Skip to content

Grammarflex

Grammarflex logo
Search
Search
Close this search box.

What’s the Past Tense of Sneak? Sneaked or Snuck?

The past tense of sneak is sneaked....or snuck.

Sneak/snuck used in conversation.
Sneak/snuck used in conversation.



Which is correct: “sneaked” or “snuck”?

The past tense of sneak originally was sneaked. Now, snuck is commonly accepted as the past tense and past participle form of sneak.

Some still consider snuck a colloquialism—in other words, snuck is conversational or nonstandard. This does not make snuck incorrect—it just means that some are against its use. If you need a resource to arbitrate the debate on the past tense of ‘sneak’, you can refer to this blog.

What’s does sneak mean?

To sneak, as described by Collins Dictionary, describes “trying to avoid being seen or heard”. To sneak off somewhere means to leave in a way that doesn’t attract attention. ‘Sneaking something’ means taking, bringing, or doing something in a discreet way.

Forms of the verb sneak

presentpastfuture
simpleI sneakI snuck/sneakedI will sneak
continuousI am sneakingI was sneakingI will be sneaking
perfectI have snuck/sneakedI had snuck/sneakedI will have snuck/sneaked
perfect continuousI have been sneakingI had been sneakingI will have been sneaking
Tenses of ‘sneak‘.

To sneak is in the present tense.

Sneaked/snuck are the simple past.

Sneaked/snuck are also the past participle form.

Is sneak a regular or irregular verb?

  • Snuck is irregular and sneaked is regular.

Because snuck does not end in -ed in the past tense, it’s an irregular verb form. Sneaked is the regular verb form. Sneak can be both a regular and irregular verb, depending on the form you use.

Sentence examples of sneak in context

1. I managed to sneak in through the back door while she wasn’t looking.

2. I noticed him sneak a look at what I was writing.

3. They tried to sneak into the movie without paying.

4. Don’t sneak away and hide.

5. You told Mrs Cooper that it was me who tipped the paint over, didn’t you – you nasty little sneak!

The past tense/past participle snuck (in sentences)

1. I snuck another look at him as I sped along the Disney back-roads.

2. He snuck a few cookies out of the jar while his mother wasn’t looking.  

3. She snuck up on me and made me scream

4. We waited a good fifteen minutes into the movie before I poked Joshua and the two of us snuck out.

5. Nick and Kelly snuck into the kitchen and made themselves a meal.

Origin of the word sneak

From etymology online on sneak (v.):

1550s (implied in sneakish), perhaps from some dialectal survival of Middle English sniken “to creep, crawl” (c. 1200), related to Old English snican “to sneak along, creep, crawl,” from Proto-Germanic *sneikanan, which is related to the root of snake (n.).

Worksheet

Test yourself before you flex your grammar. Take a quick quiz to test your knowledge of the tenses of the verb “sneak.”

1. Present Simple Tense: He _______ into the room quietly.

a) sneaks

b) sneaking

c) sneaked

2. Present Continuous Tense: Right now, they _______ past the security guard.

a) sneaks

b) are sneaking

c) sneaked

3. Past Simple Tense: Yesterday, she _______ into the house unnoticed.

a) sneaks

b) sneaking

c) sneaked

4. Past Continuous Tense: While no one was looking, he _______ around the corner.

a) sneaks

b) was sneaking

c) sneaked

5. Present Perfect Tense: They _______ into the cinema without tickets.

a) has sneaked

b) sneaks

c) have sneaked

6. Future Simple Tense: Tomorrow, she _______ out of the party early.

a) sneaks

b) sneaking

c) will sneak

7. Future Continuous Tense: By this time tomorrow, they _______ out of the building.

a) sneaks

b) will sneak

c) will be sneaking

8. Present Perfect Continuous Tense: He _______ around the neighbourhood for hours.

a) sneaks

b) has been sneaking

c) sneaked

Answers

  1. c) sneaked
  2. b) are sneaking
  3. c) sneaked
  4. b) was sneaking
  5. c) have sneaked
  6. c) will sneak
  7. c) will be sneaking
  8. b) has been sneaking



Learn more about verbs


Recent Posts

Capitalization rules

Capitalization Rules (With Examples)

Capitalize from this guide on the rules of capitalization in English. When to capitalize and when not to capitalize is a common question; let’s take

punctuation in brackets

Do Periods go Inside or Outside of Brackets?

The question of whether to place punctuation inside or outside of parentheses regularly perplexes writers. We all know that it’s important to use proper punctuation