English: Irregular Verbs
English · Grammar
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Studying English
English has a small grammar and an enormous vocabulary, which decides how to spend your time: a little on rules, a lot on words, and most of it on words in the company they keep.
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Learn words in phrases, not alone
A word on its own gives you a meaning; a word in a phrase gives you the meaning and permission to use it. Learn "make a decision", not "decision" — English pairs its verbs and nouns by habit rather than by rule, and knowing which verb goes with which noun is most of sounding natural.
Drill the irregular verbs until they are automatic
There are a few hundred and about eighty matter. They are also the most frequent verbs in the language, so every mistake is public. This is pure memorisation with no shortcut, which makes it exactly what flashcards are for: go, went, gone — learn all three parts together.
Settle the pairs that trip up native speakers too
Its and it's, their and there, affect and effect, fewer and less. These are a closed list of about twenty-five pairs, they account for a large share of written mistakes, and an afternoon fixes them permanently.
Use roots to guess the long words
Much of academic English is Latin and Greek in disguise. Knowing that bene is good, chron is time, and -logy is the study of turns thousands of unfamiliar words into ones you can take a decent guess at — which is the skill a reading exam is actually testing.
Read things you almost understand
Material where you know most of the words and have to work out a few is where vocabulary grows. Too easy and nothing is added; too hard and you spend the hour in a dictionary. Pull the words you had to look up into a set and you have tomorrow's revision for free.
Say it out loud
English spelling is a poor guide to English pronunciation, and reading silently lets a wrong pronunciation set. Saying the answer aloud when you test yourself costs nothing and catches it, and it makes the word easier to retrieve later.
Ready-made sets for this
English: Commonly Confused Words
English · Usage
Latin and Greek Roots in English
Etymology · Vocabulary building
Questions people ask
What is the fastest way to learn English vocabulary?
Spaced repetition on words you have met in something you were reading, learnt as short phrases rather than single words. Words from your own reading stick better than words from a list, because you already have somewhere to put them.
How many English words do I need?
Around 2,000 word families cover most everyday conversation and roughly 5,000 gets you comfortable with ordinary written English. Academic reading wants another few thousand on top, which is where Latin and Greek roots start earning their keep.
Should I study grammar rules or just read?
Both, in different proportions. English grammar is small enough to study directly and worth doing once. After that, reading and being tested on vocabulary is where the remaining gains are.
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You have an exam. Start here.
A plan for studying for an exam: work out what is actually on it, turn it into questions, test yourself instead of rereading, and spread the work across the days you have left.
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