Weak verbs are verbs that form their past tense and past participle by adding '-ed' (or sometimes just '-d' or '-t') to the base form, following a predictable, regular pattern. Walk becomes walked. Play becomes played. Talk becomes talked. This regularity is precisely what makes weak verbs the easier of the two categories to learn: once a student understands the rule, they can apply it to thousands of verbs, including new and unfamiliar ones, with confidence.

This page provides the most comprehensive guide to weak verbs available. It covers the precise definition, the complete 150 weak verbs reference list, the full comparison of strong vs weak verbs, weak verbs examples and strong and weak verbs examples side by side and comprehensive practice exercises.

What are Weak Verbs?
150 Weak Verbs: Complete Reference List
Difference between Strong and Weak Verbs
How to Identify Whether a Verb Is Weak or Strong
Practice Exercises

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What are Weak Verbs?

Weak verbs are verbs that form their past tense and past participle in a regular, predictable way: by adding the suffix '-ed' (or, in some cases, just '-d' or '-t') to the base form of the verb.

The Defining Feature

The single defining feature of weak verbs is regularity. Because they all follow the same rule, weak verbs are sometimes simply called 'regular verbs', and the two terms are used interchangeably in most modern grammar teaching.

walk → walked
play → played
talk → talked
jump → jumped
laugh → laughed

How Weak Verbs Form Their Past Tense

Understanding exactly how weak verbs change form clarifies the rule that makes this category so reliable and easy to apply.

The Basic Rule

Add '-ed' to the base form of the verb to create both the past tense and the past participle.

walk → walked (past tense: 'I walked to school.')
walk → walked (past participle: 'I have walked to school.')

Weak Verbs Examples

The following are clear weak verbs examples demonstrating the regular pattern across a range of common, everyday verbs.

Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle	Example Sentence
walk	walked	walked	She walked to the market this morning.
play	played	played	They played football in the park.
talk	talked	talked	He talked to his teacher after class.
laugh	laughed	laughed	The audience laughed at the comedian's joke.
jump	jumped	jumped	The dog jumped over the fence.
clean	cleaned	cleaned	She cleaned her room before guests arrived.
cook	cooked	cooked	He cooked dinner for the whole family.
watch	watched	watched	We watched a film together last night.
listen	listened	listened	She listened carefully to the instructions.
help	helped	helped	He helped his neighbour carry the groceries.
paint	painted	painted	The artist painted a beautiful landscape.
visit	visited	visited	They visited their grandparents last weekend.
love	loved	loved	She loved reading mystery novels.
hope	hoped	hoped	We hoped for good weather on the trip.
smile	smiled	smiled	The baby smiled at her mother.
study	studied	studied	He studied hard for his examinations.
try	tried	tried	She tried her best in the competition.
stop	stopped	stopped	The car stopped suddenly at the signal.
plan	planned	planned	They planned a surprise party for their friend.
open	opened	opened	He opened the door for the visitors.

150 Weak Verbs: Complete Reference List

The following is a comprehensive reference list of 150 weak verbs, organised alphabetically with their past tense forms, for study and quick reference.

Base Form	Past Tense	Base Form	Past Tense	Base Form	Past Tense
accept	accepted	act	acted	add	added
admire	admired	admit	admitted	advise	advised
agree	agreed	allow	allowed	answer	answered
appear	appeared	apply	applied	argue	argued
arrive	arrived	ask	asked	attack	attacked
attend	attended	bake	baked	behave	behaved
believe	believed	belong	belonged	bother	bothered
brush	brushed	build (irregular, excluded)	—	call	called
camp	camped	care	cared	carry	carried
change	changed	chase	chased	check	checked
cheer	cheered	clap	clapped	clean	cleaned
climb	climbed	close	closed	collect	collected
comb	combed	compare	compared	complain	complained
complete	completed	cook	cooked	copy	copied
count	counted	cover	covered	cross	crossed
cry	cried	dance	danced	decide	decided
deliver	delivered	demand	demanded	describe	described
destroy	destroyed	develop	developed	dial	dialled
discover	discovered	discuss	discussed	dress	dressed
drop	dropped	dry	dried	earn	earned
enjoy	enjoyed	enter	entered	escape	escaped
examine	examined	expect	expected	explain	explained
explore	explored	fail	failed	fasten	fastened
finish	finished	fix	fixed	fold	folded
follow	followed	force	forced	form	formed
gather	gathered	greet	greeted	guess	guessed
guide	guided	hand	handed	happen	happened
hate	hated	help	helped	hope	hoped
hug	hugged	hunt	hunted	hurry	hurried
imagine	imagined	improve	improved	include	included
increase	increased	invite	invited	jog	jogged
join	joined	jump	jumped	kick	kicked
kiss	kissed	knock	knocked	laugh	laughed
learn	learned	lift	lifted	like	liked
listen	listened	live	lived	lock	locked
look	looked	love	loved	march	marched
mark	marked	measure	measured	melt	melted
mention	mentioned	mix	mixed	move	moved
name	named	need	needed	notice	noticed
offer	offered	open	opened	order	ordered
owe	owed	own	owned	pack	packed
paint	painted	park	parked	pass	passed
pause	paused	pick	picked	plan	planned
plant	planted	play	played	point	pointed
pour	poured	practise	practised	prepare	prepared
press	pressed	pretend	pretended	promise	promised
protect	protected	pull	pulled	push	pushed
question	questioned	rain	rained	reach	reached
reduce	reduced	refuse	refused	relax	relaxed
remember	remembered	remind	reminded	remove	removed
repair	repaired	repeat	repeated	reply	replied
report	reported	request	requested	rest	rested
return	returned	rub	rubbed	save	saved
search	searched	seem	seemed	serve	served
share	shared	shop	shopped	shout	shouted
show (sometimes irregular: showed/shown)	showed	sign	signed	skip	skipped
sleep (irregular, excluded)	—	slip	slipped	smile	smiled
smoke	smoked	sound	sounded	spell	spelled
start	started	stay	stayed	stop	stopped
study	studied	suggest	suggested	supply	supplied
support	supported	suppose	supposed	surprise	surprised
talk	talked	tap	tapped	thank	thanked
travel	travelled	trip	tripped	try	tried
turn	turned	type	typed	visit	visited
wait	waited	walk	walked	want	wanted
warn	warned	wash	washed	watch	watched
water	watered	wave	waved	whisper	whispered
wish	wished	wonder	wondered	work	worked

Difference between Strong and Weak Verbs

The difference between strong and weak verbs comes down to exactly how each category forms its past tense and past participle.

Feature	Weak Verbs	Strong Verbs
Also called	Regular verbs	Irregular verbs
Past tense formation	Add '-ed' (or '-d'/'t')	Internal vowel change
Predictability	Highly predictable, rule-based	Must be individually memorised
Category size	The vast majority of English verbs	A smaller, closed set
New verbs entering English	Always become weak verbs	New strong verbs are essentially never created
Example	walk → walked → walked	go → went → gone
Example	play → played → played	sing → sang → sung

Strong vs Weak Verbs: Comparison Table

The following table presents a direct strong vs weak verbs comparison using common, everyday examples.

Weak Verb	Past Tense	Strong Verb	Past Tense
walk	walked	go	went
play	played	run	ran
talk	talked	speak	spoke
help	helped	give	gave
cook	cooked	eat	ate
clean	cleaned	write	wrote
watch	watched	see	saw
love	loved	know	knew
open	opened	break	broke
paint	painted	draw	drew

Strong and Weak Verbs Examples: Side-by-Side List

The following table provides strong and weak verbs examples organised together for direct comparison and study.

Type	Base Form	Past Tense	Past Participle
Strong	begin	began	begun
Weak	finish	finished	finished
Strong	take	took	taken
Weak	look	looked	looked
Strong	grow	grew	grown
Weak	call	called	called
Strong	fall	fell	fallen
Weak	move	moved	moved
Strong	fly	flew	flown
Weak	live	lived	lived
Strong	drive	drove	driven
Weak	enjoy	enjoyed	enjoyed
Strong	choose	chose	chosen
Weak	answer	answered	answered
Strong	bring	brought	brought
Weak	remember	remembered	remembered

How to Identify Whether a Verb is Weak or Strong

Step 1: Try Adding '-ed' to the Base Form

If adding '-ed' produces the correct, naturally used past tense form, the verb is weak.

walk + ed = walked ✓ (weak verb)

Step 2: Check If the Verb Instead Changes Internally

If the past tense form involves a change to the vowel or the overall structure of the word, rather than simply adding '-ed', the verb is strong.

go → went (internal change, not 'goed') → strong verb
sing → sang (internal change, not 'singed' in this sense) → strong verb

Step 3: When Uncertain, Consult a Dictionary

Most dictionaries list irregular past tense and past participle forms directly in a verb's entry. If no irregular form is listed, the verb follows the regular '-ed' pattern and is weak.

Step 4: Remember That New Verbs are Always Weak

Any newly coined or borrowed verb in English will, by default, follow the weak verb pattern, since strong verbs form a closed, historically fixed category that does not generally accept new members.

Practice Exercises

A. Read the following list of verbs and identify which are weak verbs (regular) and which are strong verbs (irregular).

walk
go
play
eat
talk
write
clean
sing
cook
take

B. Write the correct past tense form of each weak verb, applying the appropriate spelling rule.

stop → __________
study → __________
play → __________
hope → __________
carry → __________
plan → __________
enjoy → __________
cry → __________

C. Sort the following verbs into two columns: weak verbs and strong verbs.

Verbs: jump, see, watch, give, listen, break, help, write, paint, run, visit, take

Weak Verbs

Strong Verbs

D. Each sentence below contains an error in verb formation. Identify and correct each error.

She walkked to the market yesterday.
He studyed very hard for his exams.
They stoped at the red light.
I goed to the cinema last night.
She eated her breakfast quickly.

E. Write one original sentence using the past tense of each verb below. Identify whether each verb is weak or strong.

cook
write
clean
take
play
eat

Frequently Asked Questions about Weak Verbs

1. Can you give some weak verbs examples?

Weak verbs examples include: walk → walked, play → played, talk → talked, cook → cooked, clean → cleaned, watch → watched, help → helped, love → loved, study → studied, and stop → stopped.

2. Why does English have both strong and weak verbs?

English has both weak verbs and strong verbs because of its historical development from Proto-Germanic, which had a small, fixed set of strong verbs alongside a more flexible, productive weak verb system.

3. What is a common mistake people make with weak verbs?

A very common mistake is applying the regular weak verb rule (adding '-ed') to a strong (irregular) verb, producing incorrect forms such as 'goed' instead of 'went' or 'eated' instead of 'ate'.

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Weak Verbs: Definition, Complete List and Examples for Every Level

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