English Irregular Verb tables with lists of example phrases (eat - keep).

Example phrases

- I've eaten all I want. I'm not hungry now.
Syn. or meaning - take in solid food through the mouth.

- *I fell and hurt my knee. (Also common "fall down", "fall over", "fall off".)
- They fell in love at first sight and got married a month later.
Syn. or meaning - *move downwards pulled by gravity.

- *He fed the dog biscuits once a day.
- The programmer has fed the computer with new data. (input)
Syn. or meaning - *give food to.

- I don't feel very well; my stomach hurts.
- I feel people are criticising me.
- I felt it move.
- How do you feel about visiting us next week?
Syn. or meaning - sensations experienced wither psychologically or physically.

- After they had fought, the cat and dog were badly injured.
- John and Mary aren't talking today. They fought last night.
Syn. or meaning - attack another (physically or by intense argument).
Ant. make up (reconcile).

- *I found a lovely restaurant in the city centre today.
- She found her lost cat. (Relocate by searching something or someone lost. Ant. lose.)
- I find irregular verbs very difficult to learn. (Have a feeling or opinion about something.)
Syn. or meaning - *discover by chance.

- The boy flung his coat on the bed and his mother told him to hang it up properly.
Syn. or meaning - throw in a very uncontrolled way.

- Birds fly through the air.
- We flew to Madrid last month. It was quicker than going by train. (travel by plane)
Syn. or meaning - move through the air by self-propulsion.

It's forbidden to smoke here. There's a sign that says "no smoking".
Syn. or meaning - not allow.
Ant. allow, give permission.

- I forgot to tell you, I can't go to the party tonight.
Syn. or meaning - remember.

- It was a terrible thing you did to me but I forgive you.
Syn. or meaning - stop feeling angry with someone who has done you harm.

- *All the food we won't eat util later has been frozen.
- Brrr. I'm freezing. Isn't there any heating in here? (Expression we use when we feel very cold.)
Syn. or meaning - *place in conditions below 0� centigrade / Celsius.

- *I've got a new car. I only bought it yesterday.
- *I've got (Am.E gotten) the newspaper this morning. (Go and buy, fetch etc. and then bring back. In Am.E "got" as a past participle is used only for the state of possession eg. "I've got a pen in my hand" and "gotten" is used for the action. In Br.E only "got" is used.)
- I got my hair cut yesterday. Do you like it? (Instruct someone to cut your hair. Compare with: "I cut my hair" if you cut your own hair. Also: "have")
- She got home late and missed her dinner. (arrive)
- I got the bus to work. (Used for public transport. Means "catch"
- The thief got in through the  window. He broke the lock. (Enter into a place with some difficulty eg. we say "I got into my car" but "I went into my house". "Get" is used with "car" as we must bend down to access it.)
- He got angry when he heard he had lost his job. (To move from a state of well-being to anger - also see "become".)
- the boss got rid of her secretary because she was not a good worker. (To tell someone to go.)
- He got rid of all his old computer equipment. (throw away)
- Did you get my email? (receive)
Syn. or meaning - *to have, possess, obtain.

- *Can you give me a pen, please?
- He's given away all his money. (Give something for free.)
Syn. or meaning - *hand something to somebody else.
Ant. take.

- *We went shopping last Friday.
- She has gone away (and hasn't come back).
- She has been away (and now she has come back).
- Have you ever been to Paris? Yes, I went there last weekend.
- I went out for a drink with my friends. (social activity)
- Go up in the lift. (ascend) Go down a hill. (descend)
- She went blue with cold. (become, expresses a change)
Syn. or meaning - *move away from speaker.
Ant. come.

- *John has grown. He's now nearly 1 metre 80cms.
- We grew up in the countryside. It was a lovely time in our lives. (spend childhood)
- My parents grew tomatoes in the garden. (cultivate)
Syn. or meaning - *to get bigger (for people usually taller)
Ant. shrink, get smaller.

- *I haven't much money on me. (Also used alone to mean the same as "have got". It may sound more formal.)
- I have got a lot of work today. (In spoken English, often combines as an auxiliary with got to talk about possession).
- I had a hot shower this morning. I feel much better. (to shower)
- We haven't had a rest all day. We're very tired. (to rest)
- I was hungry at lunchtime so I had something to eat. (to eat)
- I never find time to have breakfast. (to breakfast)
- My daughter had a temperature of 39�C. She was quite ill.
- I had a drink with John yesterday. Well, we had two or three, in fact. (drink a glass, cup etc. of something. Here, alcohol.)
- They had to leave their home. They couldn't pay the rent. How terrible! ("had to" used for obligation.)
- I had the lawn cut yesterday (when we ask somebody to do something for us. Also "get")
Syn. or meaning - *to possess.

- *Did you hear that noise? No, I didn't hear anything. (Note how past simple and usually not present perfect is used in the example above. This verb is used to talk about the perception of sound. Compare with "listen" which is used when we pay attention to the sound eg. "I love listening to opera music".
- Have you heard the news? We're going on strike. (learn about something) (Note how present perfect is used here.)
Syn. or meaning - *perceive sound.

- *The old lady has hidden the money under her bed.
- The fox hid in the bush to escape the dogs. (Go to a place where you won't be seen.)
- I have nothing to hide; I am totally innocent. (Keep something a secret.)
Syn. or meaning - *put in a place where it won't be found.
Ant. reveal.

- *She hit her boyfriend on the nose because he had insulted her.
- The car hit the pedestrian. Luckily nobody was hurt. (Come against something or someone with force.)
- The family have been badly hit by the crisis. (effect)
Syn. or meaning - *use hand or object against something with force.

- *Can you hold this, please, while I put my jacket on.
- Hold the line, please. I'll see if she's in the office. (wait) (Telephone language only.)
- These slim pillars hold the weight of the entire palace. (support)
Syn. or meaning - *support something in your hand.
Ant. drop.

- *My leg hurts. I think it's because I hit it against the door. (When talking about parts of body note possessive adjective used "my" etc.)
- She hurt me a lot when she left me. (Cause someone pain: physical or psychological.)
Syn. or meaning - *feel pain.

- *The old man kept all his dead wife's letters in a little tin box.
- Let's keep walking, we must get there soon. (continue) (Note always followed by verb + "ing" in this sense.)
- We kept a record of all the money we spent on holiday. (maintain)
Syn. or meaning - *put in a place during a period of time. Store.