English Irregular Verb Tables with example phrases.

Example phrases

- I usually awake / wake / wake up early.
- He was awoken/woken by a dog.
- "Awake" is usually used as an adjective e.g.
- I was awake all night.
Syn. or meaning - to come out of a sleep.
Ant. to go to sleep.

- When I phoned, there was no answer. (Saying something exists: there is, there are, there was, there were, there has been etc.)
- Madrid is a long way from Seville (is situated).
- The meeting is next Monday (happening at a place or time).
- I was at Mary's house yesterday (attend an event).
- Have you ever been to Edinburgh? Yes, I've been there twice. (to visit)
- I'm from the UK. Where are you from? (where your native country is)
- My wife is a nurse (used to name things).
- It's wet and windy today. Yes, it's a shame (linking verb for describing situations and giving opinions).
- It's Friday and five minutes to five (linking verb for talking about the day and the time).
- Is your jacket plastic? No, it's made of leather. (Linking verb for saying what something is nade of.)
- Is this yours? No, it's John's. (Linking verb to say who something belongs to.)

- *When he won the race, he beat his closest rival.
- You can't make an omelette without beating eggs (mix together with a fork).
- He was jailed for beating his dog (hit to cause pain).
Syn. or meaning - *to do better than another (competition or race). Compare with "win".
Ant. to lose to somebody.

- He became very angry when he saw what they had done to his car.
- She became fatter and fatter over the years.
Syn. or meaning - to change (process - also see "get", which means the same but is more informal). 

- She began to cry when she found out the terrible news.
Syn. or meaning - start.
Ant. finish, stop.

- *She bet $100 on the horse and won a lot of money.
- Do you like Santa Monica? You bet! (Yes, I do very much.)
Syn. or meaning - *Put down money so as to win more.

- I`ve been bitten by a mosquito and it hurts.
- The dog bit her and made her cry.
- She bit into the pizza.
Syn. or meaning - close mouth parts on something.

- *The wind blew hard that day and the trees shook.
- They blew up the balloons for the party (use lungs or pump to put air into something).
- Terrorists have blown up a building but nobody was injured (destroy with explosives).
Syn. or meaning - *movement of air.

- *The vase fell on the floor and broke into many pieces.
- *She broke her leg skiing.
- Roger Banister was the first person to break the four-minute mile.
Syn. or meaning - *destroy something (usually something hard - compare "tear" for paper etc.) by hitting it, letting it fall etc. so it becomes smaller pieces. Compare with "tear" for soft materials.

- *She brought take-away meals home for all the family.
- I was brought up by my aunt. (Given food, a home, etc. as a child.)
Syn. or meaning - *carry something towards you.
Ant. take.

- *They built an ugly block of flats next to the beach.
- As a company, we need to build a good relationship with our clients (develop).
Syn. or meaning - *construct with bricks etc.
Ant. pull down, demolish.

- *I burnt the toast.
- *The chicken burnt in the oven.
- *The paintings were burnt during the fire in the art gallery.
- After many years in the classroom, the teacher was burnt out (exhausted from teaching).
Syn. or meaning - *cook something so much it goes black. Something is destroyed by fire.

- Money can't buy you love.
Syn. or meaning - obtain something by giving money.
Ant. sell.

- *Throw the ball to me and I'll catch it.
- The fishermen didn't catch any fish today. Their nets were empty (to get a fish using a net or fishing rod).
- I caught the bus to work this morning (take the bus as transport). Also "get")
- He caught a bad cold and couldn't go to school (became ill with a cold).
Syn. or meaning - *secure something moving in the air using your hand.
Ants. throw (send something into the air with your hand), drop (something falls to the ground because you can't catch it).
Ant. throw.

- He chose the blue one because it was his favourite colour.
Syn. or meaning - select one or more from a group of things.

- *John came to my party last week.
- Please come in and sit down (enter into a house, room etc).
- She rang her friends many times but nobody answered. She came to the conclusion that they were on holiday (reach a particular state of mind).
- At last, the long winter came to an end (reach a particular state).
Syn. or meaning - *move towards the person speaking.
Ant. Go.

- *It cost me a lot of money; about $1000!
- *How much does it cost? About 2 euros.
- The awful cost of the war in death and suffering (damage).
- Getting that book for you cost me a lot of time and effort (caused).
Syn. or meaning - *money you need to buy something. The price of something.

- *I cut myself while I was peeling the potatoes.
- The company cut salaries by 10% due to the recession (reduce).
- Homeless people often feel cut off from the rest of society (isolate).
Syn. or meaning - *make an opening or wound with a knife etc.

- *We dug a hole to plant a tree.
- *The English love to dig their gardens.
- The police dug into the suspects past and found out he'd been in prison (investigate).
Syn. or meaning - *escavate, break up the soil.

- You've done a good job on this report. Well done!
- Can you do this for me? I don't know how to do it.
- Do your English homework before you do the housework.
- Do the washing-up, do the dishes, do the ironing etc.
- The company wants to do business with the supplier.
Syn. or meaning - complete an action. Similar to make (but often we can't substitute make for do e.g. "do business" not "make business". See make...)

- *The artists drew a beautiful picture.
- I must draw out money from the bank because I haven't got any (take out).
- What conclusions did you draw after reading the report. (Have an idea after you have studied something.)
Syn. or meaning - *make marks on paper with a pencil.

- She's drunk about 6 pints of beer tonight. She can't drive home.
Syn. or meaning - take in liquids through the mouth.

- *I've driven to work today. My car's parked outside.
- He's driving me crazy with his strange ideas (make somebody confused and upset).
Syn. or meaning - *control a vehicle in movement.