Past Tense of Drink | Explanation & Examples

Drink is an irregular verb. Its simple past tense is drank, and the past participle is drunk. They are often confused in everyday speech, and you will encounter both words used for both purposes. In academic writing, however, it is important to use them correctly.

Past tense of drink in a sentence examples
Simple past of drink Past participle of drink
The horse must have been thirsty, as she drank for nearly five minutes straight! I had never drunk a better-tasting lemonade in my life.
I couldn’t believe how much water I drank during the race. All the punch had been drunk by the time I arrived.
Note
The past tense of drink can be confusing, partly because drink is a noun, meaning “a liquid for consumption,” and drunk is also a noun (someone who is presently or frequently intoxicated). Not to mention, drunk is an adjective, meaning “intoxicated,” and is used interchangeably with drunken.

Word Example
Drink (noun) Homemade lemonade is Gabi’s favorite drink.
Drink (verb) Be careful what you drink when you’re at the club.
Drunk (noun) Sadly, Sam was known as the town drunk.
Drunk (verb) I had drunk the last drop of water hours ago, and I was so thirsty.
Drunk (adjective) Everyone seems to have a drunk uncle at their wedding.
Drunken (adjective) The aftermath of the drunken party last night was not a pretty sight.

Past tense of drink

The simple past tense of the verb drink is drank. In informal speech and writing, you will encounter “drunk,” but this is incorrect in formal English.

Past tense of drink in a sentence examples
When they were dating, Alex and Julie drank in every coffee shop in town.

We ate and drank so much on holiday that a detox was definitely needed now.

In the novels, James Bond drank more champagne than martinis.

Past participle of drink

The past participle of drink is drunk. The past participle is used for the perfect tenses and the passive voice.

Past participle of drink in a sentence examples
The puppy had drunk so much water, you could see his belly was swollen.

Cindy realized that she wouldn’t have drunk so much if Lacey hadn’t encouraged her.

The urn was empty—all the tea had been drunk by the guests.

Frequently asked questions about past tense of drink

Is drinked a word?

No, drinked isn’t a word. The simple past tense form of the verb drink is drank. The past participle of drink is drunk. It is used for the perfect tenses and passive voice.

  • Both Joey and his dad drinked all night.
  • Both Joey and his dad drank all night.
  • The guests had drinked all the free wine.
  • The guests had drunk all the free wine.

You can use the QuillBot Grammar Checker to check your spelling and grammar.

Is it drinked or drank?

The simple past tense of drink is drank. “Drinked” is not a word in standard English.

Drink is an irregular verb, so it doesn’t follow the rule of adding “-ed” to the infinitive to make the simple past tense or past participle. The past participle of drink is drunk.

The QuillBot Grammar Checker helps you to check your grammar and spelling.

Is dranked a word?

No, dranked is not a word. The simple past tense form of drink is drank, but it doesn’t add “-ed” at the end. The past participle of the verb is drunk.

The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you make sure your writing is accurate.

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Trevor Marshall, MSc

Trevor has a BA in English Literature & Language and an MSc in Applied Social Studies. He has been a teacher for 25 years, with 15 years experience teaching ESL alongside 1st language students.