Bet or betted? What’s the past tense of “bet”?
I bet on the underdog and won.
She bet all her savings on the horse race.
The word (and verb) bet, which is defined in the Oxford Learner’s dictionary as, “to risk money on a race or an event by trying to predict the result“, mostly uses one form for all its tense and participle forms, i.e., bet. Simply put, the safe bet is to stick to bet as both the simple past and past participle forms of bet. Betted, though sometimes accepted, is for the most part considered archaic and nonstandard.
Verb tenses of “bet”
| present | past | future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| simple | I bet | I bet | I will bet |
| continuous | I am betting | I was betting | I will be betting |
| perfect | I have bet | I had bet | I will have bet |
| perfect continuous | I have been betting | I had been betting | I will have been betting |
Sentences in the present
| Sentence | Form/Notes |
|---|---|
| She bets on her favorite team to win every game. | present simple (third person singular) |
| I’m willing to bet (that) the analysts will be wrong. | present simple |
| She is always betting on sports events. | present continuous/participle |
| You can bet your bottom dollar that he’ll be late. | present idiom |
Bet in the past tense
| Sentence | Form/Notes |
|---|---|
| I bet against the favorite and I lost. | past simple |
| He bet $5 on the game. | past simple |
| Jim had bet twenty dollars that he would complete the test on time. | past perfect (past participle) |
| They had bet their money on the wrong team. | past perfect (past participle) |
Single-form verbs
See other irregular verbs with one form to denote the present and past tense:
| base verb | past tense | past participle |
|---|---|---|
| cut | cut | cut |
| burst | burst | burst |
| bet | bet | bet |
| shut | shut | shut |
| hit | hit | hit |
| set | set | set |
‘bet’ is like ‘cut’ and ‘hit’; its past tense stays ‘bet,’ not ‘betted.’.
Origin of the word/verb bet
From dictionary.com on bet (v.): C16: probably short for abet.
Synonyms of bet
- wager
- stake
- gamble
- risk
Phrases/idioms with bet
| expression | meaning |
|---|---|
| I wouldn’t bet on it | to believe something is unlikely to happen. |
| bet your dollars to doughnuts | to be so certain something will happen that you’d wager something more valuable to something less valuable. |
| bet a huckleberry to a persimmon | to wager a small amount. |
| to hedge your bets | take action to offset potential negative results. |
| to bet on the wrong horse | to support the wrong thing/something that didn’t prove successful. |
| you can bet on it! | you can be sure of something. |
| bet your farm on it | to be absolutely certain something will happen. |
| all bets are off! | to say a turn of events, that something is unpredictable. |
Worksheet
According to the blog post, what is the generally accepted simple past tense form of the verb “bet”?
The blog post states that the word “betted” for the past tense is considered:
Besides the simple past tense, the post mentions another form of “bet” that uses the exact same spelling. What form is it?
Which of the following sentences, according to the post’s usage notes, is written with the correct simple past tense of “bet”?
The blog post lists “bet” among other irregular verbs that use the same form for present, past, and past participle. Which of these verbs is also mentioned in that list?
Fill in the blank with the correct simple past tense form according to the post: He _______ $5 on the game.
Fill in the blank with the correct past participle form according to the post: They had _______ their money on the wrong team.
Fill in the blank with the simple past tense form shown in an example: She _______ all her savings on the horse race.
Fill in the blank with the past participle form used in an example: Jim had _______ twenty dollars that he would complete the test on time.
The post advises that the ‘safe _______’ is to stick to ‘bet’ for both the simple past and past participle forms.
FAQs
What’s past tense of bet?
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Should I use bet or betted?
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Is betted the correct past tense?
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What is the past participle of bet?
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Why isn’t ‘betted’ used for past tense?
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Yash, D. "What’s the Past Tense of Bet? Bet or Betted?." Grammarflex, Jun 25, 2025, https://www.grammarflex.com/is-it-bet-or-betted-whats-the-past-tense-of-bet/.
