• Linguistics and Language -> Grammar and Syntax

• 0 Comment

What are the most difficult irregular verbs to conjugate correctly?

Delmus Kingman

Well, as someone who has been learning English for a while now, I would say that there are quite a few irregular verbs that are a real pain to conjugate correctly. However, some of them are definitely harder than others, so I'll try to give you a rundown of the ones that I find particularly challenging.

First up, we have 'to be'. Now, you might think that this should be a pretty straightforward verb, but it's actually one of the most irregular verbs in English. Not only does it have completely different forms for each tense (e.g. 'I am', 'you are', 'he is', 'we are', 'they are'), but it can also be used in a variety of different ways that change the way it's conjugated. For example, you might say 'I was eating breakfast' or 'I have been eating breakfast', which both use variations of the verb 'to be'. It's no wonder that it's one of the first verbs that English learners struggle with.

Another verb that I find tricky is 'to have'. Like 'to be', it has completely different forms for each tense, but it also has irregular contractions like 'I've', 'you've', and 'they've'. Plus, there are a lot of idiomatic expressions that use 'to have', like 'I had a good time' or 'I'm going to have to think about that'. These all require different conjugations, which can be confusing for non-native speakers.

Moving on, we have 'to do'. This verb is probably one of the most versatile in the English language, and it's used in a ton of different ways. However, it's also quite irregular, with forms like 'did' and 'done' that don't follow the usual rules. Plus, there are a bunch of phrasal verbs that use 'to do', like 'to do up' (meaning to fasten or zip up your coat) or 'to do away with' (meaning to get rid of). These can be tough to remember and conjugate correctly.

Lastly, I would say that 'to go' is a pretty difficult verb to conjugate as well. It has irregular forms like 'went', and it's used in a lot of idiomatic expressions like 'to go out' (meaning to leave your house or go to a social event) or 'to go on' (meaning to continue or persist). Plus, there are different phrasal verbs that use 'to go', like 'to go over' (meaning to review or examine something) or 'to go through' (meaning to experience or endure something). Again, these can be tough for non-native speakers to learn and remember.

Of course, this is just my opinion as a learner, and different people might find different verbs more challenging. However, I think that 'to be', 'to have', 'to do', and 'to go' are some of the most difficult irregular verbs to conjugate correctly in English. It's definitely a language that takes a lot of practice and memorization to master, but I'm determined to keep working at it!