In order to make it easier for yourself and make the learning process more complete English grammar, it is necessary to practically get acquainted with the so-called three main forms of the verbs of this language.

It is necessary to know these verb forms, since they are the basis for the formation of complex tense verb forms and other constructions in English language. That is why it is important to learn how to use the three forms of the English verb correctly.

Let's consider what they are. First form (basic)- it is inherently indefinite form a verb (infinitive) without a particle to characteristic of it, for example: speak - to speak - speak (basic form); exist - to exist (infinitive) - exist (basic form); stay, stop - to stay (infinitive) - stay (basic form). This form of the English verb is necessary in order to form a simple present - present simple. At the same time, the basic form is taken as a basis and coincides with the forms of almost all verbs in all numbers and persons of the Present Simple, except for the third person singular. numbers, where the characteristic ending - (e) s is added to it (only in the singular and only in the third person!). One of the exceptions is the verb to be, which can be used both in the role of semantic (exist, be) and in the function of service (without any lexical meaning), which forms its forms in a specific way: 1 person unit. h - am; 3 person unit hours - is; in all other cases - are. The second exception is all modal verbs, in which - (e) s is not added and the form is the same for all numbers and persons. And, finally, the third exception is the verb to have, which can be used both in the role of a service and as a semantic one (in the meaning of having at disposal, owning). This verb has singular in the 3rd person. Number Present simple shape has.

From the first verb form education is taking place second form is the simple past form ( past simple). For all regular verbs of the English language (and their absolutely overwhelming majority - minus about three hundred irregular ones), this means adding to basic form endings -ed, for example: divide, divide - divide + ed => divided; investigate, investigate - + ed => investigate. As for the relatively few irregular verbs, they form their forms in a completely special way without any explicit rules, for example: spend - spend => spent; steal - steal => stole; understand - understand => understood; to forbid, not to allow - forbid => forbidden. The forms of such irregular verb units must be gradually memorized in order to use them correctly in your speech. A feature of the verb to be in Past Simple is the fact that it has (unlike all the other English verbs) two forms: for all persons sg. numbers - was and for all persons pl. numbers - were.

And finally we got to third form English verb - participle II (Participle II), which for regular (regular) verbs always coincides with the second and, thus, presents absolutely no difficulties for students, for example: reconstruct - reconstruct (basic) => reconstructed (second) => reconstructed (third); illustrate - illustrate (base) => illustrated (second) => illustrated (third). As for irregular verbs, they again can form it in a variety of ways. non-standard ways and subject to the most banal memorization. For example: spread - spread (base) => spread (second) => spread (third); appear, arise - arise (basic) => arose (second) => arisen (third); seek, seek - seek (basic) => sought (second) => sought (third).

English is the language of exceptions, where when learning something new grammar rule students are faced with a dozen buts in which this rule does not apply. One of these rules is the use of irregular verbs in the past tense. For many English learners, this topic is a nightmare. But without them it is impossible, because these are the realities of English! However, there good news- modern English is gradually getting rid of irregular verbs, replacing them with regular ones. Why and how - we will consider in the article.

Why are English verbs irregular?

The difficulty in using irregular verbs is experienced not only by foreigners, but also by the speakers themselves. Nevertheless, for English philologists, the non-standard nature of this part of speech is not a drawback, but a reason for pride. They think not regular verbs are a cultural monument that immortalized the history of the English language. The explanation for this fact is the Germanic roots of the origin of irregular verbs, which makes British English a traditional variant of the language. For comparison, the Americans are trying with might and main to get rid of irregular shape, converting it to the correct one. Therefore, the list of non-standard verbs increases for those who learn both variants of the language. Thus, the incorrect version is ancient, which is reflected in prose and poetry.

How many forms does a verb have in English?

Speaking about verbs in English, it should be noted that they have 3 forms:

• infinitive, aka ;
• I, or Participle I, - given form used in the simple past tense (Past Simple) and the 2nd and 3rd cases conditional mood(Conditional of the 2-d and of the 3-d case);
• Past Participle II, or Participle II, for the simple perfect tense of long past tense ( past perfect), passive voice (Passive Voice) and Conditional of the 3-d case.

The table "Three in English" is presented later in the article.

What are regular and irregular verbs? Education rules

Regular verbs are those in which past form(Past Simple) and the form Participle II (Participle II) are formed by adding endings -ed to initial form. The table "Three forms of the verb in English. Regular verbs" will help you better understand this rule.

When forming the forms Participle I and Participle II, there are some features:

• if the verb ends with the letter -e, then adding -ed does not double it;
• the consonant in monosyllabic verbs is duplicated when added. Example: stop - stopped (stop - stopped);
• if the verb ends in -y followed by a consonant, then y is changed to i before adding -ed.

Irregular verbs are those that do not obey the general rule when forming temporary forms. In English, these include the simple past tense verb forms (Past Simple) and Participle II (Participle II).

Irregular verbs are formed with:

ablaut, in which the root is changed. Example: swim - swam - swum (swim - swam - swam);

the use of suffixes that are different from those accepted in the grammar of the language. Example: do - did - done (do - did - did);

the same or unchanged form. Example: cut - cut - cut (cut - cut - cut).

Due to the fact that each irregular verb has its own form of change, they should be learned by heart.

In total, there are 218 irregular verbs in English, of which approximately 195 are in active use.

Recent studies in the field of language show that rare verbs are gradually disappearing from the language due to the replacement of the 2nd and 3rd forms with regular verb forms, that is, the addition of the ending - ed. This fact is confirmed by the table "Three forms of the verb in English" - the table represents a number of verbs that have both regular and irregular forms.

table of irregular verbs

The table "Three forms of irregular verbs in English" includes the most commonly used verbs. The table shows 3 forms and a translation.

Irregular verbs came into modern English from Old English, which was spoken by the Angles and Saxons - British tribes.

Irregular verbs originated from the so-called strong verbs, each of which had its own type of conjugation.

Harvard researchers found that most of the verbs used are irregular, and they will remain so, as they are used more often than others.

In the history of the English language there is such a phenomenon when the correct verb became irregular. For example, sneak, which has 2 forms - sneaked and snuck.

Problems with verbs are not only among English learners, but also among native speakers, since even they fall into awkward situations when it comes to this difficult part of speech.

One of them is Jennifer Garner, who has been sure all her life that the verb sneak is correct.

She was corrected by the host of one of the programs in which the actress took part. Dictionary in hand, he pointed out to Jennifer her mistake.

Therefore, do not be upset if you make mistakes when using irregular verbs. The main thing is that they do not become systematic.

Regular verbs

The table "Three forms of regular verbs in English with transcription and translation" is compiled on the basis of the most commonly used verbs.

			Past Participle I and II
to ask
reply
permit
agree
borrow, borrow
copy, rewrite
prepare
close
carry, drag
call, call
discuss
decide, decide
explain		explain
slide
cry, scream
finish, finish, end
shine
rub
grab
to help
happen, happen
to rule
watch
like
move, move
to rule
be necessary, need
open
recall
offer		sajgest
study, study
stop, stop
start off
travel
talk
transfer		transitlate
try, try
use
worry
walk, walk
watch
work

Examples of the use of 3 forms of verbs with translation

Above we looked at 3 forms of verbs in English. A table with examples of usage and translation will help reinforce the topic.

Here for each grammatical construction two examples are given - one with regular, the other with irregular verbs.

Grammar design	Example in English	Translation
past simple	Peter worked yesterday. She felt bad last week.	Peter worked yesterday. She didn't feel well last week.
Present perfect tense	James has already helped me. Have you ever been to Thailand?	James has already helped me. Have you ever been to Thailand?
Past Perfect Tense	I understood that I had used my last ticket. Helen noticed that she had forgotten her documents at home.	I realized that I had used the last ticket. She realized that she forgot the documents at home.
Passive Voice	Amy was taken to the zoo last Sunday. A baby is sung a lullaby every night.	Amy was taken to the zoo last Sunday. The baby is sung a lullaby every night.
Conditional	If I had money, I would buy a car. If she could help us, she would have done it.	If I had money, I would buy a car. If she could help us, she would.

Exercises

For better memory irregular verbs, you need not only to learn them by heart and repeat, but also to perform various exercises.

Exercise 1. Before you is a table "Three forms of the verb in English. Irregular verbs." Fill in one of the three missing forms.

Exercise 2. Before you is a table "Three forms of the verb in English. Regular verbs." Insert forms Participle I and II.

Exercise 3. Using the tables, translate the following sentences into English.

1. I was reading a book.
2. We saw them yesterday.
3. The Smiths lived in London until 2000. Then they moved to Manchester.
4. Alice was a university student in 2014.
5. They worked for the same company two years ago.
6. He just finished training.
7. When we were children, my mother often took us to this park.
8. I drove a toy car as a child.

Answers to the exercises

Exercise 1.

Exercise 2.

asked, borrowed, closed, decided, explained, helped, started, travelled, used, worked.

Exercise 3

1. I read a book.
2. We saw them yesterday.
3. The Smiths lived in London till 2000. Then they moved to Manchester.
4. Alice was a student of Univercity in 2014.
5. They worked in the same company two years ago.
6. He has just finished training.
7. When we were children we were taken for a walk to this park.
8. I drove a toy car in my childhood.

Get in the habit of periodically repeating the basic forms of the English verb. A table with irregular verbs, exercises and periodic repetition will help you quickly cope with the difficulties of the English language.

Every schoolboy, student, student, and even a specialist in the field of English is familiar with the problem of using verb forms.

Let's understand the following concepts:

• Why do we need three forms of the verb in English,
• which forms of the verb are regular (regular) and which are irregular (irregular).

English verb forms

The English verb has three forms. For convenience, in writing, the first, second and third forms are denoted by Roman numerals I, II, III.

Ithe form (or infinitive withoutto ) for example: to make (to do) - make - first form (main, basic form)

With the help of the first form of the verb, the simple present tense is formed. When forming a given tense, the I form of the verb is used without change, except with pronouns of the 3rd person singular- the ending - s or - es is added to the verb in the I form (he, she, it - he jumpes, she jumpes, it jumpes). Other exceptions are also possible, but they should be studied in private in more detail, studying the formation of the Present Simple Tense.

IIthe form serves to form the simple past tense. To form this time, you need to use both the correct and Irregular Verbs. At the same time, regular verbs have an ending - ed, and incorrect ones are used from the second column of the table of irregular verbs

Jump - jumped (jump - jumped)

IIIthe form is a special lexical and grammatical unit - Participle II (Participle II). For regular verbs, the III form coincides with the II - th, and such a verb has an ending - ed, respectively.

Jump (I) - jumped (II) - jumped (III) (jump - jumped - jumped)

II and III forms of irregular verbs can be formed different ways below.

Regular (regular) verbs

Regular (regular) verbs are formed by adding the ending to the verb stem - ed. For example, finish + ed = finish ed.

However this statement requires an explanation.

NB! To determine the correct ending for verbs with a stem on a stressed vowel sound and a consonant sound, it is necessary not only to add the ending - ed, but also to double the consonant at the end of the word in the II and III forms: slip - slipped - slipped.

NB! To determine the correct ending for verbs with a stem in a consonant letter or the letter y, you need to change y to i and add the ending - ed. > try - tried - tried.

→ BUT! There is an exception to this case: if there is a vowel before the vowel y, then y is preserved: play - played - played

To determine the correct ending for verbs with a stem on the vowel e, you need to add instead of the ending - ed > only e: skate - skated - skated.

Irregular (irregular) verbs

The question of such verbs is always essential for all learners of English.

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not change their form according to general rules, but with the help of special forms.

It so happened historically that the forms of verbs began to change due to their most frequent use. Therefore, in modern English there are a lot of verbs that have II and III forms.

Irregular verbs are involved in the formation of primarily three past tenses - the past simple, the present perfect, the past perfect tense, as well as the passive voice.

When forming these forms, there is no clearly structured algorithm; they are mastered mainly by memorization. However, there are some typical ways of education that are phonetic in nature.

The following are examples of the distribution of verbs by type groups

1. Availability inI final consonant formd, and inIIand inIIIforms - finished consonantt. In this case, the vowel in the root can be preserved.

1. Changing the vowel in the root of the word inIIform and preservation (change) of the vowel in the root with the addition of the ending -e (n):

1. same spelling and pronunciation of verbsIIand inIIIforms

came come come

1. Writing and pronunciationIIandIIIforms differs only in the root main. InIIform - vowel a, bIII- vowelu.

I	II	III	Translation
drink	drank	drunk	drink

To date, no universal table all English verbs. Their various variants are in free access in reference manuals, grammar guides, as well as on Internet resources.

If you have reached the study of verbs, then you have already gone through a lot. But there's more to come long road to perfection. The temporary system is based on such a distinction between this part of speech, as correct and incorrect. It is about the latter that we will talk and explain how to quickly learn irregular verbs.

So, we already know that with the passage of time, foreign conquests or other interactions of people, the English language also did not stand aside. This is especially true for verbs. If we study tenses, then we have to delimit according to this category. Irregular Verbs are found in almost every one of them.

Forms of irregular verbs in English

Where to begin? From acquaintance. What types are, when and how they are used. Indeed, when reading a rule, you often stumble upon the expression 2nd form, 3rd. And what is it, we will now consider. Once again, it is worth recalling that there are 3 forms of irregular verbs (some linguists distinguish four).

First form is it an infinitive or first column of the table. It is in this form that the verb is used in the dictionary: run, swim, give. It is used in Present Simple, Future Simple, in interrogative and negative sentences past simple.

The second form is this is the simple past tense (Past Simple): ran, swam, gave (second column). In this form, irregular English verbs are used in Past Simple (with the exception of interrogative and negative sentences).

Third form- this is the past participle (Past Participle or Participle II): run, swun, given. This form is the most commonly used verb. In tenses perfect, at all times Passive Voice. You will find it in third column of the table.

fourth form is the present participle (Present Participle or Participle I): running, swimming, giving. Times use it Continuous groups and Perfect Continuous. Not all tables contain a fourth column, only some.

When considering sentences with irregular verbs, pay attention to the tense.

How are the main irregular verbs of the English language formed?

It is impossible to clearly determine that these words change in this way, and others - the second or third. But it is still possible to trace a certain trend, and then it will not be a set of words and incomprehensible forms.

1. By changing the vowel at the root of the word: meet - met - met; begin - began - begun.
2. Changing the root and adding a suffix: speak - spoke - spoken; give - gave - given.
3. The ending changes: send - sent - sent; build-built-built.
4. And some verbs are the same in all forms: cut - cut - cut; put - put - put.

How to learn irregular verbs?

Everyone has their own methodology, their own way, which has its pros and cons. But I would like to start by saying a few generally accepted facts. First, learn all three forms at once and with translation. Irregular verbs with translation can be found in almost any grammar book, dictionary, online resources and on our website. All complete table can be downloaded. Don't learn 10 at once, take 5, spread over 3-4 days, do the exercises. Many teach in a row, alphabetically, some in groups (depending on the method of education). I find the second one to be more efficient and easier. Therefore, we will break all the irregular English verbs into groups.

1. Match completely

bet	bet	bet	bet
cost	cost	cost	cost
cut	cut	cut	cut
hit	hit	hit	strike
hurt	hurt	hurt	damage
let	let	let	let
put	put	put	put
set	set	set	install, set
Shed	Shed	Shed	dump
shut	shut	shut	close
sleep	sleep	sleep	spit
split	split	split	divide, split
spread	spread	spread	distribute
trust	trust	trust	trust

2. The second and third forms coincide - p-t

3. Matches the second and third forms - d-t

4. The root vowel changes - ew - own

5. A group of verbs with different root vowels

6. Endings aught/ought

7. Vowel alternation

become	became	become	become
come	came	come	come
run	ran	run	run

8. Vowel alternation + en ending

9. Alternation, ending en, doubling the consonant

bite	bit	bitten	bite
fall	fell	fallen	fall
forbid	forbade	forbidden	forbid
hide	hidden	hidden	hide
ride	rode	ridden	ride
write	wrote	written	write
forget	forgot	forgotten	forget

10. The second and third forms coincide

	second and third
built	built	build
dig	arc	drip
find	found	find
get	got	receive
have	had	have
hear	heard	hear
hold	held	hold
lead	led	lead
leave	left	leave
lose	lost	lose
make	made	do
shine	shone	shine
shoot	shot	fire
sit	sat	sit
win	won	win
stick	stuck	stick, stick,
strike	struke	hit, hit
stand	stood	stand
understand	understood	understand
deal	dealt	to deal with
mean	meant	to mean
sell	sold	sell
tell	told	talk
lay	laid	put
pay	paid	to pay
say	said	to tell
bleed	bled	bleed
feel	felt	feel
meet	met	meet
feed	fed	feed

11. Have two options

burn	burnt/burned	burnt/burned	burn, burn
dream	dream/dream	dream/dream	dream
dwell	dwelt/dwelled	dwelt/dwelled	dwell, live
hang	hung/hanged	hung/hanged	hang
kneel	knelt/kneeled	knelt/kneeled	kneel down, bow down
knit	knit/knitted	knit/knitted	to knit
lean	lean/leaned	lean/leaned	lean, lean
leap	leapt/leaped	leapt/leaped	jump up, jump
learn	learned/learned	learned/learned	learn
light	lit/lighted	lit/lighted	spark off
prove	proved	proven/proved	prove
sew	sewed	sewn/sewed	sew
smell	smelt/smelled	smelt/smelled	smell, smell
speed	speeded/speeded	speeded/speeded	accelerate
spell	spell/spelled	spell/spelled	to spell
spoil	spoilt/spoiled	spoilt/spoiled	spoil

12. Completely different shapes

Remember irregular verbs in English at first it seems tricky business, boring. But believe me, if you do not reset yourself, learn from the groups that we have provided, you will easily master them. And this is very important! All irregular verbs very often used in speech. Learn grammar and expand vocabulary.