What is an irregular verb?

• A. A verb whose past tense is formed by adding the usual -ed ending.
• B. A verb whose past tense is not formed by adding the usual -ed ending.
• C. A verb that always ends with -ing.
• D. A verb that cannot be conjugated.

Answer: (B)

An irregular verb is one whose past tense is not formed by adding the usual -ed ending. Most verbs in English follow that regular pattern (talk → talked, walk → walked), but irregular verbs break it, changing the form in the past tense in other ways. Examples include go → went, have → had, and eat → ate. Some irregulars also show different forms in the past participle (sing → sang → sung, drive → drove → driven), or even keep the same spelling but with a different pronunciation (read → read). The defining point is that the past tense doesn’t follow the standard -ed rule.