What’s the past tense of “bend”?
Does it bend (not to be confused with ‘will it blend?’) What’s the past tense of the present tense verb, to bend? The verb bend is defined by the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary as to, “(especially of somebody’s body or head) to lean, or make something lean, in a particular direction: The doctor told me to avoid bending and stretching.“
Verb forms of bend
| present | past | future | |
| simple | I bend | I bent | I will bend |
| continuous | I am bending | I was bending | I will be bending |
| perfect | I have bent | I had bent | I will have bent |
| perfect continuous | I have been bending | I had been bending | I will have been bending |
To bend is in the present tense: Keep your feet apart, and bend at the waist.
Bent is in the simple past: She bent forward to pick up the newspaper.
Bent is the past participle: She had suddenly bent over, and clutched her stomach.
Here’s a chart with verb forms similar to bend/bent, in that they likewise have two verb conjugations in total (and are irregular verbs that do not end in –ed in their past verb forms):
| base verb | past tense | past participle |
| lean | leant/leaned | leant/leaned |
| leap | leapt/leaped | leapt/leaped |
| learn | learnt/learned | learnt/learned |
| lend | leant | leant |
| bend | bent | bent |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
Forms of the verb “bend”
What’s the difference between bent as a past tense form of bend, versus bent as a participle form of the verb, to bend? Take a look:
Past tense: He bent and kissed her.
Past participle: I’ve bent over backwards to help him.
To have ‘bent over backwards‘ in order to help someone achieve something, is a common phrase meaning that one has done everything that they can to help someone with something.
It’s clear from the above sentences that the simple past tense in the first sentence, ‘bent‘ is indeed the simple past since it does not include an auxiliary/helping verb, such as have/had/has. The second sentence uses the participle form of the verb bend, and this is evident since there’s an auxiliary verb included (I’ve bent = I have bent). The inclusion of an auxiliary verb indicates that the verb form used is a participle, and not the simple past tense form of the verb. If this sounds like gibberish, we encourage you to read our post on participles (they’re a doozy!)
Examples of the word bend used in sentences
The following sentences show the correct use of the present tense verb bend in context. Sentence examples are from Oxford Learner’s, bend:
1. Lie flat and let your knees bend.
2. Slowly bend from the waist and bring your head down to your knees.
3. The doctor told me to avoid bending and stretching.
4. I had to bend double to get under the table.
5. Keep your feet apart, and bend at the waist.
Examples of the word bent used in sentences
The following sentences show the correct use of the simple past tense bent in context. Sentence examples are from Oxford Learner’s, bent:
1. She suddenly bent over, clutching her stomach.
2. He came closer and bent towards her.
3. He bent and kissed her.
4. His dark head bent over her.
5. I bent down and tied my shoelace.
Examples of the word bent used in sentences
The following sentences show the correct use of past participle bent in context.
1. I had bent down on one knee and proposed in front of the entire crowd.
2. The knives were bent out of shape.
3. I’ve bent over backwards to help him.
4. She was bent over her desk writing a letter.
5. They’ve bent themselves over backwards to help their loved one’s.
Synonyms of bend/bent
- arched
- angled
- twisted
- bowed
Origin of the verb bend
From etymology online on bend (v.):
Old English bendan “to bend a bow, bring into a curved state; confine with a string, fetter,” causative of bindan “to bind,” from Proto-Germanic base *band- “string, band”.
Other commonly confused verb tenses
- What’s the past tense of spread?
- What’s the past tense of lead?
- What’s the past tense of choose?
- What’s the past tense of fly?
- What’s the past tense of lay?
- What’s the past tense of drive?
- What’s the past tense of draw?
Learn more about verbs
What are regular and irregular verbs?
Transitive and intransitive verbs?
Sources
- Etymology online, origin of bend.
- Definition of bend.
