Guide to Irregular Verbs – TOEIC® Preparation

Introduction

This guide presents a complete repertoire of English irregular verbs, accompanied by an estimated (indicative and non-official, based on our field experience) frequency of appearance for each verb in the TOEIC® exam.

The idea is to allow you to quickly identify which irregular verbs appear most often in the test questions, in order to optimize your revision time.

This resource constitutes an essential lexical foundation for calmly approaching the TOEIC®: mastering these verbal forms will give you a head start in written and oral comprehension, particularly in parts 5, 6, and 7.

List of Irregular Verbs for the TOEIC®

Base verb	Simple Past	Past Participle	French Translation	TOEIC® Probability
abide	abode	abode	to conform to / to respect	10%
arise	arose	arisen	to appear / to occur	20%
awake	awoke	awoken	to wake up / to become awake	15%
be	was/were	been	to be	95%
bear	bore	borne	to support / to endure	25%
beat	beat	beaten	to hit / to beat	30%
become	became	become	to become	95%
begin	began	begun	to start / to begin	80%
bend	bent	bent	to bend / to flex	25%
bet	bet	bet	to wager / to bet	20%
bid	bid	bid	to bid / to offer a price	15%
bind	bound	bound	to tie / to oblige	20%
bite	bit	bitten	to bite	15%
bleed	bled	bled	to bleed / to lose blood	10%
blow	blew	blown	to blow / to explode	25%
break	broke	broken	to break / to rupture	80%
breed	bred	bred	to reproduce / to raise (animals)	15%
bring	brought	brought	to bring / to carry	95%
build	built	built	to build / to construct	80%
burn	burnt	burnt	to burn / to consume	20%
burst	burst	burst	to burst / to shatter	15%
buy	bought	bought	to buy / to acquire	95%
cast	cast	cast	to throw / to distribute (roles)	20%
catch	caught	caught	to catch / to seize	80%
choose	chose	chosen	to select / to choose	50%
cling	clung	clung	to cling / to hold on tightly	15%
come	came	come	to come / to arrive	95%
cost	cost	cost	to cost / to be worth	80%
creep	crept	crept	to crawl / to sneak	15%
cut	cut	cut	to cut / to slice	80%
deal	dealt	dealt	to distribute / to deal with	25%
dig	dug	dug	to dig / to search	20%
do	did	done	to do / to accomplish	95%
draw	drew	drawn	to draw / to pull	50%
dream	dreamt/dreamed	dreamt/dreamed	to dream / to imagine	20%
drink	drank	drunk	to drink / to consume	50%
drive	drove	driven	to drive / to pilot	50%
dwell	dwelt/dwelled	dwelt/dwelled	to reside / to inhabit	10%
eat	ate	eaten	to eat / to feed oneself	80%
fall	fell	fallen	to fall / to drop	50%
feed	fed	fed	to feed / to supply	30%
feel	felt	felt	to feel / to experience	80%
fight	fought	fought	to fight / to battle	30%
find	found	found	to find / to discover	95%
flee	fled	fled	to flee / to escape	15%
fling	flung	flung	to throw / to toss violently	10%
fly	flew	flown	to fly / to take off	30%
forbid	forbade	forbidden	to forbid / to prohibit	20%
forecast	forecast	forecast	to predict / to anticipate	20%
foresee	foresaw	foreseen	to foresee / to anticipate	15%
foretell	foretold	foretold	to predict / to announce	10%
forget	forgot	forgotten	to forget / to omit	50%
forgive	forgave	forgiven	to forgive / to excuse	25%
forsake	forsook	forsaken	to abandon / to forsake	15%
freeze	froze	frozen	to freeze / to chill	30%
get	got	got	to get / to receive	95%
give	gave	given	to give / to offer	95%
go	went	gone	to go / to leave	95%
grind	ground	ground	to grind / to crush	15%
grow	grew	grown	to grow / to increase	50%
hang	hung	hung	to hang / to suspend	25%
have	had	had	to have / to possess	95%
hear	heard	heard	to hear / to listen	80%
hide	hid	hidden	to hide / to conceal	30%
hit	hit	hit	to hit / to strike	50%
hold	held	held	to hold / to maintain	80%
hurt	hurt	hurt	to hurt / to cause pain	50%
keep	kept	kept	to keep / to retain	80%
kneel	knelt/kneeled	knelt/kneeled	to kneel / to go down on one's knees	10%
knit	knit	knit	to knit / to weave	10%
know	knew	known	to know / to be acquainted with	95%
lay	laid	laid	to put down / to lay	30%
lead	led	led	to lead / to guide	50%
lean	leaned/leant	leaned/leant	to lean / to incline	15%
leap	leaped/leapt	leaped/leapt	to leap / to jump	20%
learn	learnt	learnt	to learn / to study	50%
leave	left	left	to leave / to quit	80%
lend	lent	lent	to lend / to advance	30%
let	let	let	to let / to allow	80%
lie	lay	lain	to lie down / to rest	30%
light	lit	lit	to light / to illuminate	25%
lose	lost	lost	to lose / to misplace	80%
make	made	made	to make / to create	95%
mean	meant	meant	to mean / to intend	80%
meet	met	met	to meet / to encounter	80%
mow	mowed	mown	to mow (lawn)	10%
overcome	overcame	overcome	to overcome / to conquer	30%
partake	partook	partaken	to partake in / to take part	10%
pay	paid	paid	to pay / to settle	95%
put	put	put	to put / to place	95%
quit	quit	quit	to quit / to stop	20%
read	read	read	to read / to consult	80%
rid	rid	rid	to get rid of / to free	15%
ride	rode	ridden	to ride / to cycle	50%
ring	rang	rung	to ring / to call (phone)	25%
rise	rose	risen	to rise / to ascend	30%
run	ran	run	to run / to manage	95%
saw	sawed	sawn	to saw / to cut	15%
say	said	said	to say / to state	95%
see	saw	seen	to see / to observe	95%
seek	sought	sought	to look for / to seek	30%
sell	sold	sold	to sell / to market	80%
send	sent	sent	to send / to ship	80%
set	set	set	to set / to establish	80%
sew	sewed	sewn	to sew / to assemble	15%
shake	shook	shaken	to shake / to tremble	30%
shear	sheared	shorn	to shear (sheep)	10%
shed	shed	shed	to shed (hair, leaves) / to pour	10%
shine	shone	shone	to shine / to radiate	20%
shoe	shod	shod	to shoe / to shoe (a horse)	10%
shoot	shot	shot	to shoot / to photograph	30%
show	showed	shown	to show / to present	50%
shut	shut	shut	to shut / to close	25%
sing	sang	sung	to sing / to perform	30%
sink	sank	sunk	to sink / to go under	25%
sit	sat	sat	to sit / to be seated	80%
slay	slew	slain	to kill / to murder	10%
sleep	slept	slept	to sleep / to doze	50%
slide	slid	slid	to slide / to skid	20%
slit	slit	slit	to slit / to incise	15%
smell	smelt/smelled	smelt/smelled	to smell / to sniff	25%
sow	sowed	sown	to sow / to plant	10%
speak	spoke	spoken	to speak / to express oneself	95%
speed	sped	sped	to speed up / to hurry	20%
spell	spelt	spelt	to spell / to write out	20%
spend	spent	spent	to spend / to pass (time)	80%
spill	spilt	spilt	to spill / to spread	15%
spin	spun	spun	to spin / to spin (wool)	20%
spit	spat/spit	spat/spit	to spit / to expectorate	10%
split	split	split	to split / to divide	20%
spoil	spoilt	spoilt	to spoil / to damage	15%
spread	spread	spread	to spread out / to broadcast	25%
spring	sprang	sprung	to spring up / to leap	15%
stand	stood	stood	to stand / to support	80%
steal	stole	stolen	to steal / to rob	30%
stick	stuck	stuck	to stick / to adhere	25%
sting	stung	stung	to sting / to burn	15%
stink	stank	stunk	to stink / to smell bad	10%
stride	strode	stridden	to stride	10%
strike	struck	struck	to strike / to hit	30%
strive	strove	striven	to strive / to struggle	15%
swear	swore	sworn	to swear / to promise	25%
sweep	swept	swept	to sweep / to clean	20%
swell	swelled	swollen	to swell / to inflate	15%
swim	swam	swum	to swim / to cross by swimming	25%
swing	swung	swung	to swing / to oscillate	15%
take	took	taken	to take / to seize	95%
teach	taught	taught	to teach / to instruct	95%
tear	tore	torn	to tear / to rip	25%
tell	told	told	to tell / to inform	95%
think	thought	thought	to think / to reflect	95%
throw	threw	thrown	to throw / to cast	50%
thrust	thrust	thrust	to thrust / to push	10%
tread	trod	trodden	to tread on / to trample	10%
undergo	underwent	undergone	to undergo / to go through	20%
understand	understood	understood	to understand / to grasp	95%
undertake	undertook	undertaken	to undertake / to take on	20%
upset	upset	upset	to upset / to distress	15%
wake	woke	woken	to wake up / to awaken	30%
wear	wore	worn	to wear (clothes) / to use up	50%
weave	wove	woven	to weave / to interlace	10%
weep	wept	wept	to weep / to shed tears	20%
win	won	won	to win / to achieve	80%
wind	wound	wound	to wind / to wind up (mechanism)	15%
withdraw	withdrew	withdrawn	to withdraw / to retreat	25%
withhold	withheld	withheld	to withhold / to refuse	20%
withstand	withstood	withstood	to withstand / to endure	15%
wring	wrung	wrung	to wring / to squeeze dry	10%
write	wrote	written	to write / to draft	95%
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast	to broadcast / to transmit	20%
deal (with)	dealt	dealt	to deal with / to manage	25%
shrink	shrank	shrunk	to shrink / to contract	15%

Conclusion

To deepen your mastery of English grammar and maximize your score on the TOEIC®, we suggest consulting these complementary resources:

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