overgrown
- regrow – regrew – regrown
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
hang – hung/hanged – hung/hanged
- overhang – overhung – overhung
|
Strong, class 7 |
Regularized alternative hanged was influenced by OE causative hangian, and is used chiefly for hanging as a means of execution |
have (has) – had – had |
Weak |
Had results from contraction, from OE hæfde; third person present has also results from contraction |
hear – heard – heard
- behear – beheard – beheard
- forehear – foreheard – foreheard
- mishear – misheard – misheard
- outhear – outheard – outheard
- overhear – overheard – overheard
- rehear – reheard – reheard
- unhear – unheard – unheard
|
Weak, class 1 |
Originally with vowel shortening (the modern pronunciation of heard in RP has the long vowel /ɜː/) |
help – helped/holp – helped/holpen |
Regular |
Originally strong, class 3 |
hew – hewed – hewed/hewn |
Strong, class 7 |
Or regular |
hide – hid – hidden |
Weak |
With vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals; influenced by strong verbs |
hit – hit – hit
- mishit – mishit – mishit
- overhit – overhit – overhit
- underhit – underhit – underhit
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
hoist – hoisted/hoist – hoisted/hoist |
Weak |
Hoist was originally the past form of the now archaic verb hoise |
hold – held – held
- behold – beheld – beheld
- uphold – upheld – upheld
- withhold – withheld – withheld
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
hurt – hurt – hurt |
Weak |
French loanword with coalescence of dentals |
keep – kept – kept
- miskeep – miskept – miskept
- overkeep – overkept – overkept
- underkeep – underkept – underkept
|
Weak, class 1 |
With vowel shortening |
ken – kenned/kent – kenned/kent
- beken – bekenned/bekent – bekenned/bekent
- foreken – forekenned/forekent – forekenned/forekent
- misken – miskenned/miskent – miskenned/miskent
- outken – outkenned/outkent – outkenned/outkent
|
Weak |
With devoiced ending (or regular); Northern England English and Scottish dialect word |
kneel – knelt/kneeled – knelt/kneeled |
Weak |
With vowel shortening and devoiced ending (or regular) |
knit – knit/knitted – knit/knitted
- beknit – beknit/beknitted – beknit/beknitted
- hand-knit – hand-knit/hand-knitted – hand-knit/hand-knitted
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals (or regular); related to knot |
know – knew – known |
Strong, class 7 |
|
lade – laded – laden/laded
- overlade – overladed – overladen/overladed
|
Strong, class 6 |
Or regular; past participle laden is common adjectivally |
lay – laid – laid
- belay – belaid – belaid
- inlay – inlaid – inlaid
- mislay – mislaid – mislaid
- overlay – overlaid – overlaid
- waylay – waylaid – waylaid
|
Weak |
Irregular in spelling only |
lead – led – led
- mislead – misled – misled
- offlead – offled – offled
- onlead – onled – onled
- outlead – outled – outled
- overlead – overled – overled
- underlead – underled – underled
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
lean – leaned/leant – leaned/leant |
Weak |
With devoiced ending and vowel shortening (or regular) |
leap – leaped/leapt – leaped/leapt |
Weak |
With vowel shortening (or regular); originally strong, class 7 |
learn – learned/learnt – learned/learnt
- mislearn – mislearned/mislearnt – mislearned/mislearnt
- overlearn – overlearned/overlearnt – overlearned/overlearnt
- relearn – relearned/relearnt – relearned/relearnt
- unlearn – unlearned/unlearnt – unlearned/unlearnt
|
Weak, class 2 |
With devoiced ending (or regular) |
leave – left – left |
Weak, class 1 |
With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
lend – lent – lent |
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
let – let – let
- sublet – sublet – sublet
- underlet – underlet – underlet
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
lie – lay – lain
- overlie – overlay – overlain
- underlie – underlay – underlain
|
Strong, class 5 |
Regular when meaning "tell an untruth" |
light – lit/lighted – lit/lighted
- alight – alit/alighted – alit/alighted
- backlight – backlit/backlighted – backlit/backlighted
- green-light – green-lit/green-lighted – green-lit/green-lighted
- relight – relit/relighted – relit/relighted
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening (or regular) |
lose – lost – lost |
Weak |
With devoiced ending and vowel shortening; originally strong, class 2 |
make – made – made
- remake – remade – remade
- unmake – unmade – unmade
|
Weak |
Made formed by contraction from "maked" |
may – might – (none) |
Preterite-present |
Defective; see English modal verbs |
mean – meant – meant |
Weak, class 1 |
With devoiced ending and vowel shortening |
meet – met – met |
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
melt – melted – melted/molten |
Strong, class 3 |
Regular, but molten survives in adjectival use |
mix – mixed/mixt – mixed/mixt |
Weak |
Regular with alternative (mostly archaic) spelling |
mow – mowed – mowed/mown |
Strong, class 7 |
Regular in past tense and sometimes in past participle. |
must – (no other forms) |
Defective |
Originally a preterite; see English modal verbs |
need (needs/need) – needed – needed |
Weak |
Regular except in the use of need in place of needs in some contexts, by analogy with can, must, etc.;[4] see English modal verbs |
ought – (no other forms) |
Defective |
Originally a preterite; see English modal verbs |
pay – paid – paid
- overpay – overpaid – overpaid
- prepay – prepaid – prepaid
- repay – repaid – repaid
- underpay – underpaid – underpaid
|
Weak |
Irregular in spelling only. |
pen – penned/pent – penned/pent |
Weak |
With devoiced ending, but usually regular; pent is sometimes used when the verb has the meaning "to enclose", and mainly adjectivally |
plead – pled/pleaded – pled/pleaded |
Weak |
French loanword with coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening. |
prove – proved – proved/proven
- reprove – reproved – reproved/reproven
|
Weak |
French loanword with the alternative past participle proven by analogy with some strong verbs |
put – put – put
- input – input – input
- output – output – output
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
bequeath – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequod – bequeathed/bequethed/bequoth/bequethen |
Strong, class 5 |
Past tense quoth is literary or archaic; other parts of that verb are obsolete; bequeath is normally regularized in -ed |
quit – quit/quitted – quit/quitted |
Weak |
French loanword with coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
read /riːd/ – read /rɛd/ – read /rɛd/
- lipread – lipread – lipread
- misread – misread – misread
- proofread – proofread – proofread
- reread – reread – reread
- sight-read – sight-read – sight-read
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and vowel shortening |
reave – reaved/reft – reaved/reft
- bereave – bereaved/bereft – bereaved/bereft
|
Weak, class 2 |
With devoiced ending and vowel shortening; the verb bereave is usually regular, but bereft survives as past participle, with distinct meanings |
rend – rent – rent |
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending |
rid – rid/ridded – rid/ridden/ridded |
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals, or regular; ridden by analogy with strong verbs |
ride – rode – ridden
- outride – outrode – outridden
- override – overrode – overridden
|
Strong, class 1 |
|
ring – rang – rung |
Strong, class 3 |
By analogy; regular when meaning "surround", etc. |
rise – rose – risen
- arise – arose – arisen
- uprise – uprose – uprisen
|
Strong, class 1 |
|
rive – rived/rove – rived/riven |
Strong class 1 |
From Old Norse; later regularized;[5] now rarely used |
run – ran – run
- outrun – outran – outrun
- overrun – overran – overrun
- rerun – reran – rerun
- speedrun – speedran – speedrun
- underrun – underran – underrun
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
saw – sawed – sawed/sawn |
Weak |
Sawn by analogy with strong verbs[6] |
say (says /sɛz/) – said – said
- missay – missaid – missaid
- soothsay – soothsaid – soothsaid
|
Weak |
With vowel shortening in said /sɛd/ and in the third person present says /sɛz/ |
see – saw – seen
- foresee – foresaw – foreseen
- missee – missaw – misseen
- oversee – oversaw – overseen
- sightsee – sightsaw – sightseen
- undersee – undersaw – underseen
|
Strong, class 5 |
|
seek – sought – sought
- beseek – besought – besought
|
Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) |
With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
sell – sold – sold
- outsell – outsold – outsold
- oversell – oversold – oversold
- resell – resold – resold
- undersell – undersold – undersold
- upsell – upsold – upsold
|
Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) |
With Rückumlaut; related to sale |
send – sent – sent
- missend – missent – missent
- resend – resent – resent
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals |
set – set – set
- beset – beset – beset
- offset – offset – offset
- preset – preset – preset
- reset – reset – reset
- upset – upset – upset
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals |
sew – sewed – sewn/sewed
- handsew – handsewed – handsewn/handsewed
- oversew – oversewed – oversewn/oversewed
|
Weak |
Sewn by analogy with strong verbs |
shake – shook – shaken
- overshake – overshook – overshaken
|
Strong, class 6 |
|
shall – should – (none) |
Preterite-present |
Defective; see English modal verbs, and shall and will |
shave – shaved – shaved/shaven |
Strong, class 6 |
Now often regularized in past tense and sometimes in past participle |
shear – sheared/shore – shorn/sheared |
Strong, class 4 |
Or regular |
shed – shed – shed |
Strong, class 7 |
|
shine – shone/shined – shone/shined |
Strong, class 1 |
|
shit – shit/shitted/shat – shit/shitted/shat
- shite – shited/shit – shited/shit
|
Strong, class 1 |
The form shite is chiefly Scottish and Irish. |
shoe – shod/shoed – shodden/shod/shoed
- reshoe – reshod/reshoed – reshodden/reshod/reshoed
|
Weak |
With vowel shortening (or regular); shodden by analogy with strong verbs |
shoot – shot – shot
- misshoot – misshot – misshot
- overshoot – overshot – overshot
- reshoot – reshot – reshot
- undershoot – undershot – undershot
|
Strong, class 2 |
|
show – showed – shown/showed
- reshow – reshowed – reshown
|
Weak |
With participle shown perhaps by analogy with sown (from sow) |
shrink – shrank/shrunk – shrunk/shrunken
- overshrink – overshrank/overshrunk – overshrunk/overshrunken
|
Strong, class 3 |
Shrunken is mostly used adjectivally |
shut – shut – shut
- reshut – reshut – reshut
|
Weak, class 1 |
With coalescence of dentals |
sing – sang – sung
- resing – resang – resung
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
sink – sank/sunk – sunk/sunken |
Strong, class 3 |
The form sunken appears in some adjectival uses |
sit – sat – sat
- babysit – babysat – babysat
- housesit – housesat – housesat
- resit – resat – resat
|
Strong, class 5 |
|
slay – slew/slayed – slain/slayed |
Strong, class 6 |
Or regular |
sleep – slept – slept
- oversleep – overslept – overslept
- undersleep – underslept – underslept
|
Weak |
With vowel shortening; originally strong, class 7 |
slide – slid – slid/slidden
- backslide – backslid – backslid/backslidden
- overslide – overslid – overslid/overslidden
|
Strong, class 1 |
|
sling – slung – slung |
Strong, class 3 |
|
slink – slunk/slinked/slank – slunk/slinked/slank |
Strong, class 3 |
|
slit – slit – slit/slitten |
Strong, class 1 |
|
smell – smelled/smelt – smelled/smelt |
Weak |
With devoiced ending (or regular) |
smite – smote/smit – smitten/smitted |
Strong, class 1 |
Largely archaic; smitten is quite commonly used adjectivally |
sneak – sneaked/snuck – sneaked/snuck |
Weak |
Alternative form snuck (chiefly American) by analogy with strong verbs |
sow – sowed – sown/sowed |
Strong, class 7 |
With weak past tense sowed |
speak – spoke – spoken
- bespeak – bespoke – bespoken
- *forespeak – forespoke – forespoken
- *forspeak – forspoke – forspoken
- misspeak – misspoke – misspoken
|
Strong, class 5 |
|
speed – sped/speeded – sped/speeded |
Weak, class 1 |
With vowel shortening and coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
spell – spelled/spelt – spelled/spelt
- misspell – misspelled/misspelt – misspelled/misspelt
|
Weak |
With devoiced ending (or regular) |
spend – spent – spent
- misspend – misspent – misspent
- outspend – outspent – outspent
- overspend – overspent – overspent
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
spill – spilled/spilt – spilled/spilt
- overspill – overspilled/overspilt – overspilled/overspilt
|
Weak |
With devoiced ending (or regular) |
spin – spun – spun
- outspin – outspun – outspun
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
spit – spat/spit – spat/spit |
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals (for past form spit, which is common in America), or spat by analogy with strong verbs; regular when meaning "of roast on a spit" |
split – split – split |
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
spoil – spoiled/spoilt – spoiled/spoilt |
Weak |
French loanword with devoiced ending (or regular) |
spread – spread – spread
- outspread – outspread – outspread
- overspread – overspread – overspread
- underspread – underspread – underspread
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals |
spring – sprang/sprung – sprung/*sprang
- handspring – handsprang/handsprung – handsprung/*handsprang
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
stand – stood – stood
- forstand – forstood – forstood
- misunderstand – misunderstood – misunderstood
- overstand – overstood – overstood
- understand – understood – understood
- upstand – upstood – upstood
- withstand – withstood – withstood
|
Strong, class 6 |
|
stave – stove/staved – stove/staved/stoven |
Weak |
Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs[7] |
steal – stole – stolen |
Strong, class 4 |
|
stick – stuck – stuck |
Weak |
Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong, class 3 |
sting – stang/stung – stung |
Strong, class 3 |
|
stink – stank/stunk – stunk |
Strong, class 3 |
|
strew – strewed – strewn/strewed
- bestrew – bestrewed – bestrewn/bestrewed
- overstrew – overstrewed – overstrewn/overstrewed
|
Weak |
Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
stride – strode – stridden
- bestride – bestrode – bestridden
- outstride – outstrode – outstridden
- overstride – overstrode – overstridden
|
Strong, class 1 |
|
strike – struck – struck/stricken
- overstrike – overstruck – overstruck/overstricken
|
Strong, class 1 |
The form stricken is limited to certain adjectival and specialist uses |
string – strung/*stringed – strung/*stringed
- hamstring – hamstrung/*hamstringed – hamstrung/*hamstringed
- overstring – overstrung/*overstringed – overstrung/*overstringed
|
Weak |
Irregular forms developed by analogy with strong verbs |
strip – stripped – stripped |
|
|
strive – strove/strived – striven/strived
- outstrive – outstrove – outstriven
- overstrive – overstrove – overstriven
|
Strong, class 1 |
Or regularized |
swear – swore – sworn
- forswear – forswore – forsworn
- outswear – outswore – outsworn
|
Strong, class 6 |
|
sweat – sweated/sweat – sweated/sweat |
Weak |
Usually regular; possible past form sweat with coalescence of dentals |
sweep – swept – swept
- upsweep – upswept – upswept
|
Weak |
With vowel shortening; replaced OE strong class 7 verb swápan, with the same meaning, but the form is not a regular development from it |
swell – swelled/swole – swollen/swelled |
Strong, class 3 |
With regularized forms |
swim – swam/*swum – swum
- outswim – outswam/*outswum – outswum
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
swing – swang/swung – swung
- overswing – overswang/overswung – overswung
|
Strong, class 3 |
|
take – took – taken
- betake – betook – betaken
- mistake – mistook – mistaken
- overtake – overtook – overtaken
- partake – partook – partaken
- retake – retook – retaken
- undertake – undertook – undertaken
- *uptake – uptook – uptaken
- *withtake – withtook – withtaken
|
Strong, class 6 |
|
teach – taught – taught |
Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) |
With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
tear – tore – torn
- uptear – uptore – uptorn
|
Strong, class 4 |
|
tell – told – told
- foretell – foretold – foretold
- forthtell – forthtold – forthtold
- mistell – mistold – mistold
|
Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) |
With Rückumlaut; related to tale |
think – thought – thought
- outthink – outthought – outthought
- rethink – rethought – rethought
|
Weak, class 1, subclass (ii) |
With Rückumlaut and Germanic spirant law |
thrive – throve/thrived/*thrave – thriven/thrived |
Strong class 1 |
Of Old Norse origin (now archaic) or weak (regular) pattern[8] |
throw – threw – thrown
- outthrow – outthrew – outthrown
- overthrow – overthrew – overthrown
- underthrow – underthrew – underthrown
- upthrow – upthrew – upthrown
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
thrust – thrust/*thrusted – thrust/*thrusted
- outthrust – outthrust – outthrust
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
tread – trod – trodden/trod
- retread – retrod/*retread/*retreaded/*retrodden – retrodden/retrod/*retread/*retreaded
|
Strong, class 5 |
Or regular |
vex – vexed/vext – vexed/vext |
Regular |
With alternative (archaic) spelling |
wake – woke/waked – woken/waked
- awake – awoke – awoken
|
Strong, class 6 |
|
wear – weared/wore – weared/worn
- outwear – outweared/outwore – outweared/outworn
- overwear – overweared/overwore – overweared/overworn
|
Weak |
Fell into a strong pattern by analogy with bear |
weave – wove – woven
- interweave – interwove – interwoven
|
Strong, class 7 |
|
wed – wed/wedded – wed/wedded
- miswed – miswed/miswedded – miswed/miswedded
- rewed – rewed/rewedded – rewed/rewedded
|
Weak, class 2 |
With coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
weep – wept/weeped – wept/weeped |
Weak |
With vowel shortening (or regular); originally strong, class 7 |
wend – wended/went – wended/went |
Weak, class 1 |
Originally with coalescence of dentals and devoiced ending, but now regular; went is used as the past of go |
wet – wet/wetted – wet/wetted
- overwet – overwet/overwetted – overwet/overwetted
|
Weak |
With coalescence of dentals (or regular) |
will – would – (none) |
Preterite-present |
Defective; see English modal verbs, and shall and will; in non-auxiliary uses the verb is regular |
win – won – won |
Strong, class 3 |
|
wind /waɪnd/ – wound – wound
- rewind – rewound – rewound
- unwind – unwound – unwound
|
Strong, class 3 |
The identically spelt verb wind /wɪnd/, with meanings connected with air flow and breathlessness, is regular |
work – worked/wrought – worked/wrought |
Weak |
Now regular, formerly with Rückumlaut and metathesis of r and o |
wreak – wreaked/wrought – wreaked/wrought |
Weak |
Usually regular; wrought (which is in fact from work) has come sometimes to be identified with this verb (perhaps by analogy with seek–sought). |
wring – wrang/wrung – wrung |
Strong, class 3 |
|
write – wrote – written
- cowrite – cowrote – cowritten
- ghostwrite – ghostwrote – ghostwritten
- handwrite – handwrote – handwritten
- miswrite – miswrote – miswritten
- overwrite – overwrote – overwritten
- rewrite – rewrote – rewritten
- underwrite – underwrote – underwritten
|
Strong, class 1 |
|
writhe – writhed/wrothe – writhed/writhen |
Regular |
Originally Strong, class 1 |
zinc – zinced/zinked/zincked – zinced/zinked/zincked |
Regular |
With spelling complications because of the final letter C |