What Are Irregular Verbs in English?

In English grammar, an irregular verb is a verb that does not follow the rules for verb forms. Known as a strong verb.

Verbs in English are irregular if they don’t have the conventional -ed ending in the past tense and/or past participle forms. Contrast with a regular verb.

According to the 2002 edition of the book, “Longman Student Grammar,” the nine most common lexical verbs in English are all irregular: say, get, go, know, think, see, make, come, and take.

Examples and Observations

Sheila Watson

The bridge they built brought traffic in both directions.

Water slopping from the buckets froze on the feet as it fell.”

Bo Links

“He said Roadmap Jenkins got the good loops because he knew the yardage and read the break better than anyone else.”

George H. Devol

“Hearts were trumps. I stood, and made three to his nothing. I dealt; he begged; I gave him one, and made three more.”

Muriel Spark

“It was true, thought Miss Taylor, that the young nurses were less jolly since Sister Burstead had taken over the ward.”

Definition and Examples of Helping Verbs

A helping verb is a verb that is placed before the main verb in a sentence. Along with the helping verb and the main verb make a verb phrase. (A helping verb is known as an auxiliary verb.)

A helping verb stands in front of the main verb. For instance, in the sentence, “Shyla can ride her sister’s bike,” the helping verb can stand in front of the ride, which is the main verb.

More than one helping verb can be utilized in a sentence. For instance, in the sentence, “Shyla could have gone to school,” there are two helping verbs: gone and have.

Sometimes a word separates the helping verb from the main verb. For instance, in the sentence, “Shyla does not want a new bike,” the negative particle does not come in the middle of the helping verb and the main verb, want.

Helping Verbs in English

  • am, is, are
  • was, were
  • be, been, being
  • do, does, did
  • have, has, had
  • may, can, must, might
  • shall, will
  • should, would, could

Definition and Examples of Complex Prepositions

A complex preposition is a word group that functions like an ordinary one-word preposition.

Examples of Complex Prepositions

  • according to
  • ahead of
  • along with
  • apart from
  • as for
  • as well as
  • aside from
  • away from
  • because of
  • but for
  • by means of
  • by virtue of
  • by way of
  • close to
  • contrary to
  • due to
  • except for
  • far from
  • for lack of
  • in accordance with
  • in addition to
  • in back of
  • in between
  • in (the) case of
  • in charge of
  • in exchange for
  • in front of
  • in light of
  • in line with
  • in place of
  • in (the) process of
  • in regard to
  • inside of
  • in spite of
  • instead of
  • in view of
  • near to
  • next to
  • on account of
  • on behalf of
  • on top of
  • out of
  • outside of
  • owing to
  • prior to
  • subsequent to
  • such as
  • thanks to
  • together with
  • up against
  • up to
  • up until
  • with respect to