IRREGULAR VERBS: A REFERENCE LIST

Mnemonic Rhyming Groups

Mr. Hani Al Tahrawi

Learning can be fun with Mnemonics! When we were kids, rhyming songs and phrases were some of the gimmicks used to
make us remember different things. I hope sorting these Irregular Verbs into rhyming groups can help you memorize them
in a short period of time. Actually some groups can be memorized in ONLY 10 SECONDS!!! Have a look at Group 3 !!!
SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST
PARTICIPLE

SIMPLE FORM

Group 1
ring
sing
sink
drink
shrink
swim
begin
run

rang
sang
sank
drank
shrank
swam
began
ran

feed
lead
breed
read
sell
tell
slide
hold

fed
led
bred
read* (Pronounced as red)
sold
told
slid
held

SIMPLE PAST

PAST
PARTICIPLE

Group 5
rung
sung
sunk
drunk
shrunk
swum
begun
run

bend
send
lend
spend
build
sleep
keep
creep
weep
sweep
leap
feel
mean
dream
meet
leave
lose
burn

bent
sent
lent
spent
built
slept
kept
crept
wept
swept
leapt (leaped)
felt
meant
dreamt /(dreamed)
met
left
lost
burnt /(burned)

hit
fit
spit (spat)
knit /(knitted)
quit
let
set
upset
shut
cut
put
cost
hurt
spread
broadcast

hang
hang (to kill)
dig
shoot
stand
understand
stick
strike
sit
win
make
pay
lay
say
light
find
found

hung
hanged
dug
shot
stood
understood
stuck
struck
sat
won
made
paid
laid
said
lit / (lighted)
found
founded

bought
fought
sought
thought
brought
taught
caught

throw
grow
blow
draw
withdraw
fly
know

threw
grew
blew
drew
withdrew
flew
knew

Group 2
fed
led
bred
read
sold
told
slid
held

bent
sent
lent
spent
built
slept
kept
crept
wept
swept
leapt (leaped)
felt
meant
dreamt /(dreamed)
met
left
lost
burnt /(burned)

Group 6
Group 3
hit
fit
spit
knit
quit
let
set
upset
shut
cut
put
cost
hurt
spread
broadcast

hit
fit
spit (spat)
knit /(knitted)
quit
let
set
upset
shut
cut
put
cost
hurt
spread
broadcast

buy
fight
seek
think
bring
teach
catch

bought
fought
sought
thought
brought
taught
caught

Group 4

hung
hanged
dug
shot
stood
understood
stuck
struck
sat
won
made
paid
laid
said
lit / (lighted)
found
founded

Group 7
thrown
grown
blown
drawn
withdrawn
flown
known

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST
PARTICIPLE

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

Group 8
write
choose
freeze
speak
awake
break
steal
ride
rise
shake
take
overtake
mistake
fall
forget
hide
shave
bite
beat
swear
tear
wear
weave
forbid
give
forgive
drive
eat
get
prove
show
wake

wrote
chose
froze
spoke
awoke
broke
stole
rode
rose
shook
took
overtook
mistook
fell
forgot
hid
shaved
bit
beat
swore
tore
wore
wove
forbade
gave
forgave
drove
ate
got
proved
showed
woke/waked

PAST
PARTICIPLE

Group 9
written
chosen
frozen
spoken
awoken
broken
stolen
ridden
risen
shaken
taken
overtaken
mistaken
fallen
forgotten
hidden
shaven/shaved
bitten
beaten
sworn
torn
worn
woven
forbidden
given
forgiven
driven
eaten
got/gotten
proven/proved
shown
woken/waked

dive
do
go

dived/dove
did
went

dived
done
gone

hear
have
(be) am , is , are

heard
had
was, were

heard
had
been

come
become
overcome

came
became
overcame

come
become
overcome

see
saw

saw
sawed

seen
sawn

lie
lie
lay

lied
lay
laid

lied
lain
laid

/(sawed)

Mr. Hani M. Tahrawi, March, 2012

h_tahrawi@hotmail.com