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Top 10 most used verbs in English? What do they have in common?

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Here are the ten most heavily used verbs in the English language: be, have, do, say, make, go, take, come, see, get. 

What do they have in common?

All ten are irregular. Unlike the vast majority of verbs, they do not follow a standard inflection pattern: I paint, I painted, he painted etc.

 There are around 180 irregular verbs in English - a small fraction of the many thousands of regular ones. Irregulars punch way above their weight, making up 70% of the verbs in everyday use.

 So how have these tricky customers evolved? And why are they so central to English?


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Comments

  1. Anonymous18 May 2013 at 02:05

    Thank you for the post. I am interested in the suffix -ought. Like in bought, brought, thought and etc.

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    Replies
    1. ESOL Extras20 May 2013 at 11:33

      It is a curious one. Here is a definition of the stem word:
      ught (v.)
      Old English ahte "owned, possessed," past tense of agan "to own, possess, owe" (see owe). As a past tense of owe, it shared in that word's evolution and meant at times in Middle English "possessed" and "under obligation to pay." It has been detached from owe since 17c., though he aught me ten pounds is recorded as active in East Anglian dialect from c.1825. As an auxiliary verb expressing duty or obligation (late 12c., the main modern use), it represents the past subjunctive.
      ought (n.)
      "zero, cipher," 1844, probably a misdivision of a nought (see nought; for misdivision, see N); meaning probably influenced by aught "anything." From http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=ought

      Delete
  2. Anonymous18 May 2013 at 03:57

    what about the 'f' word?:)

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    Replies
    1. ESOL Extras20 May 2013 at 11:26

      Not as a verb and not in polite company - on this blog, for example. But I take your point.

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