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Irregular Verbs

Unfortunately, many simple verbs that we use every day are not regular verbs in English. This means that something else changes – usually the vowel in the middle, especially for past tense. I am not a linguist, but I believe the reason for common verbs being irregular is that the language developed prior to rules being written, and also because English evolved from many languages including German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin.

Example 1: make / made

I make bread.

I am making bread.

I will make bread tonight.

I made bread yesterday. irregular – a consonant changes

Example 2: go / went

I go to school.

I am going to school.

I will go to school tomorrow.

I went to school yesterday.

Example 3: run / ran

I run every day.

I am running right now.

I will run tonight.

I ran yesterday. irregular – the vowel changes

Example 4: sleep / slept

I sleep until noon.

I am sleeping. Go away!

I will sleep when I am tired.

I slept all day! irregular – the ending is t instead of ed

More Irregular Verbs

• see / saw – I see the stars / I saw the stars yesterday.
• buy / bought – I buy food / I bought food.
• leave / left – I leave at 7am / I left at 7am.
• get / got – I get good grades / I got a good grade.
• give / gave – I give food to the animals / I gave food to the cat.
• take / took – I take my camera everywhere / I took my camera to Columbia
• have / had – I have 20 dollars / I had 20 dollars yesterday
• read / read – I read books every day / I read a book yesterday

There are many irregular verbs in English, and it would be pointless to learn all of them all at once. My advice is to only learn the verbs that you use every day. You will learn the rest in time, just by hearing and speaking English often.

Stative Verbs

Examples: want, like, love, have, need.

These verbs are regular verbs but they are special because it is uncommon to use them in present continuous tense. You just have to evaluate the meaning based on the situation.

Example: I want money.

Does the person mean they want money now or in general? Probably in general.

Example: I want ice cream.

Does the person want ice cream now or in general? Probably now haha

Example: I need help.

Does the person want help now or in general? Probably now, but it can mean in general. It is interesting that Arabic has mehdaj and bahdaj to make it clear.