50 Verbs That Start With F: Meanings, Examples & Worksheet

Last updated on October 8th, 2026 at 03:52 pm

Most of the F verbs you use every day are short and old: find, feel, fall, fly, forget. Common verbs often keep old, unusual past forms, so many of these are irregular too.

This lesson lists 50 F verbs in two groups: everyday verbs first, then stronger verbs for essays and work. After that come the irregular forms, the most useful phrasal verbs and the pairs that learners often mix up.

Quick answer

Common verbs that start with F: find, feel, fix, fill, finish, follow, forget, fly, fall and forgive.

Example: “I forgot my keys, but my neighbor found them.”

What you will learn

39 everyday F verbs and 11 stronger ones, with meanings and examples
The past forms of the 12 irregular F verbs
Eight common phrasal verbs, like find out and figure out
Five pairs of F verbs that learners often confuse
A worksheet with answers and a printable PDF

50 Verbs That Start With F

Everyday F Verbs

You will hear these verbs in daily conversation. Most of them are easy to picture.

Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
Fade	To slowly disappear or lose color	The paint on the wall has begun to fade.
Fail	To not succeed	I failed my English test, but I’ll study harder next time.
Fall	To drop down quickly	Leaves fall from the trees in autumn.
Fancy	To want or like something (mainly British)	I fancy a slice of chocolate cake.
Fasten	To attach or close something firmly	Please fasten your seatbelt.
Favor	To prefer one thing over another	I favor chocolate ice cream over vanilla.
Fear	To be afraid of something	Many kids fear the dark.
Feast	To eat a large, special meal	We feasted on fried rice and chicken at the party.
Feed	To give food to someone or something	Please feed the cat before you leave.
Feel	To experience an emotion or a sensation	I feel happy when I’m with my friends.
Fetch	To go and bring something back	Could you fetch my backpack from the car?
Fight	To use force against someone, or to argue	The two brothers often fight over the TV remote.
File	To organize or store papers	I need to file these homework sheets.
Fill	To make something full	Please fill my water bottle.
Film	To record moving pictures	They filmed the school play last night.
Find	To discover something	I found a lost puppy outside.
Finish	To complete something	I finished my homework early today.
Fire	To shoot, or to dismiss someone from a job	The company fired two workers last month.
Fish	To try to catch fish	We love to fish at the lake every summer.
Fit	To be the right size or shape	These shoes fit me perfectly.
Fix	To repair something broken	Can you fix my broken phone?
Flap	To move quickly up and down	The bird flapped its wings and flew away.
Flash	To shine brightly for a short time	Lightning flashed across the sky.
Flatten	To make something flat	Please flatten the boxes before recycling.
Flee	To run away from danger	The thief tried to flee from the police.
Flick	To hit or move something lightly	He flicked the bug off his arm.
Float	To stay on top of water or air	The balloons floated into the sky.
Flood	To cover with too much water	The heavy rain flooded the streets.
Flow	To move smoothly, like water	The river flows gently to the sea.
Fly	To move through the air	Birds can fly high above the trees.
Focus	To pay close attention to something	Please focus on your reading.
Fold	To bend something so one part covers another	I folded the letter neatly.
Follow	To go behind someone or something	Please follow me to the library.
Forbid	To not allow something	My parents forbid me from staying out late.
Force	To make someone do something, or to use strength	He forced the door open.
Forget	To not remember something	I forgot to do my homework.
Forgive	To stop being angry with someone	I forgave my brother after our argument.
Form	To make or shape something	Clouds form interesting shapes.
Freeze	To turn into ice or become very cold	Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius.

Stronger and Academic F Verbs

These verbs are less common in conversation. They are useful in essays, reports and at work.

Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
Fabricate	To invent something false, such as a story	He tried to fabricate an excuse to avoid trouble.
Falter	To lose strength or confidence	His voice faltered during the speech.
Fascinate	To strongly interest someone	Space travel has always fascinated me.
Feature	To include as an important part	The movie features a famous actor.
Finalize	To complete the last details of something	Let’s finalize our science project today.
Firm up	To make something stronger or more certain	We firmed up our travel plans last night.
Flourish	To grow or develop well	Her business flourished last year.
Forecast	To say what will probably happen	Experts forecast heavy rain for tomorrow.
Forge	To create something strong, like a friendship	They forged a new friendship at summer camp.
Fortify	To make something stronger, especially against attack	They fortified the castle walls.
Foster	To encourage something to grow	The teacher fostered a love of reading in her students.

Irregular Verbs in This List

Most verbs in the list add -ed in the past: fail → failed, fix → fixed. Twelve of them are irregular, so learn their forms by heart. For more, see our irregular verbs list.

Base form	Past simple	Past participle
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Feed	Fed	Fed
Feel	Felt	Felt
Fight	Fought	Fought
Find	Found	Found
Flee	Fled	Fled
Fly	Flew	Flown
Forbid	Forbade	Forbidden
Forecast	Forecast (or forecasted)	Forecast (or forecasted)
Forget	Forgot	Forgotten
Forgive	Forgave	Forgiven
Freeze	Froze	Frozen

Teacher’s Tip

Learners often write the river flew to the sea. But flow is regular: flow, flowed, flowed. Only fly is irregular: fly, flew, flown. So the river flowed, and the bird flew.

Phrasal Verbs With F Verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a small word like out, in or up. Together they have a new meaning.

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
Find out	To learn a fact	I need to find out when the bus leaves.
Figure out	To understand or solve something	I can’t figure out this math problem.
Fill in	To complete a form; also, to take someone’s place for a short time	Please fill in your name here.
Fill out	To complete a form (more common in American English)	Fill out this form and give it to the nurse.
Fall apart	To break into pieces	My old shoes are falling apart.
Fall behind	To not keep up with others	He fell behind in math after he was sick.
Fit in	To feel accepted in a group	It took her a month to fit in at her new school.
Follow up	To check on something later	I’ll follow up with an email tomorrow.

F Verbs That Learners Often Confuse

Verbs	What each one means	Examples
Fall / fail	Fall means to drop down. Fail means to not succeed.	Don’t fall on the ice. Don’t fail the exam.
Flee / fly	Flee means to run away (fled). Fly means to move through the air (flew).	They fled the fire. The bird flew away.
Find / found	Find means to discover (found, found). Found is also its own verb: to start an organization (founded).	I found my keys. She founded a school.
Forget / forgive	Forget means to not remember. Forgive means to stop being angry.	I forgot her name. I forgave her mistake.
Feel / fill	Feel has a long sound, like feet. Fill has a short sound, like fit.	I feel tired. Fill the glass, please.

✋ Quick check: Fall or fail? “If you do not study, you might ______ the exam.”

Check your answer

Fail. You fail an exam when you do not pass it. You fall when you drop to the ground.

Quiz: Test Yourself

10 questions. Choose one answer for each. Sign up free to earn XP and save your score.

What is the past simple of fly?
“The river ______ gently to the sea.”
“If you don’t study, you might ______ the exam.”
Which verb means “to run away from danger”?
“I need to ______ when the bus leaves.”
What is the past participle of forget?
“She ______ a new company in 2010.” She started it.
Which verb fits best in a formal essay?
“Her business ______ after she moved to a bigger shop.”
In British English, “I ______ a slice of cake” means “I want a slice of cake.”

Key Takeaways

Remember

Most everyday F verbs are short: find, feel, fix, fill and fly.
Twelve verbs in this list are irregular, including fall, feel, find, fly and forget.
Phrasal verbs like find out and figure out are very common in speech.
Do not mix up fall and fail, or flee and fly.
Use stronger verbs like flourish and fortify in essays and formal writing.

Now try the worksheet below. You can check your answers at the end or download the printable PDF.

Worksheet: Practice Your F-Verbs!

Use this worksheet to check how well you remember the verbs that start with F. Take your time and check your answers at the end.

A. Fill in the Blanks

Choose the correct F-verb from the word bank and fill in the blanks.

Word Bank: (fade, fix, follow, fetch, forgive, focus, flood, forge, finish, flee)

Please ________ your homework before dinner.
Can you ________ my jacket from the car?
We need to ________ the broken chair.
I will always ________ my dreams, no matter what.
It’s important to ________ on your goals.
The small river will ________ after heavy rain.
You should learn to ________ others when they make mistakes.
The thief tried to ________ from the police.
After many years, they ________ a strong friendship.
The colors in the old photo started to ________.

B. Match the Verbs to Their Meanings

The meanings are mixed up. Match each verb to its correct meaning.

Verb	Meaning (mixed up)
1. Fabricate	a. To turn into ice or become very cold
2. Freeze	b. To encourage the growth of something
3. Foster	c. To move quickly up and down
4. Flap	d. To be afraid of something
5. Fear	e. To invent something false, such as a story

C. Create Your Own Sentences

Pick any 3 verbs that start with F from the list and write your own sentence for each one. Be creative!

D. Phrasal Verbs

Complete each sentence with find out, figure out, fill out or fall behind.

Please ________ this form before your appointment.
I can’t ________ how to open this box.
If you miss too many classes, you will ________.
Can you ________ what time the shop closes?

Answers

A. 1. finish, 2. fetch, 3. fix, 4. follow, 5. focus, 6. flood, 7. forgive, 8. flee, 9. forged, 10. fade

B. 1. e, 2. a, 3. b, 4. c, 5. d

C. Answers will vary. To get feedback on your sentences, paste them into our AI Writing Feedback tool.

D. 1. fill out, 2. figure out, 3. fall behind, 4. find out

Download the Worksheet

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some common verbs that start with F?

Some of the most common are find, feel, finish, follow, forget and fix. Learners use these every day, so learn them first, then move on to harder verbs like flourish and fortify.

What are action verbs that start with F?

Action verbs describe something you can do or see: fly, fall, fight, fix, fill, fold, float and flee. Verbs like feel and forget describe the mind, not a physical action.

What is the past tense of fly, freeze and forget?

These are irregular verbs. Fly becomes flew (past simple) and flown (past participle). Freeze becomes froze and frozen. Forget becomes forgot and forgotten.

What is the difference between fall and fail?

Fall means to drop down: “Be careful, or you will fall.” Fail means to not succeed: “He failed the test.” Their past forms are fell and failed.

What phrasal verbs start with F?

Common ones are find out, figure out, fill in, fill out, fall apart, fall behind and fit in. For example: “I need to find out when the bus leaves.”

Is fancy a verb?

Yes. In British English, fancy often means to want something: “I fancy a cup of tea.” American speakers usually say “I feel like” or “I want” instead.

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Azizul Hakim

Founder and CEO at English Finders

Azizul Hakim is the founder & CEO at English Finders. He is a passionate writer, English instructor, and content creator. He holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. With more than a decade of experience, he aims to make English learning simple, engaging, and accessible for everyone.

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