50 advanced irregular verbs in English

These verbs are considered C1-C2 vocabulary.

Table of irregular verbs with their base form, past simple form and past participle:

	Base Form	Past Simple	Past Participle	Notes
1	arise	arose	arisen
2	bear	bore	borne
3	bid	bid/bade	bid/bidden	When the meaning is “offer a price”, the past forms are both bid. When the meaning is “command, invite or greet”, the past simple forms are bid and bade, and the past participles are bid and bidden (although bidden is quite old-fashioned).
4	bind	bound	bound
5	breed	bred	bred
6	burst	burst	burst
7	cast	cast	cast
8	cling	clung	clung
9	creep	crept	crept
10	dive	dived/dove	dived	In American English, dove (/doʊv) is also a past simple form of dive.
11	dwell	dwelt/dwelled	dwelt/dwelled	Dwelt is mainly used in British English and dwelled is mainly used in American English.
12	flee	fled	fled
13	fling	flung	flung
14	forbid	forbade	forbidden
15	forsake	forsook	forsaken
16	grind	ground	ground
17	kneel	knelt	knelt
18	knit	knitted/knit	knitted/knit	Knitted is more common in modern English, but knit is also used.
19	lean	leant/leaned	leant/leaned	Leant (/lent/) is mainly used in British English and leaned is mainly used in American English.
20	leap	leapt/leaped	leapt/leaped	Leapt (/lept/) is mainly used in British English and leaped is mainly used in American English.
21	light	lit/lighted	lit/lighted	Lit is more common in modern English. Lighted is often used in formal or literary contexts.
22	mow	mowed	mowed/mown	Both mowed and mown are accepted past participles.
23	plead	pleaded/pled	pleaded/pled	Pleaded is the most common form for both past forms, but pled is also used in American English.
24	prove	proved	proved/proven	Proved is the main past participle, but proven is also common, especially in American English.
25	seek	sought	sought
26	sew	sewed	sewed/sewn	Both sewed and sewn are accepted past participles.
27	shrink	shrank/shrunk	shrunk	Shrunk is also used as a past simple form in American English.
28	sink	sank	sunk
29	slay	slew/slayed	slain/slayed	When the meaning is “kill”, the past forms are slew and slain. When the meaning is “perform well”, the past forms are both slayed.
30	slide	slid	slid
31	sow	sowed	sown/sowed	Sown is the more common past participle, but sowed is also used.
32	speed	sped/speeded	sped/speeded	Sped is more common in modern English.
33	split	split	split
34	spread	spread	spread
35	spin	spun	spun
36	spring	sprang/sprung	sprung	Sprung is also used as a past simple form in American English.
37	stave	staved/stove	staved/stove	Stove is used in literary contexts.
38	sting	stung	stung
39	stink	stank	stunk
40	strike	struck	struck/stricken	Struck is the more common past participle in modern English. Stricken is often used in formal or literary contexts.
41	stride	strode	stridden
42	swear	swore	sworn
43	sweep	swept	swept
44	swell	swelled	swollen/swelled	Swollen is the more common past participle, but swelled is also used informally.
45	swing	swung	swung
46	tread	trod	trodden/trod	Trodden is the more common past participle, but trod is also used in modern English.
47	weave	wove/weaved	woven/weaved	Wove and woven are used for fabric and weaved is used for the movement.
48	weep	wept	wept
49	wind	wound/winded	wound/winded	When the meaning is “twist or turn”, the past forms are both wound. When the meaning is “make someone have difficulty breathing”, the past forms are both winded.
50	wring	wrung	wrung

50 Irregular Verbs →

100 Irregular Verbs →

Past Simple – Use →

Past Simple – Structure →

Present Perfect – Use →

Present Perfect – Structure →

Kahoot Quiz – Past Simple – Irregular Verbs (1)

Kahoot Quiz – Past Simple – Irregular Verbs (2)

Kahoot Quiz – Present Perfect

Kahoot Quiz – Present Perfect vs Past Simple

Printable PDF Worksheets

Present Perfect Exercises

• Present Perfect – Positive
• Present Perfect – Negative
• Present Perfect – Questions
• Present Perfect – Mixed
• Present Perfect or Past Simple?

Past Simple Exercises

• Past Simple – Be – Positive and Negative
• Past Simple – Be – Questions
• Past Simple – Be – Mixed
• Past Simple – Regular Verbs – Positive and Negative
• Past Simple – Irregular Verbs – Positive
• Past Simple – Questions