Regular Verbs: A Big List of Regular Verbs in English

Regular verbs are verbs that form the simple past and past participle by adding -d or -ed. In this lesson, you will learn clear spelling rules and explore a list of over 130 common regular verbs, making it easier for ESL learners and teachers to understand and use them correctly.

Table of Contents

Rules for Forming Regular Verbs

Unlike irregular verbs, regular verbs form both the simple past and the past participle by adding -d or -ed (with a few spelling rules). These verbs do not undergo substantial changes while changing forms between tenses.

1. Verbs ending in -e

If a verb already ends with the letter e, just add –d.

Present Tense	Past Tense
share	shared
scare	scared
dare	dared

2. Verbs ending with a consonant (not e)

Add –ed to the base form.

Present Tense	Past Tense
want	wanted
shout	shouted
kill	killed

3. Verbs ending with a consonant + y

Change y to i and add –ed.

Present Tense	Past Tense
carry	carried
hurry	hurried
study	studied

4. Verbs ending with a vowel + y

Simply add –ed without changing the y.

Present Tense	Past Tense
play	played
enjoy	enjoyed

5. Verbs ending with a single vowel + single consonant (except w, x, y)

One-syllable verbs: Double the final consonant before adding –ed.

Two syllables or more: Double the final consonant only if the final syllable is stressed.

Present Tense	Past Tense
stop	stopped
plan	planned
admit	admitted

Tip: admit (/ədˈmɪt/) has stress on the last syllable → admitted. visit (/ˈvɪz.ɪt/) has stress on the first syllable → visited (NOT “visitted”).

6. Verbs ending in –ic

Add –ked to form the past tense.

Present Tense	Past Tense
panic	panicked
picnic	picnicked

Important note about “lie”: In the list below, lie means “tell a lie” → lied → lied. (The verb lie meaning “lie down” is irregular: lie – lay – lain.)

Note: Some verbs can be both regular (-ed) and irregular (-t) depending on the dialect (American vs. British English), such as learn (learned/learnt), dream (dreamed/dreamt), spill (spilled/spilt), and spoil (spoiled/spoilt).

Pronunciation of -ed Endings

Knowing how to spell regular verbs is important, but knowing how to pronounce them is equally essential for speaking naturally. The pronunciation of the -ed ending depends on the final sound of the verb:

1. /ɪd/ (sounds like “id”) We use this sound when the verb ends in the sounds t or d.

want → wanted (/ˈwɒn.tɪd/)
need → needed (/ˈniː.dɪd/)
decide → decided (/dɪˈsaɪ.dɪd/)

2. /t/ (sounds like “t”) We use this sound when the verb ends in voiceless sounds such as p, k, f, s, sh, ch, x. (Your vocal cords do not vibrate when you make these sounds).

help → helped (sounds like helpt)
look → looked (sounds like lookt)
wash → washed (sounds like washt)
watch → watched (sounds like watcht)
fix → fixed (sounds like fixt)

3. /d/ (sounds like “d”) We use this sound when the verb ends in voiced sounds (all other consonants like b, g, l, m, n, r, v, z) or vowels. (Your vocal cords vibrate when you make these sounds).

play → played (sounds like playd)
clean → cleaned (sounds like cleand)
love → loved (sounds like lovd)
use → used (sounds like yuzd)

Regular Verbs List

Now that you know the rules, here’s a list of over 130 regular verbs with their simple past and past participle forms.

BASE FORM	SIMPLE PAST	PAST PARTICIPLE
Accept	Accepted	Accepted
Achieve	Achieved	Achieved
Add	Added	Added
Admire	Admired	Admired
Admit	Admitted	Admitted
Adopt	Adopted	Adopted
Advise	Advised	Advised
Agree	Agreed	Agreed
Allow	Allowed	Allowed
Announce	Announced	Announced
Appreciate	Appreciated	Appreciated
Approve	Approved	Approved
Argue	Argued	Argued
Arrive	Arrived	Arrived
Ask	Asked	Asked
Assist	Assisted	Assisted
Attack	Attacked	Attacked
Bake	Baked	Baked
Beg	Begged	Begged
Behave	Behaved	Behaved
Boil	Boiled	Boiled
Borrow	Borrowed	Borrowed
Brush	Brushed	Brushed
Bury	Buried	Buried
Call	Called	Called
Challenge	Challenged	Challenged
Change	Changed	Changed
Chase	Chased	Chased
Cheat	Cheated	Cheated
Cheer	Cheered	Cheered
Chew	Chewed	Chewed
Clap	Clapped	Clapped
Clean	Cleaned	Cleaned
Collect	Collected	Collected
Compare	Compared	Compared
Complain	Complained	Complained
Confess	Confessed	Confessed
Construct	Constructed	Constructed
Control	Controlled	Controlled
Copy	Copied	Copied
Count	Counted	Counted
Create	Created	Created
Cry	Cried	Cried
Cycle	Cycled	Cycled
Damage	Damaged	Damaged
Dance	Danced	Danced
Deliver	Delivered	Delivered
Destroy	Destroyed	Destroyed
Divide	Divided	Divided
Drag	Dragged	Dragged
Earn	Earned	Earned
Employ	Employed	Employed
Encourage	Encouraged	Encouraged
Enjoy	Enjoyed	Enjoyed
Establish	Established	Established
Estimate	Estimated	Estimated
Exercise	Exercised	Exercised
Expand	Expanded	Expanded
Explain	Explained	Explained
Fry	Fried	Fried
Gather	Gathered	Gathered
Greet	Greeted	Greeted
Guess	Guessed	Guessed
Harass	Harassed	Harassed
Hate	Hated	Hated
Help	Helped	Helped
Hope	Hoped	Hoped
Identify	Identified	Identified
Interrupt	Interrupted	Interrupted
Introduce	Introduced	Introduced
Irritate	Irritated	Irritated
Joke	Joked	Joked
Jump	Jumped	Jumped
Kick	Kicked	Kicked
Kill	Killed	Killed
Kiss	Kissed	Kissed
Laugh	Laughed	Laughed
Lie (tell a lie)	Lied	Lied
Like	Liked	Liked
Listen	Listened	Listened
Love	Loved	Loved
Marry	Married	Married
Measure	Measured	Measured
Move	Moved	Moved
Murder	Murdered	Murdered
Need	Needed	Needed
Obey	Obeyed	Obeyed
Offend	Offended	Offended
Offer	Offered	Offered
Open	Opened	Opened
Paint	Painted	Painted
Park	Parked	Parked
Phone	Phoned	Phoned
Pick	Picked	Picked
Play	Played	Played
Pray	Prayed	Prayed
Print	Printed	Printed
Pull	Pulled	Pulled
Punch	Punched	Punched
Punish	Punished	Punished
Purchase	Purchased	Purchased
Push	Pushed	Pushed
Question	Questioned	Questioned
Race	Raced	Raced
Relax	Relaxed	Relaxed
Remember	Remembered	Remembered
Reply	Replied	Replied
Retire	Retired	Retired
Return	Returned	Returned
Rub	Rubbed	Rubbed
Scold	Scolded	Scolded
Select	Selected	Selected
Smoke	Smoked	Smoked
Snore	Snored	Snored
Stare	Stared	Stared
Start	Started	Started
Study	Studied	Studied
Talk	Talked	Talked
Thank	Thanked	Thanked
Travel	Travelled (BrE) = Traveled (AmE)	Travelled (BrE) = Traveled (AmE)
Trouble	Troubled	Troubled
Type	Typed	Typed
Use	Used	Used
Visit	Visited	Visited
Wait	Waited	Waited
Walk	Walked	Walked
Want	Wanted	Wanted
Warn	Warned	Warned
Wink	Winked	Winked
Worry	Worried	Worried
Watch	Watched	Watched
Wash	Washed	Washed
Yell	Yelled	Yelled