English Irregular Verb tables with lists of example phrases (show - write).

Example phrases

- *The picture clearly showed the beauty of the landscape.
- I showed my friends my holiday photos. They weren't very interested.
- If he was upset or not, I don't know. It didn't show on his face. (not be visible)
Syn. or meaning - *depict, make clear.

- *I shut all the windows in the house because there was a bad smell from the factory.
- The shops were all shut last Friday. We couldn't go shopping. (not open for business)
- Shut up, will you? You're always talking too much.
Syn. or meaning - *close. (In this meaning there's no difference between the two verbs.)
Ant. open.

- Whitney Houston used to sing very beautifully.
Syn. or meaning - emit words with a melody via the vocal chords and mouth.

- *The sun sank in the west as the day ended.
- The Titanic sank in 1912. It was a terrible disaster. (fall below the surface of the water. Often by accident.)
- Our spirits sank when we heard about the budget cutbacks. (become disheartened)
Syn. or meaning - *move down.
Ant. rise.

- *He was sitting in the armchair watching television. He looked a very lazy person. (state)
- *I eventually found a seat on the train and sat down. (action)
- The books sat on the shelf for many years. (to situate)
Syn. or meaning - *place your bottom on something. Usually to rest.
Ant. stand.

- I slept very well last night. I didn't wake up until nine o'clock.
- John has been asleep since 10 o'clock last night. I think he was very tired. (be sleeping)
Syn. or meaning - *lose consciousness naturally. Usually a daily occurrence.
Ant. be awake. (Note that the state of this action is "to be asleep" and the action "to sleep".  We can't say "I was asleep well" to mean "I slept well. "However, "sleep" can be a state too: "he was sleeping" = "he was asleep". Compare with wake and awake.)

- *I've spoken to my boss and he's agreed to give me a pay rise.
- Do you speak English? I can speak it a little bit. (able to use a language)
Syn. or meaning - *have a conversation.

- *I've spent too much money. Now I haven't got enough.
- He spent two weeks in Tenerife on holiday. He had a great time.
Syn. or meaning - *buy things etc. with money.

- *He was standing by the door smoking a cigarette. (state)
- *We stood up when the president walked in. (action)
- The castle has stood on that hill for over 600 years.
- I can't stand tomato soup. It makes me feel ill. (hate, detest) Usually only used in the negative.)
Syn. or meaning - *Be in an upright position. The state form of the verb eg. "was standing" is quite a common verb in English. Other languages may just use the verb "to be".
Ant. sit.

- *My car was stolen last night. I don't know where it is now.
- He always tries to steal the show by telling lots of jokes and being funny. ("Steal the show" = be the most popular.)
- The deer stole quietly away without being seen by the pack of lions. (move with care so as not to be detected.)
Syn. or meaning - *take something not yours. ("Steal" has a different meaning from "rob", which usually means to take something inside a place eg. "to rob a car" usually means to take something that was inside the car.)

- *The best way to repair it is to stick it with glue.
- *The rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. It was difficult to get it off.
- When she stuck the pin into the balloon, it burst. (Put something sharp into something else.)
- I can't stick this job; it's terrible and I want to find another. (endure)
Syn. or meaning - *adhere two surfaces so they remain attached.

It stinks in here. I think it's your feet.
Syn. or meaning - *to smell badly. This verb is very colloquial.

- *I swept the kitchen floor this morning. It's nice and clean now.
- Many of the tin houses were swept away in the hurricane. (Destroyed and blown away.)
- Dave swept Mary off her feet. She's married to him now. (Charm and seduce someone in a romantic way.)
Syn. or meaning - *remove dust and dirt from a surface usually with a brush.

- The migrating salmon swam up the river.
Syn. or meaning - propel through water.

- *I forgot to take my scarf with me this morning. I felt very cold.
- The father takes his children to school every day. (Transport in car etc. or accompany someone.)
- Please take a sandwich. (Reach out and hold something.)
- Lets take a bite to eat. I'm hungry. (eat something)
- It took me / I took / 25 minutes to get to work this morning. (time taken)
- The guard took turns with his colleague. (alternate)
- She's not here at the moment. Can I take a message? (Write something down.)
Syn. or meaning - *to carry.

- *My teacher has taught me English for 6 years. I've learnt a lot.
- That car accident taught me a lesson. I'll never drive fast again. (Learn from a negative experience.)
Syn. or meaning - *give lessons or information so that others learn.
Ant. learn.

- *I tore my jeans while I was climbing over the fence.
- You must tear off the receipt at the bottom of the page. (detach)
- He's torn the ligaments in his knee. It happened while he was playing football. (damage)
- The car tore off down the road. He was trying to escape the police. (move quickly)
Syn. or meaning - *damage a material or soft tissue by pulling it apart, piercing it with something sharp etc. Compare with "break" for hard materials.

- *Tell me what happened.
- Tell me a story, Dad, before I go to sleep. (Read or recite a story to somebody.)
Syn. or meaning - *Give information orally, say. (The difference between say and tell is that in this sense "tell" needs to be followed immediately by the indirect object ie. the person eg. "tell me".

- *I've thought about this a lot but I'm still not sure.
- I now think you're right. (have an opinion)
- Do you believe in God? Yes. I think so. (have an opinion)
- Just think how wonderful it would be to have a lot of money. (imagine)
- The project has taken longer than we thought. (expect)
Syn. or meaning - *use your mind to consider something.

- *At the zoo we threw some peanuts to the elephants. They didn't eat them though.
- You shouldn't throw rubbish in the park. (Discard in a careless way.)
Syn. or meaning - *send something from your hand.
Ant. catch.

- *I understand English better than I speak it.
- We still don't understand what happened exactly. It's a mystery. (know what happens)
- I think John feels depressed because nobody understands him. He's convinced he's right and everybody else is wrong. (know how somebody feels)
- It was understood that we would have to abandon the project. (agreed)
Syn. or meaning - *comprehend. To recognise the meaning of the words of a language.
Ant. misunderstand, misinterpret.

- *I woke (up) early this morning but I stayed in bed.
- *I wake (up) my little sister every morning. If I don't, she'll keep on sleeping.
- I think we have to wake up to the fact that the crisis means salary cuts for all the company staff. (become aware)
Syn. or meaning - *to come out of sleep. Also see "awake".
Ant. sleep.

- *She's wearing that awful coat again. It's an ugly article of clothing.
- He like to wear his hair long with a short beard. (to style)
- Mary's face wore a look of surprise. (expression on face)
- When you drive you should use the gears to slow down. If you use the brakes too much, they'll wear (out) very quickly.
Syn. or meaning - *have an article of clothing on your body. "Wear" is also used for jewellery, glasses etc.

- He wept bitterly at his friend's funeral.
Syn. or meaning - cry. "Weep" is quite literary ie. used in novels.

- *He won the marathon race for the first time. Probably because his opponent was ill.
- He won a lot of money in the lottery. He says he's going to buy a yacht.
Syn. or meaning - *Be the first in a race or competition. Compare with "beat".
Ant. lose.

- Shakespeare wrote a large number of tragedies and comedies.
- I've written to my mother to give her my latest news.
Syn. or meaning - record words using a pen or pencil.