Past Tense of Ride | Definition & Example Sentences
Ride is an irregular verb, so its simple past form and past participle form are different from each other.
- Rode is the simple past form. The simple past is used to describe something that happened in the past.
- Ridden is the past participle of the verb. The perfect tenses and passive voice are formed using the past participle.
| Examples: Rode in a sentence | Examples: Ride in a sentence |
|---|---|
| Mo and Valentina rode the subway to school every day. | I have never ridden such a beautiful bike before. |
| The jockey rode the horse with great skill. | Jan had ridden the scooter illegally on the sidewalk. |
How to use rode
Rode is the simple past tense of the verb “ride.” It is used when describing an action or event from the past.
It was such a cliché when the cowboys rode off into the sunset.
The best part of the day was when we rode the massive roller coaster.
How to use ridden
The past participle of “ride” is ridden. The past participle is used to form the passive voice (i.e., sentences where the action is performed on the subject rather than by subject) as well as the perfect tenses (i.e., to indicate that an action occurred before another action).
I have ridden every attraction in this theme park at least twice before.
It was an old rental bike and had been ridden all season.
Quiz: Ridden or rode
Test your understanding of when to use ridden or rode by answering these practice quiz questions.
Frequently asked questions about the past tense of ride
- What is the past participle of ride?
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Ridden is the past participle of the verb ride. “Ride” is an irregular verb, so its simple past form (“rode”) is different from its past participle.
The past participle is used for perfect tenses (e.g., “The winning team had ridden the course in record time”) and for the passive voice (e.g., “The messenger’s horse had been ridden hard”).
A QuillBot grammar check can help ensure you’re using the past participle of “ride” correctly.
- What is the simple past of ride?
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Rode is the simple past form of the verb ride. It is sometimes used incorrectly as the past participle, but this is always a mistake in formal English writing (the correct past participle is “ridden”).
The simple past describes an action that has taken place in the past (e.g., “He rode past the White House on his way to work”).
If you want to make sure you are using the correct tenses, you can use the QuillBot Grammar Checker.
