Past Tense of Run | Definition & Examples

The simple past tense of run is “ran.” The past participle form of “run,” used in the present perfect simple tense, is “run.”

The verb “run” can mean “operate” or “manage” as well as “move quickly on foot.”

Run past tense examples
Simple past tense of run Present perfect tense of run
The software was old but it still ran on our system. We have run versions of this software on all of our systems.
She ran the general store in town before it closed down. She has run a variety of businesses in her career.
I don’t think he noticed me; he just ran right past. I have run home from work every day this week.

Past tense of run

The past tense of run is “ran.” “Run” is an irregular verb, and you don’t form the simple past tense by adding “-ed” to the infinitive.

Ran in a sentence examples
She ran a marathon last year.

I was late for work and ran all the way there.

When Christiano saw the fire, he immediately ran for help.

Past participle of run

The past participle of run is “run” (i.e., it’s the same as the infinitive form). You use the past participle to form in simple perfect tenses (e.g., the present perfect and past perfect tenses) and the passive voice.

Past participle of run examples
Run in perfect tenses Run in the passive voice
She’s run two marathons this year already. The food bank is run by volunteers.
It was my first marathon, but I’d run a half marathon as part of my training. After a cautious start, the final lap was run at an incredible pace.

Frequently asked questions about past tense of run

Is it have run or have ran?

It is have run and “has run,” not have ran or “has ran” (e.g., “I have run,” “She has run”) because “run” is the past participle of the irregular verb “run.”

“Ran” is the past tense of run (i.e., the simple past tense form for sentences like “Last year, I ran in the London Marathon”).

QuillBot’s Grammar Checker extension for Chrome will check your texts for verb conjugation errors like “have ran” instead of “have run.”

Is it ran or run?

It can be ran or run because they are both forms of the irregular verb “run.”

“Ran” is the past tense of run (i.e., the simple past tense form for sentences like “Yesterday, I ran for the bus”).

“Run” is the past participle form of “run” (for sentences like “I have run here all the way from school” and “The restaurant was run by my grandparents”).

QuillBot’s Grammar Checker extension for Chrome will help you choose the right verb forms for irregular verbs like “run.”

Is it was run or was ran?

It is was run and “were run,” not was ran or “were ran” (e.g., “The store was run by two brothers,” “Both stores were run by the same family”) because you need the past participle form “run” (not “ran”) in the passive voice.

QuillBot’s Grammar Checker extension for Chrome will check your texts for incorrect passive voice forms like “was ran” instead of “was run.”

What is the past participle of run?

The past participle of the verb “run” is “run.” Because it is an irregular verb, the past participle of “run” is not formed by adding “-ed.” The simple past tense form of “run” is “ran.”

QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you use past participles correctly.

Is runned a word?

No, runned is not a word. “Run” is an irregular verb.

 

  • The past participle form is the same as the infinitive (e.g., “Have you run all the way here?”)
  • The simple past tense form is different to the infinitive, but the only change is a single altered vowel sound (e.g., “I ran all the way there but she had already left”)

 

This is the same conjugation pattern as the verbs “come” and “become.”

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Tom Challenger, BA

Tom holds a teaching diploma and is an experienced English language teacher, teacher trainer, and translator. He has taught university courses and worked as a teacher trainer on Cambridge CELTA courses.