regular verb
noun
plural regular verbs
grammar
: a verb (such as love, help, or thank) that follows the usual pattern of inflection (such as the addition of -ed to form the past tense)
… we have irregular verbs and regular verbs, so go/went and say/said are irregular whereas talk/talked and walk/walked are regular verbs. If you're a foreign language learner of English, you have to learn this list of words. If you're a kid, you have to work it out for yourself. Nobody gives you the list. You have to figure out which ones you add -ed to and which ones you don't. Kids make a lot of mistakes. They say things like "breaked" and "broked" and stuff like that.—Gary Marcus, speaking on Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative (podcast)
also
: a weak verb (see weak sense 7a) : a verb that in English forms the past tense and past participle by adding the suffix -ed or -d or -t compare irregular verb
Cite this Entry
“Regular verb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regular%20verb. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.
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