The Most Common English Verbs

Ordering a coffee, asking for directions, texting your new friends after class: every one of these moments needs a verb. The most common English verbs are the roughly 130 verbs you use again and again in everyday life, led by be, have and do. According to the Oxford English Corpus, these three are among the ten most frequent words in the entire English language. On this page you'll find an English verbs list of the 130 most common verbs, sorted by topic, each with a simple meaning, plus example sentences for the ten most important ones. That way you learn the verbs in context, just as we have done in our SPRACHCAFFE classrooms since 1983.

English verbs list: 130 common verbs by topic

These common verbs in English cover most situations you'll meet on holiday, at school or at work. Verbs marked with * are irregular: they don't form the past with -ed, so you need to learn their forms by heart. You'll find all forms in one table on our page about English irregular verbs.

The 10 most common verbs in English

Verb	Meaning	Example
be*	to exist or to describe a state	I am from Hamburg.
have*	to own or hold something	We have two dogs.
do*	to carry out an action	What do you do at the weekend?
say*	to speak words	She says hello to everyone.
get*	to receive or obtain something	I get a lot of emails.
make*	to create or produce something	Let's make a plan.
go*	to move to another place	They go to school by bus.
know*	to have information in your mind	I know the answer.
take*	to pick something up or use it	Take the second street on the left.
see*	to notice with your eyes	Can you see the sea from here?

Verbs for travel and everyday life

Verb	Meaning	Verb	Meaning
come*	to move towards someone	eat*	to put food in your mouth
leave*	to go away from a place	drink*	to take liquid into your body
arrive	to reach a place	sleep*	to rest with your eyes closed
walk	to move on foot	cook	to prepare food with heat
run*	to move fast on foot	buy*	to get something by paying
drive*	to control a car	pay*	to give money for something
travel	to go on a journey	wear*	to have clothes on your body
stay	to remain in a place	wash	to clean with water
return	to come or go back	open	to make something not closed
move	to change position or home	close	to shut something
fly*	to travel through the air	wait	to stay until something happens
follow	to go after someone	live	to have your home somewhere
spend*	to use money or time	allow	to let someone do something
choose*	to pick from several options	enjoy	to take pleasure in something

Verbs for communication, thinking and feeling

Verb	Meaning	Verb	Meaning
tell*	to give information to someone	think*	to use your mind
ask	to request information	believe	to accept something as true
answer	to reply	understand*	to know what something means
speak*	to use your voice to say words	remember	to keep something in your mind
talk	to have a conversation	forget*	to not remember
call	to phone someone	feel*	to experience an emotion
explain	to make something clear	like	to find something pleasant
write*	to put words on paper or a screen	love	to like very much
read*	to look at words and understand them	want	to wish to have something
listen	to pay attention to sounds	need	to require something
hear*	to notice sounds	hope	to wish for something good
mean*	to have a meaning or intention	decide	to make a choice
learn	to gain knowledge or a skill	seem	to appear to be

Verbs for work, learning and daily actions

Verb	Meaning	Verb	Meaning
work	to do a job	give*	to hand something to someone
use	to do something with a tool	bring*	to carry something to a place
try	to make an effort	send*	to make something go to someone
help	to make something easier for someone	find*	to discover something
start	to begin	lose*	to no longer have something
finish	to end	sell*	to give something for money
study	to learn in a focused way	put*	to place something
teach*	to help someone learn	show*	to let someone see something
build*	to make by putting parts together	hold*	to have something in your hands
plan	to decide in advance	lend*	to give for a short time
change	to make or become different	borrow	to take for a short time
keep*	to continue to have	win*	to be first or best
look	to direct your eyes at something	let*	to allow
watch	to look at something for a time	play	to take part in a game
become*	to begin to be	meet*	to come together with someone
happen	to take place	sit*	to rest on a chair
grow*	to get bigger	stand*	to be on your feet
begin*	to start	turn	to change direction

Verbs for free time and physical actions

Verb	Meaning	Verb	Meaning
taste	to notice flavour in your mouth	carry	to hold something while moving
smell	to notice something with your nose	break*	to damage something into pieces
touch	to put your hand on something	pull	to move something towards you
breathe	to take air in and out	push	to move something away from you
bite*	to cut with your teeth	bend*	to make something curved
blow*	to push out air	beat*	to win against someone
laugh	to make sounds when something is funny	bear*	to accept something unpleasant
smile	to make a happy face	cut*	to divide with a knife
wake*	to stop sleeping	draw*	to make a picture with a pen
sing*	to make music with your voice	set*	to put something in a place
dance	to move to music	reach	to arrive at a place or goal
swim*	to move through water	pass	to succeed in a test
jump	to push yourself into the air	lead*	to show the way
climb	to go up using hands and feet	offer	to ask if someone wants something
explore	to travel around to discover a place	imagine	to form a picture in your mind
book	to reserve something	hate	to dislike very much

* = irregular verb

To see how English verbs work grammatically, read our guide to verb forms and types of verbs.

Make or do: the most common mix-up

Make and do look similar, but you use them in different situations. Make usually means creating or producing something. Do usually means carrying out an activity, a task or a job.

make	do
make a cake	do your homework
make a mistake	do the shopping
make friends	do sport
make a decision	do a course

How to learn common English verbs

Learn verbs in sentences: A verb sticks better when you learn it in context, for example "take the bus" instead of just "take". Write your own sentences or short texts with the new verbs.
Learn by topic: Pick one topic group from the list each day, for example all verbs for travel.
Repeat regularly: Practise the same verbs every day until you know them well. Flashcards help: the verb on one side, the meaning on the other.
Mix it up: Practise in different ways, written, spoken and out loud. This trains spelling and pronunciation at the same time.
Remember word partners: Many verbs go with fixed words, such as "make a decision" or "take a photo".
Practise irregular forms separately: The past forms of go, see or buy are easiest to learn with our table of English irregular verbs.
Use them in real life: Verbs stick fastest when you need them in conversation. On a language trip this happens naturally: ordering in a café, exploring with your group, chatting over dinner with your host family.

For more ways to grow your word power, explore our guide to English vocabulary.