Verb forms
Base form
/breɪk/
Past Simple
/broʊk/
Past Participle
/ˈbroʊkən/
Example sentences
Base form · break
- Glasses break easily, so pack them carefully.
Past Simple · broke
- He broke his arm playing football.
- She broke without any hesitation.
- They broke it again the following morning.
- He didn't break anything at the meeting.
Past Participle · broken
- My phone screen has broken again.
- By the time we arrived, they had broken everything.
- We have never broken anything quite like it.
- He has broken it many times before.
Common collocations
break a record
to do better than anyone before
break the news
to tell someone important news
break a promise
to fail to keep your word
Key tenses
| Present Simple | Past Simple | Present Perfect |
|---|---|---|
I break he / she / it breaks | I broke | I have broken |
| Present Continuous:I am breaking · he / she / it is breaking | ||
Grammar guide
The verb "break" is fully irregular — all three principal parts are distinct: the base form "break", the past simple "broke", and the past participle "broken". The ABC group contains many of the most common and important verbs in English, so learning them is essential for fluency.
Use the past simple "broke" for actions, events, or states that were completed at a definite point in the past. It is the main verb in the clause and needs no auxiliary: "We broke the whole project in three days." Typical time markers include yesterday, last week, ago, when, and at + a specific time. The past simple is the most frequently used past tense in spoken and written English.
The past participle "broken" is never used on its own as a main verb. It appears in: (1) the present perfect with have/has — "I have never broken anything like it before"; (2) the past perfect with had — "She had already broken before I arrived"; (3) passive voice with a form of be — "The final version was broken by the whole team." These three structures together cover the great majority of perfect and passive constructions in English.
The ABC group demands the most memorisation because each verb has three unique forms to learn. Focus first on the highest-frequency verbs: be (was/were/been), do (did/done), go (went/gone), know (knew/known), take (took/taken), see (saw/seen), give (gave/given), and write (wrote/written). Regular reading and listening is the most effective way to make ABC verb forms automatic — passive exposure reinforces the patterns far better than drills alone.
Quick quiz
Which sentence is correct?
Conjugation pattern
All three forms are different — this group needs the most practice.
Verbs with the same pattern