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Most Common English Verbs

The 140 most common English verbs, grouped by topic, with all main forms and simple definitions.

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  • Basic & Most Used Verbs
  • be, is, being, was / were, been – to exist or describe someone or something
  • do, does, doing, did, done – to act or perform something
  • have, has, having, had, had – to own or possess something
  • Common Actions
  • agree, agrees, agreeing, agreed – to have the same opinion as someone
  • bring, brings, bringing, brought, brought – to take something with you to another place
  • borrow, borrows, borrowing, borrowed – to take and use something and return it later
  • break, breaks, breaking, broke, broken – to separate into pieces by force
  • build, builds, building, built, built – to make or construct something
  • buy, buys, buying, bought, bought – to get something by paying money
  • call, calls, calling, called – to contact by phone or shout for someone
  • carry, carries, carrying, carried – to hold and move something from one place to another
  • change, changes, changing, changed – to make something different
  • clean, cleans, cleaning, cleaned – to remove dirt or mess from something
  • close, closes, closing, closed – to make something not open
  • come, comes, coming, came, come – to arrive or move towards a place
  • cook, cooks, cooking, cooked – to prepare food with heat
  • cost, costs, costing, cost, cost – to have a certain price
  • cut, cuts, cutting, cut, cut – to divide something with a sharp tool
  • disagree, disagrees, disagreeing, disagreed – to have a different opinion from someone
  • draw, draws, drawing, drew, drawn – to make a picture with a pen or pencil
  • drive, drives, driving, drove, driven – to control and move a car or vehicle
  • end, ends, ending, ended – to finish something or stop it
  • find, finds, finding, found, found – to discover something that was lost or unknown
  • fix, fixes, fixing, fixed – to repair or make something work again
  • get, gets, getting, got, gotten / got – to receive or obtain something
  • give, gives, giving, gave, given – to hand something to someone
  • go, goes, going, went, gone – to move from one place to another
  • help, helps, helping, helped – to make it easier for someone to do something
  • hold, holds, holding, held, held – to keep something in your hand
  • jump, jumps, jumping, jumped – to push yourself up from the ground
  • keep, keeps, keeping, kept, kept – to continue to have something
  • leave, leaves, leaving, left, left – to go away from a place
  • lend, lends, lending, lent, lent – to give something to someone for a short time
  • let, lets, letting, let, let – to allow someone to do something
  • lie, lies, lying, lay, lain – to rest flat on a surface
  • lie, lies, lying, lied, lied – to say something that is not true
  • lose, loses, losing, lost, lost – to no longer have something
  • make, makes, making, made, made – to create or produce something
  • meet, meets, meeting, met, met – to see and talk to someone for the first time or by plan
  • move, moves, moving, moved – to change position or place
  • open, opens, opening, opened – to make something not closed
  • paint, paints, painting, painted – to make a picture with paint
  • pay, pays, paying, paid, paid – to give money for something
  • plan, plans, planning, planned – to decide what you want to do
  • play, plays, playing, played – to do something fun or a game
  • put, puts, putting, put, put – to place something in a spot
  • receive, receives, receiving, received – to get something that is given
  • ride, rides, riding, rode, ridden – to sit on and control a bike, horse, etc.
  • run, runs, running, ran, run – to move quickly on your feet
  • save, saves, saving, saved – to keep something for the future
  • sell, sells, selling, sold, sold – to give something for money
  • send, sends, sending, sent, sent – to make something go to another place
  • show, shows, showing, showed, shown – to let someone see something
  • sit, sits, sitting, sat, sat – to rest your body on your bottom
  • sleep, sleeps, sleeping, slept, slept – to rest with your eyes closed
  • spend, spends, spending, spent, spent – to use money or time
  • stand, stands, standing, stood, stood – to be on your feet
  • start, starts, starting, started – to begin something
  • stop, stops, stopping, stopped – to end or not continue
  • study, studies, studying, studied – to learn about something
  • take, takes, taking, took, taken – to move something from one place to another
  • try, tries, trying, tried – to make an effort or attempt
  • turn, turns, turning, turned – to move around in a circle or change direction
  • use, uses, using, used – to do something with an object or thing
  • visit, visits, visiting, visited – to go to see a person or place
  • wake, wakes, waking, woke, woken – to stop sleeping
  • walk, walks, walking, walked – to move on foot at a normal pace
  • wash, washes, washing, washed – to clean something with water
  • win, wins, winning, won, won – to be the best or first in a game or contest
  • work, works, working, worked – to do a job or tasks
  • wait, waits, waiting, waited – to stay in a place until something happens
  • Senses & Communication
  • answer, answers, answering, answered – to reply to a question
  • ask, asks, asking, asked – to request information with a question
  • hear, hears, hearing, heard, heard – to notice sounds with your ears
  • listen, listens, listening, listened – to pay attention to sounds
  • look, looks, looking, looked – to direct your eyes at something
  • read, reads, reading, read, read – to understand written words
  • say, says, saying, said, said – to speak words out loud
  • see, sees, seeing, saw, seen – to notice something with your eyes
  • shout, shouts, shouting, shouted – to speak very loudly
  • smell, smells, smelling, smelled – to notice something with your nose
  • speak, speaks, speaking, spoke, spoken – to talk using words
  • talk, talks, talking, talked – to have a conversation with someone
  • taste, tastes, tasting, tasted – to notice a flavor with your mouth
  • tell, tells, telling, told, told – to give information to someone
  • touch, touches, touching, touched – to feel with your skin
  • watch, watches, watching, watched – to look at something for a period of time
  • whisper, whispers, whispering, whispered – to speak very softly
  • write, writes, writing, wrote, written – to make words on paper or a computer
  • Thinking & Feeling
  • believe, believes, believing, believed – to think something is true
  • care, cares, caring, cared – to feel concern or interest about someone or something
  • choose, chooses, choosing, chose, chosen – to pick from different options
  • decide, decides, deciding, decided – to make a choice after thinking
  • enjoy, enjoys, enjoying, enjoyed – to get pleasure from something
  • forget, forgets, forgetting, forgot, forgotten – to not remember something
  • guess, guesses, guessing, guessed – to try to answer without knowing for sure
  • hate, hates, hating, hated – to strongly dislike
  • hope, hopes, hoping, hoped – to want something good to happen
  • imagine, imagines, imagining, imagined – to form an idea or picture in your mind
  • know, knows, knowing, knew, known – to have information or facts in your mind
  • like, likes, liking, liked – to enjoy or find something pleasant
  • love, loves, loving, loved – to feel strong liking or affection for someone or something
  • mean, means, meaning, meant, meant – to have a particular idea or sense
  • miss, misses, missing, missed – to feel sad when someone or something is not there
  • need, needs, needing, needed – to require something because it is necessary
  • prefer, prefers, preferring, preferred – to like one thing more than another
  • promise, promises, promising, promised – to say you will definitely do something
  • realize, realizes, realizing, realized – to become aware or understand something suddenly
  • remember, remembers, remembering, remembered – to keep something in your memory
  • surprise, surprises, surprising, surprised – to do something unexpected
  • think, thinks, thinking, thought, thought – to use your mind to make ideas
  • understand, understands, understanding, understood, understood – to know the meaning of something
  • want, wants, wanting, wanted – to wish to have or do something
  • worry, worries, worrying, worried – to feel anxious or uneasy about something
  • States & Existence
  • appear, appears, appearing, appeared – to become visible or show up
  • belong, belongs, belonging, belonged – to be owned by someone
  • consist, consists, consisting, consisted – to be made up of certain things
  • contain, contains, containing, contained – to have something inside
  • exist, exists, existing, existed – to be real or present
  • fit, fits, fitting, fit, fit – to be the right size or shape for something
  • include, includes, including, included – to have as part of the whole
  • matter, matters, mattering, mattered – to be important or have meaning
  • own, owns, owning, owned – to have something as your property
  • seem, seems, seeming, seemed – to look or sound like something
  • sound, sounds, sounding, sounded – to seem when heard
  • Other Useful Verbs
  • accept, accepts, accepting, accepted – to agree to take or do something
  • allow, allows, allowing, allowed – to give permission for something
  • arrive, arrives, arriving, arrived – to reach a place at the end of a journey
  • control, controls, controlling, controlled – to make something do what you want
  • cover, covers, covering, covered – to put something over or on top of
  • damage, damages, damaging, damaged – to harm or break something
  • depart, departs, departing, departed – to leave a place, especially to start a journey
  • develop, develops, developing, developed – to grow, change, or make better
  • discover, discovers, discovering, discovered – to find something new
  • empty, empties, emptying, emptied – to make something have nothing inside
  • enter, enters, entering, entered – to go into a place
  • expect, expects, expecting, expected – to think something will happen in the future
  • fill, fills, filling, filled – to make something full
  • forbid, forbids, forbidding, forbade, forbidden – to not allow someone to do something
  • follow, follows, following, followed – to go behind or do as someone else does
  • hurt, hurts, hurting, hurt, hurt – to cause pain or injury
  • improve, improves, improving, improved – to make something better
  • increase, increases, increasing, increased – to make something larger or more
  • invent, invents, inventing, invented – to create something new for the first time
  • invite, invites, inviting, invited – to ask someone to come or join
  • join, joins, joining, joined – to become part of a group or activity
  • kill, kills, killing, killed – to make a person, animal, or plant die
  • lead, leads, leading, led, led – to guide or be in charge of others
  • manage, manages, managing, managed – to be responsible for or in control of
  • protect, protects, protecting, protected – to keep someone or something safe
  • reduce, reduces, reducing, reduced – to make something smaller or less
  • refuse, refuses, refusing, refused – to say “no” or not accept
  • require, requires, requiring, required – to need something for a purpose
  • return, returns, returning, returned – to go or bring back to a place
  • share, shares, sharing, shared – to let someone use something that is yours
  • stay, stays, staying, stayed – to remain in a place
  • suggest, suggests, suggesting, suggested – to offer an idea or advice
  • support, supports, supporting, supported – to help or give encouragement
  • travel, travels, traveling, traveled – to go from one place to another