The most common 300 verbs in academic English. In a previous article, we explored the differences between American and British English accents, highlighting key vocabulary distinctions. Today, we’ll expand your academic English with a detailed look at the 300 most commonly used verbs, complete with their past tense and past participle forms
300 Most Common Verbs in Academic English
To aid in your learning, we’ve organized these verbs in a tabular format:
| Verb | Past | Past Particible |
|---|---|---|
| be | was/were | been |
| have | had | had |
| do | did | done |
| say | said | said |
| get | got | gotten |
| make | made | made |
| go | went | gone |
| know | knew | known |
| take | took | taken |
| see | saw | seen |
| come | came | come |
| think | thought | thought |
| look | looked | looked |
| want | wanted | wanted |
| give | gave | given |
| use | used | used |
| find | found | found |
| tell | told | told |
| ask | asked | asked |
| work | worked | worked |
| seem | seemed | seemed |
| feel | felt | felt |
| try | tried | tried |
| leave | left | left |
| call | called | called |
| start | started | started |
| help | helped | helped |
| show | showed | shown |
| hear | heard | heard |
| play | played | played |
| move | moved | moved |
| live | lived | lived |
| believe | believed | believed |
| hold | held | held |
| bring | brought | brought |
| happen | happened | happened |
| write | wrote | written |
| sit | sat | sat |
| stand | stood | stood |
| lose | lost | lost |
| pay | paid | paid |
| meet | met | met |
| read | read | read |
| lead | led | led |
| understand | understood | understood |
| build | built | built |
| drive | drove | driven |
| break | broke | broken |
| spend | spent | spent |
| teach | taught | taught |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| grow | grew | grown |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| catch | caught | caught |
| swim | swam | swum |
| win | won | won |
| sing | sang | sung |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| fight | fought | fought |
| buy | bought | bought |
| wear | wore | worn |
| rise | rose | risen |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| light | lit | lit |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| swing | swung | swung |
| tear | tore | torn |
| wake | woke | woken |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| blow | blew | blown |
| cost | cost | cost |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| lay | laid | laid |
| mean | meant | meant |
| shut | shut | shut |
| slide | slid | slid |
| smell | smelled | smelled |
| spill | spilled | spilled |
| spread | spread | spread |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| undertake | undertook | undertaken |
| vote | voted | voted |
| weave | wove | woven |
| sip | sipped | sipped |
| solve | solved | solved |
| swell | swelled | swollen |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| track | tracked | tracked |
| value | valued | valued |
| wrestle | wrestled | wrestled |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| burst | burst | burst |
| attend | attended | attended |
| compliment | complimented | complimented |
| contrast | contrasted | contrasted |
| detect | detected | detected |
| adapt | adapted | adapted |
| adjust | adjusted | adjusted |
| animate | animated | animated |
| acknowledge | acknowledged | acknowledged |
| acquire | acquired | acquired |
| announce | announced | announced |
| appreciate | appreciated | appreciated |
| attach | attached | attached |
| compete | competed | competed |
| confirm | confirmed | confirmed |
| elaborate | elaborated | elaborated |
| enhance | enhanced | enhanced |
| evaluate | evaluated | evaluated |
| execute | executed | executed |
| extend | extended | extended |
| feature | featured | featured |
| finalize | finalized | finalized |
| guide | guided | guided |
| implement | implemented | implemented |
| initiate | initiated | initiated |
| manage | managed | managed |
| modify | modified | modified |
| organize | organized | organized |
| perform | performed | performed |
| propose | proposed | proposed |
| reduce | reduced | reduced |
| resolve | resolved | resolved |
| simulate | simulated | simulated |
| structure | structured | structured |
| summarize | summarized | summarized |
| sustain | sustained | sustained |
| transform | transformed | transformed |
| translate | translated | translated |
| verify | verified | verified |
| utilize | utilized | utilized |
| adhere | adhered | adhered |
| approximate | approximated | approximated |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| circulate | circulated | circulated |
| clarify | clarified | clarified |
| consolidate | consolidated | consolidated |
| correlate | correlated | correlated |
| document | documented | documented |
| establish | established | established |
| integrate | integrated | integrated |
| maintain | maintained | maintained |
| project | projected | projected |
| simplify | simplified | simplified |
| survey | surveyed | surveyed |
| navigate | navigated | navigated |
| orient | oriented | oriented |
| brainstorm | brainstormed | brainstormed |
| diversify | diversified | diversified |
| interpret | interpreted | interpreted |
| leverage | leveraged | leveraged |
| monitor | monitored | monitored |
| prioritize | prioritized | prioritized |
| assess | assessed | assessed |
| investigate | investigated | investigated |
| reinforce | reinforced | reinforced |
| validate | validated | validated |
| evolve | evolved | evolved |
| illustrate | illustrated | illustrated |
| compose | composed | composed |
| devise | devised | devised |
| delegate | delegated | delegated |
| establish | established | established |
| facilitate | facilitated | facilitated |
| manipulate | manipulated | manipulated |
| preserve | preserved | preserved |
| assess | assessed | assessed |
| recognize | recognized | recognized |
| correlate | correlated | correlated |
| execute | executed | executed |
| harness | harnessed | harnessed |
| enhance | enhanced | enhanced |
| quantify | quantified | quantified |
| supplement | supplemented | supplemented |
| integrate | integrated | integrated |
| innovate | innovated | innovated |
| facilitate | facilitated | facilitated |
| streamline | streamlined | streamlined |
| strategize | strategized | strategized |
| optimize | optimized | optimized |
| conduct | conducted | conducted |
| enrich | enriched | enriched |
| brainstorm | brainstormed | brainstormed |
| formulate | formulated | formulated |
| consolidate | consolidated | consolidated |
| implement | implemented | implemented |
| optimize | optimized | optimized |
| reform | reformed | reformed |
| theorize | theorized | theorized |
| prioritize | prioritized | prioritized |
| clarify | clarified | clarified |
| interpret | interpreted | interpreted |
| embody | embodied | embodied |
| theorize | theorized | theorized |
| synthesize | synthesized | synthesized |
| validate | validated | validated |
