By far most Dutch irregular verbs are only partly irregular. The present is perfectly regular but they have an irregular [simple past](#/lesson/Verbs.Re10) and [past participle](#/lesson/Verbs.Re13). You can view the conjugations of these verbs in the long [list of strong verbs](#/lesson/Verbs.Ir03).
The conjugations in the present tense (e.g. we work) are regular, so all rules mentioned in the section about the [present tense](#/lesson/Verbs.Re07), apply here.
Only three verb forms to learn
To learn the irregular verb conjugations, you need to learn:
- The past participle
- The singular simple past
- The plural simple past
In Dutch, the past tense only has two forms, one for the singular and one for the plural. For example:
Begrijpen (to understand)
- Past participle: begrepen
- Singular simple past: begreep
- Plural simple past: begrepen
ik | begreep | I understood | we | begrepen | we understood
je | begreep | you understood | jullie | begrepen | you understood
hij | begreep | he understood | ze | begrepen | they understood
The only verbs we need to learn are the ones that are marked red. Apart from that, it is also wise to learn the past participles that take 'zijn' by heart. By far most past participles use 'hebben', several can use both (depending on the context) and some only take 'zijn'. See also [zijn, hebben and the past participle](#/lesson/Verbs.Au05). In the [list of strong verbs](#/lesson/Verbs.Ir03), verbs that can take _zijn_ are indicated.
Irregular verb groups
Among the irregular verbs, we can discern certain patterns. In English, for example, there is a group of verbs with an _i-a-u_ pattern: 'to sing - sang - sung', 'to ring - rang - rung', and a group with an _i-ou-ou_ pattern: 'to find - found - found', 'to bind - bound - bound'. And there are many more such patterns in English irregular verbs. In Dutch, we find the same phenomenon.
Note that the examples above give you the unstressed [personal pronouns](#/lesson/Pronouns.Ps01). Some pronouns change when they are stressed in a phrase: je/jij, we/wij, ze/zij (both singular and plural).