Regular vs Irregular Verbs

Verbs are a part of grammar which are an important part to frame a sentence. Verbs have an important
place in English usage. Verbs come from a Latin word “verbum” meaning to convey action. As the
original word suggests, a verb in a sentence tells us the action performed.

I washed the car yesterday.

The dog ate the meat.

There are many forms of verbs. The main emphasis is going to be to distinguish between regular and
irregular verbs.

Regular Verbs

There are hundreds and hundreds of regular verbs in the English language. Any verb forming its past
tense or past participle by adding –d or –ed to the word is said to be a regular verb. These verbs do not
undergo any major change as they change forms whether it is singular to plural or present to past or
vice versa.

The regular verbs may be changed to the past tense by replacing the last vowel (a, e, i, o, u) with –d. To
complete the word, a supporting verb is also added (has, have, had) in the case of the present perfect of
past perfect tense.

For instance, for a regular verb ending in a vowel;

Present tense : share

Past tense : shared

Past perfect tense : had shared

Present perfect tense : have shared

Mediavine
If the verb ends in a consonant, replacement is made with –ed. The past tense of this kind of a verb ends
with an –ed and a helping verb is used in the case of the present perfect or past perfect tense.

For instance, for a regular verb ending in a consonant;

Present tense : work

Past tense : worked

Past perfect tense : had worked

Present perfect tense : have worked

Irregular Verbs

Those verbs which undergo a substantial change as they change forms, be it singular to plural or present
to past or vice versa, fall into the category of irregular verbs. There is no other way but to memorize the
changing tenses of irregular verbs.

For instance, for an irregular verb;

Present tense : go

Past tense : went

Past perfect tense : had gone

Present perfect tense : have gone

There are some exceptional verbs that can be both regular and irregular as in “learn.”

Mediavine

As a regular verb;

Present tense : learn

Past tense : learned

Past perfect tense : learned

As an irregular verb;

Present tense : learn

Past tense : learnt

Past perfect tense : learnt

A few others change according to their usage as in;

As a regular verb;

Present tense : hang

Past tense : hanged

Past perfect tense : hanged

And as an irregular verb;

Present tense : hang

Past tense : hung

Past perfect tense : hung

Summary:

The main difference between regular and irregular verbs is that regular verbs have their past and past
participle tenses very similar to their present tenses while irregular verbs have their past and past
participle tenses very dissimilar to their present tenses.