This study investigates the acquisition of English irregular verbs in the past simple tense and past participle by English as Foreign Language (EFL) students at the University of Letters and Human Sciences of Bamako (ULSHB) in Mali. Focusing on the challenges these students face and the strategies they employ, this research aims to identify common errors and underlying factors influencing the acquisition process. Data were collected through tests providing a comprehensive analysis of students’ proficiency levels and learning difficulties. The findings show that students demonstrate high proficiency with certain verbs in both the past simple and past participle forms, for instance, “to cut” and “to hit” in the past simple, and “to hide” and “to cut” in the past participle. Conversely, students exhibit low proficiency with other verbs, such as “to choose” and “to steal” in the past simple, and “to hit” and “to choose” in the past participle. Additionally, students often provided incorrect forms for past simple and past participle verbs. Keywords: Irregular verbs, simple past tense, EFL students, language acquisition, Mali