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What’s the Past Tense of Shine? Shined or Shone?

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What’s the past tense of “shine”?

Let’s shine a light on this grammar question: what’s the past tense of the verb, to shine? As explained by the Chicago Manual of Style, the past tense of shine, as in, ‘to give or make light” which is intransitive, is shone. The transitive verb, to shine, describes when a thing is caused to shine (and therefore takes on a sentence object). The past tense here is shined.

👍🏼Usage Note

The sun shone brightly through the clouds.

She shined her silver necklace until it sparkled.

The car’s headlights shone directly into my eyes.

He shined with pride after winning the award.

When to use shined vs. shone

The intransitive verb, shine, defined by the Oxford Learner’s dictionary as, “to produce or reflect light; to be bright”. As a transitive verb, to shine means “to aim or point the light of a lamp, etc. in a particular direction”.

To shine, verb forms.

1. Shine is present tense: I can shine the light on the road so he can see. (third-person present singular)

2. Shone/shined is the simple past: The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky.

3. Shining is the present participle: A light was shining in the distance.

4. Shines is third-person present singular: He shines the light on the road so he can see.

5. Shone/shined is also the past participle: When I first bought it, my car had shone like a glowing star.

Shined/shone past tense vs. past perfect/continuous

With participle forms of verbs, use the helper verbs have/had. With the simple past tense, auxiliaries are omitted and the verb stands on its own to reflect tense.

Past tense: The doctor shone the light in my eyes several times.

Past participle: He had shined the flashlight on the campfire to see whether it was burning.  

 

Examples of the simple present tense z, shine

1. These qualities shine forth in all that he produced.

2. A light was shining in the distance. (present participle)

3. The stars were shining and the moon was bright. (present participle)

4. He failed to shine academically but he was very good at sports.

5. She has set a shining example of loyal service over four decades.

Examples of shone/shine (simple past tense)

1. The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky.

2. He shined shoes and sold newspapers to make money.

3. The hot desert sun shone down relentlessly.

4. The watchman shone his torch at us.

5. The doctor shone the light in my eyes several times.

💡Study Tip

“shine’s” past tense, associate “shone” with the sun (intransitive: the sun shone) and “shined” with actions (transitive: she shined her shoes).

Examples of the participle shined/shone

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1. He had shined the flashlight on the campfire to see whether it was burning.

2. When I first bought it, my car had shone like a glowing star.

3. She had shined the penlight on the bottom paragraph so the students could read the text.

4. David has really shone in his role as team captain.

5. I loved how the light shone through the stained-glass window before it got smashed.

Origin of the verb shine

From etymology online on shine (v.):

Middle English shinen, from Old English scinan “shed, send forth, or give out light; be radiant, be resplendent, illuminate,” of persons, “be conspicuous”.

Other commonly confused verb tenses

Learn more about verbs

Sources  

1. Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of shine.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/shine. Accessed 16 April, 2023.

Work Sheet

Question 1 of 10

According to the blog post, what is the past tense of “shine” when describing the sun producing light (intransitive)?



Which past tense form is used when “shine” means to cause something to become bright by polishing it (transitive)?



Based on the usage notes, which word is correct in the sentence: “The car’s headlights _____ directly into my eyes.”?



According to the blog post, which word is correct in the sentence: “He _____ with pride after winning the award.”?



When “shine” is used as an intransitive verb (producing light or being bright), its simple past tense is:



The moon brightly through the window.



He his boots until they looked brand new.



The hiker his flashlight on the dark path ahead.



Her kindness through in everything she did.



She carefully the antique mirror.





Frequently Asked Questions

When to use shined vs shone?
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Use “shone” when describing something that produced light itself (intransitive), like the sun. Use “shined” when describing causing something to shine or aiming light (transitive).

When do I use “shone”?
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Use “shone” as the simple past tense when describing something producing or reflecting light, without a direct object. For example, “The sun shone brightly.” It can also be a past participle.

When do I use “shined”?
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Use “shined” as the simple past tense when describing an action that causes something else to shine or involves aiming light. For example, “She shined her necklace.” It can also be a past participle.

Can “shone” be a past participle?
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Yes, according to the post, “shone” can be used as a past participle. Like the simple past, it’s used for the intransitive sense (producing light), but requires a helper verb like “had” or “have”.

Can “shined” be a past participle?
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Yes, according to the post, “shined” can be used as a past participle. Like the simple past, it’s used for the transitive sense (causing or aiming light), but requires a helper verb like “had” or.

Yash, D. "What’s the Past Tense of Shine? Shined or Shone?." Grammarflex, Jun 5, 2025, https://www.grammarflex.com/to-shine-is-it-shined-or-shone/.

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