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What’s the Past Tense of Bend? Bended or Bent?

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Elan Yash

Elan is head of design and tech. He's also a contributor at Grammarflex.

What’s the past tense of “bend”?

Does it bend? 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.”

👍🏼Usage Note
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The athlete bent his knees before jumping.
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The athlete bended his knees before jumping.

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
Tenses of ‘bend‘.

Is bend a regular or irregular verb?

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
sleep slept slept
send sent sent
spend spent spent
build built built
Irregular verbs (similar to “bend”).

Bend/Bent in sentence examples

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:

Word Form Examples
Present Tense (“bend”)

Lie flat and let your knees bend.

The doctor told me to avoid bending and stretching.

Keep your feet apart, and bend at the waist.
Simple Past (“bent”)

She suddenly bent over, clutching her stomach.

He bent and kissed her.

I bent down and tied my shoelace.
Past Participle (“bent”)

I had bent down on one knee and proposed in front of the entire crowd.

I’ve bent over backwards to help him.

The knives were bent out of shape.
Examples of “bend” usage in various forms.
💡Study Tip

The past tense of “bend” is “bent.” Think of similar irregular verbs like “send/sent” and “lend/lent” that follow this -nd to -nt pattern.

Synonyms of bend/bent

  • arched
  • angled
  • twisted
  • bowed

Origin of the verb bend

From etymology online on bend (v.):

Of Germanic Origin
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”.
Etymology of “bend” (verb).

Worksheet

Question 1 of 10

What is the correct simple past tense of the verb “bend”?



Which sentence correctly uses the past tense or past participle of “bend”?



According to the post, which form of “bend” is used in the sentence “She bent forward”?



Why is “bended” considered incorrect as the past tense or past participle of “bend”?



When is ‘bent’ used as a past participle form of ‘bend’, according to the post?



The doctor told the patient to keep his back straight and not to ______.



She ______ down to pick up the dropped keys.



The thin metal wire has ______ out of shape.



I had ______ over, and clutched my stomach.



The athlete ______ his knees before jumping.





FAQs

What’s the past tense of bend?
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According to the post, the correct simple past tense of ‘bend’ is ‘bent’. It is used in examples like “The athlete bent his knees before jumping” and “She bent forward”.

Is ‘bended’ the correct past tense?
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No, the post states that ‘bended’ is incorrect for both the past tense and past participle. ‘Bend’ is an irregular verb, so its past forms do not end in -ed.

Why isn’t ‘bended’ correct?
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The post explains that ‘bend’ is an irregular verb. Unlike regular verbs, its past tense and past participle forms are not created by adding -ed. The correct form is ‘bent’.

What are the past forms of bend?
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According to the post, both the simple past tense and the past participle form of ‘bend’ are ‘bent’. Examples include “She bent forward” and “The metal rod has bent due to pressure”.

Past tense ‘bent’ vs participle ‘bent’?
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The post indicates simple past ‘bent’ is used alone (He bent). Participle ‘bent’ uses an auxiliary verb like have/had/has (I’ve bent).

Yash, D. "What’s the Past Tense of Bend? Bended or Bent?." Grammarflex, Jun 19, 2025, https://www.grammarflex.com/is-it-bended-or-bent-whats-the-past-tense-of-bend/.

Sources

Sources

  1. Merriam-Webster, definition of bend.
  2. Etymonline, origin of bend.
  3. Cambridge Dictionary, definition of bend.
  4. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, definition of bend.
  5. “Bend.” Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. 2015. Farlex, Inc 3 Nov. 2023 https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/bend

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