What’s the Past Tense of Spell? Spelled or Spelt?
January 1, 2023
No Comments
Unless referring to the ancient and hulled wheat, the past tense of the verb spell is spelt and spelled.
past tense of
Do you ever catch yourself questioning the correct past tense of a certain verb, like ‘dream’: is it dreamed or dreamt? Similarly, other confusing verbs, like spelled or spelt, burned or burnt, or what about speed or speeded?
Mastering English verb conjugation is no small feat—but it doesn’t need to be so difficult. We make learning the fundamentals of verb conjugation sensible and straightforward.
The proper past tenses of verbs (and all of their other tenses) will make sense once you understand what each of them mean, their proper construction and how they denote actions or events in relation to time. We get into the twelve principal tenses in English, and include worksheets/practice questions for you to practice your own self-mastery of the past tense of verbs, along their their other tense forms.
What’s the Past Tense of Sneak? Sneaked or Snuck?
December 31, 2022
No Comments
The past tense of sneak is sneaked….or snuck.
What’s the Past Tense of Burn? Burned or Burnt?
December 25, 2022
No Comments
Burned and burnt are both past tenses of the verb “burn”. British English prefers burnt, whereas American English uses burned.
What’s the Past Tense of Lean? Leaned or Leant?
December 25, 2022
No Comments
Lean, which is an intransitive verb, accepts both leaned and leant as its past tense and past participle forms.
What’s the Past Tense of Dream? Dreamed or Dreamt?
December 25, 2022
No Comments
American English prefers dreamed as the past tense and past participle form of dream (present tense). British English prefers dreamt as the past and past participle form.
Learned or Learnt? What’s the Past Tense of Learn?
December 25, 2022
No Comments
US English prefers learned as the past tense of learn. Learnt is the original past tense, and commonly accepted worldwide.
What’s the Past Tense of Leap? Leaped or Leapt?
December 24, 2022
No Comments
Leaped and leapt are both correct past tense and past participles of the verb leap, (which is present tense).
What’s the Past Tense of Smell? Smelled or Smelt?
December 24, 2022
No Comments
Both smelled and smelt are accepted past forms of the present tense verb, to smell. Smelled is the American preference, whereas spelt is preferred in UK.
What’s the Past Tense of Break? (Break, Broke, Broken?)
December 20, 2022
No Comments
The simple past tense of ‘break’ (rhymes with wake) is broke (rhymes with woke). The past participle is broken (rhymes with woken).
What’s the Past Tense of Do?
December 19, 2022
No Comments
To do and does are both present tense. Did is past tense for all subjects, and done is the past participle (also for all subjects).