February 17, 2025

Course on Irregular Verbs - TOEIC® Preparation

A teacher from top-students.com explaining irregular verbs in English on a blackboard with chalk. This course is a specialized TOEIC® course designed for excellence in the TOEIC® exam.

Introduction

Here is a non-exhaustive list of irregular verbs in English. For each verb, we have added a probability (hypothetical and unofficial, based on our own observations) that this verb will appear in the TOEIC®.

The goal is for you to realise which words are most likely to appear in the TOEIC®.

This base will be very useful to you as it will offer you a minimal vocabulary base, which will allow you to approach the TOEIC® more easily.

TOEIC® Irregular Verbs

Base Verb	Preterite	Past Participle	Probability
abide	abode	abode	10%
arise	arose	arisen	20%
awake	awoke	awoken	15%
be	was	been	95%
bear	bore	borne	25%
beat	beat	beaten	30%
become	became	become	95%
begin	began	begun	80%
bend	bent	bent	25%
bet	bet	bet	20%
bid	bid	bid	15%
bind	bound	bound	20%
bite	bit	bitten	15%
bleed	bled	bled	10%
blow	blew	blown	25%
break	broke	broken	80%
breed	bred	bred	15%
bring	brought	brought	95%
build	built	built	80%
burn	burnt	burnt	20%
burst	burst	burst	15%
buy	bought	bought	95%
cast	cast	cast	20%
catch	caught	caught	80%
choose	chose	chosen	50%
cling	clung	clung	15%
come	came	come	95%
cost	cost	cost	80%
creep	crept	crept	15%
cut	cut	cut	80%
deal	dealt	dealt	25%
dig	dug	dug	20%
do	did	done	95%
draw	drew	drawn	50%
dream	dreamt/dreamed	dreamt/dreamed	20%
drink	drank	drunk	50%
drive	drove	driven	50%
dwell	dwelt/dwelled	dwelt/dwelled	10%
eat	ate	eaten	80%
fall	fell	fallen	50%
feed	fed	fed	30%
feel	felt	felt	80%
fight	fought	fought	30%
find	found	found	95%
flee	fled	fled	15%
fling	flung	flung	10%
fly	flew	flown	30%
forbid	forbade	forbidden	20%
forecast	forecast	forecast	20%
foresee	foresaw	foreseen	15%
foretell	foretold	foretold	10%
forget	forgot	forgotten	50%
forgive	forgave	forgiven	25%
forsake	forsook	forsaken	15%
freeze	froze	frozen	30%
get	got	got	95%
give	gave	given	95%
go	went	gone	95%
grind	ground	ground	15%
grow	grew	grown	50%
hang	hung	hung	25%
have	had	had	95%
hear	heard	heard	80%
hide	hid	hidden	30%
hit	hit	hit	50%
hold	held	held	80%
hurt	hurt	hurt	50%
keep	kept	kept	80%
kneel	knelt/kneeled	knelt/kneeled	10%
knit	knit	knit	10%
know	knew	known	95%
lay	laid	laid	30%
lead	led	led	50%
lean	leaned/leant	leaned/leant	15%
leap	leaped/leapt	leaped/leapt	20%
learn	learnt	learnt	50%
leave	left	left	80%
lend	lent	lent	30%
let	let	let	80%
lie	lay	lain	30%
light	lit	lit	25%
lose	lost	lost	80%
make	made	made	95%
mean	meant	meant	80%
meet	met	met	80%
mow	mowed	mown	10%
overcome	overcame	overcome	30%
partake	partook	partaken	10%
pay	paid	paid	95%
put	put	put	95%
quit	quit	quit	20%
read	read	read	80%
rid	rid	rid	15%
ride	rode	ridden	50%
ring	rang	rung	25%
rise	rose	risen	30%
run	ran	run	95%
saw	sawed	sawn	15%
say	said	said	95%
see	saw	seen	95%
seek	sought	sought	30%
sell	sold	sold	80%
send	sent	sent	80%
set	set	set	80%
sew	sewed	sewn	15%
shake	shook	shaken	30%
shear	sheared	shorn	10%
shed	shed	shed	10%
shine	shone	shone	20%
shoe	shod	shod	10%
shoot	shot	shot	30%
show	showed	shown	50%
shut	shut	shut	25%
sing	sang	sung	30%
sink	sank	sunk	25%
sit	sat	sat	80%
slay	slew	slain	10%
sleep	slept	slept	50%
slide	slid	slid	20%
slit	slit	slit	15%
smell	smelt/smelled	smelt/smelled	25%
sow	sowed	sown	10%
speak	spoke	spoken	95%
speed	sped	sped	20%
spell	spelt	spelt	20%
spend	spent	spent	80%
spill	spilt	spilt	15%
spin	spun	spun	20%
spit	spat/spit	spat/spit	10%
split	split	split	20%
spoil	spoilt	spoilt	15%
spread	spread	spread	25%
spring	sprang	sprung	15%
stand	stood	stood	80%
steal	stole	stolen	30%
stick	stuck	stuck	25%
sting	stung	stung	15%
stink	stank	stunk	10%
stride	strode	stridden	10%
strike	struck	struck	30%
strive	strove	striven	15%
swear	swore	sworn	25%
sweep	swept	swept	20%
swell	swelled	swollen	15%
swim	swam	swum	25%
swing	swung	swung	15%
take	took	taken	95%
teach	taught	taught	95%
tear	tore	torn	25%
tell	told	told	95%
think	thought	thought	95%
throw	threw	thrown	50%
thrust	thrust	thrust	10%
tread	trod	trodden	10%
undergo	underwent	undergone	20%
understand	understood	understood	95%
undertake	undertook	undertaken	20%
upset	upset	upset	15%
wake	woke	woken	30%
wear	wore	worn	50%
weave	wove	woven	10%
weep	wept	wept	20%
win	won	won	80%
wind	wound	wound	15%
withdraw	withdrew	withdrawn	25%
withhold	withheld	withheld	20%
withstand	withstood	withstood	15%
wring	wrung	wrung	10%
write	wrote	written	95%
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast	20%
deal (with)	dealt	dealt	25%
shrink	shrank	shrunk	15%

Conclusion

If you ever want to learn more about English grammar, we recommend these articles: