Irregular Verbs
[A2] Irregular Verbs describes common English verbs that do not follow regular conjugation patterns. Learn the irregular past tense and past participle forms with examples and practice for English learners.
What they are
Irregular verbs are verbs whose past tense and past participle forms do not follow the usual -ed pattern. Instead, their forms may change the vowel, change completely, or sometimes stay the same. You need irregular forms mainly for talking about the past and for perfect tenses and passive voice.
不规则动词是指过去式和过去分词形式并不遵循通常的-ed 结尾模式的动词。相反，它们的形式可能改变元音、完全改变，或有时保持不变。你主要需要不规则形式来谈论过去时以及完成时和被动语态。
When to use
You use irregular verb forms in the simple past to describe finished actions or states in the past. You also use the past participle with auxiliary verbs, especially have for perfect tenses and be for the passive. The base form is used for the infinitive, present tense except third person singular, and after modal verbs.
在一般过去时中使用不规则动词形式来描述过去已经完成的动作或状态。你也在完成时使用过去分词与助动词，尤其是 have 用于完成时，be 用于被动语态。动词原形用于不定式、除第三人称单数以外的现在时，以及在情态动词之后。
Core forms
Most irregular verbs are learned through three key forms: base form, simple past, and past participle. The base form appears in dictionary entries and in structures like to go and can go. The simple past is used without an auxiliary in past statements and questions with did. The past participle is used with have or be in perfect tenses and passive constructions.
大多数不规则动词通过三种关键形式来学习：原形、过去式和过去分词。原形在词典条目以及如 to go 与 can go 这样的结构中出现。过去式在过去的陈述和含 did 的疑问句中无需助动词使用。过去分词与 have 或 be 一起用于完成时和被动结构。
Simple past
For irregular verbs, the simple past form must be memorized because it often does not end in -ed. In negatives and questions, English usually uses did plus the base form, so the irregular past form appears mainly in affirmative statements. This is why learners often know the past form but still need to practice where it actually shows up in sentences.
对于不规则动词，过去式形式通常不以 -ed 结尾，因此必须记忆。在否定句和疑问句中，英语通常使用 did 加上原形，因此不规则的过去式形式主要出现在肯定句中。这也是学习者往往知道过去式形式却仍需要练习它在句子中的实际用法的原因。
Past participle
The past participle is the form used with have for present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. It is also used with be to form the passive voice. Many irregular verbs have a past participle different from the simple past, so you must learn both forms when they differ.
过去分词是在现在完成时、过去完成时和将来完成时中与 have 连用的形式。它也与 be 一起用于构成被动语态。许多不规则动词的过去分词与过去式不同，因此在两者不同之处时必须同时学习这两个形式。
Questions negatives
With simple past questions and negatives, English uses did plus the base form, not the irregular past form. This means you say Did you go and not Did you went, and you say I did not go and not I did not went. The irregular past form is used after no auxiliary, as in You went yesterday.
在一般过去时的疑问句和否定句中，英语使用 did 加上原形，而不是不规则的过去式形式。这意味着你要说 Did you go，而不是 Did you went；你要说 I did not go，而不是 I did not went。没有助动词时才使用不规则过去式，如 You went yesterday。
Common patterns
Irregular verbs are not random, and many follow recognizable patterns that help you remember them. Some keep the same form for all three parts, some change only in the past, and some change in both past and past participle. Noticing patterns makes memorization easier and helps you guess forms more accurately.
不规则动词并非随机，许多遵循可辨识的规律，帮助你记住它们。有些在三种形式中保持相同，有些只在过去时变化，有些在过去时和过去分词两者均发生变化。留意规律会让记忆更容易，并帮助你更准确地推断形式。
Word/Phrase | 🇨🇳 中文 单词/短语 | Definition | 🇨🇳 中文 定义 | Example | 🇨🇳 中文 示例 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Same-same-same | 🔤 同形同形同形 |  Base, past, and participle are identical | 🔎 基本形、过去式和过去分词完全相同 |  put put put | 🧩 put put put |
| Vowel change | 🔤 元音变化 | Past changes vowel, participle often matches or differs | 🔎 过去式改变元音，过去分词通常相同或不同 | begin began begun | 🧩 begin began begun |
| Same past participle | 🔤 过去分词相同 | Past and participle are identical but differ from base | 🔎 过去式和过去分词相同但与原形不同 | buy bought bought | 🧩 buy bought bought |
| Different all | 🔤 三者都不同 | All three forms are different | 🔎 三个形式都不同 | go went gone | 🧩 go went gone |
Perfect tenses
Perfect tenses use have plus the past participle, so irregular participles are essential in these structures. Present perfect connects a past action to now, while past perfect places one past event before another. Using the correct participle is the main challenge with irregular verbs in perfect tenses.
完成时使用 have 加上过去分词，因此不规则的过去分词在这些结构中至关重要。现在完成时将过去的动作与现在相连，而过去完成时将一个过去的事件置于另一个之前。在完成时中，正确的过去分词是处理不规则动词的主要挑战。
Rule | 🇨🇳 中文 规则 | Example | 🇨🇳 中文 示例 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Present perfect uses have plus past participle | 📌 现在完成时使用 have 加上过去分词 | I have seen that movie. | 🧩 我已经看过那部电影。 |
| Past perfect uses had plus past participle | 📌 过去完成时使用 had 加上过去分词 | She had left before I arrived. | 🧩 她在我到达之前就离开了。 |
| Future perfect uses will have plus past participle | 📌 将来完成时使用 will have 加上过去分词 | They will have done it by Friday. | 🧩 他们将在星期五之前完成它。 |
Passive voice
Passive voice uses be plus the past participle, so irregular participles also matter here. The passive focuses on the action or result rather than who does the action. You choose the correct tense of be, then add the irregular past participle.
被动语态使用 be 加上过去分词，因此不规则的过去分词在这里也很重要。被动语态关注动作本身或结果，而不是执行该动作的人。先选择 be 的正确时态，然后再加上不规则的过去分词。
Rule | 🇨🇳 中文 规则 | Example | 🇨🇳 中文 示例 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive uses be plus past participle | 📌 被动使用 be 加上过去分词 | The window was broken. | 🧩 窗户被打碎。 |
| Use the correct tense of be for time | 📌 根据时间使用 be 的正确时态 | The report is written every week. | 🧩 该报告每周都会被撰写。 |
| Add by plus agent only when needed | 📌 仅在需要时才在动词后加 by 与施动者 | The song was sung by her. | 🧩 那首歌被她唱了。 |
Learning strategy
Because irregular verbs are frequent, learning them in high-use groups gives the best results. Focus on the most common verbs first and always learn them as a three-part set: base, past, participle. Practice them inside the key structures where they appear, especially simple past statements and perfect and passive forms.
因为不规则动词使用频率高，按高使用频率分组学习可以取得最佳效果。先专注于最常见的动词，并始终把它们作为三部分集合来学习：原形、过去式和过去分词。将它们在它们出现的关键结构中练习，尤其是一般过去时陈述，以及完成时和被动语态形式。
