Josef wrote and asked, “Is it important to know all the irregular verbs?”
My answer: No.
The reason: There are 638 irregular verbs in the English language. And some are so irregular, if you say them in conversation people will look at you like you have an extra arm growing out of your head.
But how do you know?
Let’s say Josef is reading the latest issue of “Guns and Ammo” magazine and sees the irregular verb “wrought.”
He thinks, “Hmm, is this an important word? Should I learn it? And why will the AK-47 allow me to wreak more destruction than the AK-46?”
Here’s what I recommend:
Go to: www.wordcount.org/main.php
Type in: “wrought”.
Hit return.
And viola, you see that it’s the 14,210th most common word in the English language.
In other words, not very common at all.
So skip it.
Irregular verbs like sit (#1,182), think (#102) and speak (#1,085) are much more common and should definitely be mastered.
(As a general rule, any word between 1 and 2,000 is very common.)
