100 Common English Verbs: Forms and Everyday Examples

by Austin Davies | Jul 21, 2025 | English Test Preparation, Vocabulary

This guide gives you 100 common English verbs with their past forms, past participles and everyday examples. They are grouped by use, not ranked by frequency. Start with verbs you need for your own routines, then learn each one inside a short phrase such as make a plan, take the train or listen to a message.

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How to use the three verb forms

The base form is the dictionary form: write. Use it after did, didn’t and modal verbs: “Did she write?”, “She didn’t write” and “She can write.” In present-simple statements with he, she or it, many verbs add -s or -es: “She writes.” Be is different: I am, you are, she is.

The past simple describes a past event: “She wrote the email yesterday.” The past participle combines with an auxiliary: “She has written the email” or “The email was written yesterday.” Do not use She written as a complete standard sentence.

Regular verbs use -ed forms, sometimes with spelling changes: work/worked, study/studied, stop/stopped. Irregular verbs need a separate pattern: write/wrote/written. Learning the three forms does not mean you can interchange them.

100 common English verbs by topic

Form notes: get has the participle got in British English; American English also uses gotten, depending on meaning. American have got still occurs for possession. Read is spelled the same in all three columns, but the base form is /riːd/ and the past forms are /red/. Both learned/learnt and spelled/spelt are standard; the -t forms are more common in British English.

Essential verbs

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
1. be	was / were	been	She is ready for the lesson.
2. have	had	had	We have enough time.
3. do	did	done	I did the washing-up after lunch.
4. get	got	got / gotten	I got your message this morning.
5. make	made	made	Let’s make a plan for tomorrow.
6. go	went	gone	They go to work by bus.
7. come	came	come	Can you come to the meeting?
8. take	took	taken	Take your umbrella with you.
9. give	gave	given	She gave me some useful advice.
10. put	put	put	Put the keys on the shelf.

Speaking and explaining

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
11. say	said	said	He said that the shop was closed.
12. tell	told	told	Please tell me your name.
13. ask	asked	asked	Can I ask you a question?
14. answer	answered	answered	She answered the phone immediately.
15. speak	spoke	spoken	Do you speak English at work?
16. talk	talked	talked	We talked about our weekend plans.
17. call	called	called	I’ll call you after the appointment.
18. mean	meant	meant	What does this word mean?
19. explain	explained	explained	Please explain the problem to me.
20. describe	described	described	Can you describe your new office?

Thinking and learning

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
21. know	knew	known	I know the way to the station.
22. think	thought	thought	I think this answer is correct.
23. understand	understood	understood	Do you understand the instructions?
24. remember	remembered	remembered	I remember our first lesson.
25. forget	forgot	forgotten	Don’t forget your appointment.
26. learn	learned / learnt	learned / learnt	We learned three useful phrases.
27. study	studied	studied	She studies engineering at university.
28. read	read	read	I read the news every morning.
29. write	wrote	written	Write your address on this form.
30. spell	spelled / spelt	spelled / spelt	How do you spell your surname?

Travel and movement

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
31. walk	walked	walked	We walked home after dinner.
32. run	ran	run	He runs in the park before work.
33. drive	drove	driven	My sister drove us to the airport.
34. ride	rode	ridden	She rides her bike to college.
35. fly	flew	flown	We flew to Rome last summer.
36. leave	left	left	The train leaves at half past six.
37. arrive	arrived	arrived	They arrived at the hotel early.
38. return	returned	returned	Please return the book next week.
39. bring	brought	brought	Bring your notes to the next class.
40. carry	carried	carried	Could you carry this box upstairs?

Food and daily routines

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
41. eat	ate	eaten	We ate breakfast before leaving.
42. drink	drank	drunk	Would you like something to drink?
43. cook	cooked	cooked	He cooked pasta for dinner.
44. wash	washed	washed	Wash your hands before cooking.
45. clean	cleaned	cleaned	I cleaned the kitchen this morning.
46. open	opened	opened	The library opens at nine.
47. close	closed	closed	Please close the window.
48. sleep	slept	slept	The baby slept through the journey.
49. sit	sat	sat	You can sit next to me.
50. stand	stood	stood	We stood near the entrance.

Tasks and progress

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
51. work	worked	worked	I work in a small design studio.
52. use	used	used	Can I use your charger?
53. need	needed	needed	We need more information.
54. want	wanted	wanted	I want to improve my pronunciation.
55. help	helped	helped	Could you help me move this desk?
56. try	tried	tried	She tried to open the door.
57. start	started	started	The course starts on Monday.
58. begin	began	begun	They began the meeting on time.
59. finish	finished	finished	I finished the report yesterday.
60. stop	stopped	stopped	The bus stopped outside the school.

Seeing, hearing and contact

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
61. see	saw	seen	I saw your brother at the market.
62. look	looked	looked	Look at the first picture.
63. watch	watched	watched	We watched a film last night.
64. hear	heard	heard	Can you hear the announcement?
65. listen	listened	listened	Listen to the speaker carefully.
66. meet	met	met	Let’s meet outside the cinema.
67. find	found	found	I found my glasses under the sofa.
68. show	showed	shown	Please show me how this works.
69. send	sent	sent	She sent the email before lunch.
70. receive	received	received	We received your application yesterday.

Feelings and decisions

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
71. feel	felt	felt	I feel better after a short break.
72. like	liked	liked	Do you like this colour?
73. love	loved	loved	They love spending time outdoors.
74. hate	hated	hated	I hate waiting in long queues.
75. prefer	preferred	preferred	I prefer tea to coffee.
76. hope	hoped	hoped	We hope to visit you soon.
77. plan	planned	planned	They plan to move next year.
78. decide	decided	decided	We decided to take the train.
79. choose	chose	chosen	Choose the answer that fits the sentence.
80. agree	agreed	agreed	I agree with your suggestion.

Money, possessions and results

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
81. buy	bought	bought	I bought some fruit at the market.
82. sell	sold	sold	This shop sells second-hand books.
83. pay	paid	paid	Can I pay by card?
84. spend	spent	spent	We spent two hours at the museum.
85. cost	cost	cost	The tickets cost twenty pounds each.
86. save	saved	saved	Remember to save your work.
87. keep	kept	kept	Keep the receipt in a safe place.
88. hold	held	held	Could you hold the door for me?
89. lose	lost	lost	I lost my ticket on the way here.
90. win	won	won	Their team won the final match.

Places, activities and change

Base form	Past simple	Past participle	Example
91. wait	waited	waited	Wait for me outside the station.
92. stay	stayed	stayed	We stayed with friends in Bristol.
93. live	lived	lived	She lives near the university.
94. move	moved	moved	They moved into a larger flat.
95. play	played	played	The children played football after school.
96. change	changed	changed	We changed our plans because of the rain.
97. build	built	built	They built a new bridge across the river.
98. turn	turned	turned	Turn left at the next traffic lights.
99. cut	cut	cut	She cut the bread into thin slices.
100. wear	wore	worn	He wore a blue jacket to the interview.

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Learn the phrase, not only the verb

Useful contrast	Natural patterns	Example
say / tell	say something; tell someone something	She said hello. She told me the news.
make / do	make a decision; do an exercise	We made a decision after doing the exercise.
look / see / watch	look at something; see something; watch something over time	I looked at the screen and saw a message. Later, I watched a video.
hear / listen	hear a sound; listen to something intentionally	I heard music, so I stopped to listen to it.
explain / ask	explain something to someone; ask someone a question	Ask me a question and I’ll explain the answer to you.
want / enjoy	want to do something; enjoy doing something	I want to cook tonight. I enjoy cooking for friends.

Some verbs take different patterns with different meanings. “I stopped talking” means I became silent. “I stopped to talk” means I interrupted another activity in order to speak. Record a new verb’s pattern alongside its meaning.

Five common mistakes to fix

Not this	Use this	Reason
She didn’t went.	She didn’t go.	After didn’t, use the base form.
He can speaks English.	He can speak English.	After can, use the base form.
I have saw that film.	I have seen that film.	The present perfect needs a past participle.
She explained me the task.	She explained the task to me.	Use explain something to someone.
We discussed about the problem.	We discussed the problem.	Discuss takes a direct object without about.

A verb phrase can contain several verbs: “She should be reading.” This combines a modal with a continuous form; it is not a tense called “conditional continuous.” For the meaning of should and must, see advice and obligation. To practise movement verbs in context, use our transport verbs guide.

Practice: choose the correct form

Yesterday we ___ the early train. (take / took / taken)
She has ___ three emails this morning. (write / wrote / written)
Did you ___ your keys? (find / found)
He ___ to work every weekday. (go / goes)
Please ___ me what happened. (say / tell)
I listened ___ the announcement. (to / at)
We haven’t ___ a date yet. (choose / chose / chosen)
She can ___ us after lunch. (help / helps)
Yesterday I ___ for the tickets. (pay / paid)
They ___ the instructions before starting yesterday. (read / reads)

Answers and explanations

Took: yesterday places the journey in the past.
Written: has needs the past participle here.
Find: after did, use the base form.
Goes: a present habit with he needs the third-person form.
Tell: the pattern is tell someone something.
To: we listen to something.
Chosen: haven’t is followed by the participle in the present perfect.
Help: a modal is followed by the base form.
Paid: this is the past form for paying money.
Read, pronounced /red/: the event happened yesterday, even though the spelling matches the base form.

A useful five-minute routine: choose five verbs, cover the past-form columns and recall the forms. Then write one true sentence about yesterday and one sentence about your usual routine. For example: “I bought lunch yesterday. I usually bring food from home.” Check both the verb form and the words that follow it.

Reference: the British Council’s irregular verb reference provides a further check on the forms.

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