Past Tense of Tear | Examples & Meaning
The simple past tense of tear , meaning “damage by pulling into pieces or ripping” is “tore” (e.g., “After he read the letter, he was so angry that he tore it in half”).
The past participle of tear is “torn” (e.g., “She’s fallen over and torn her jeans”).
| Past tense of tear | Past participle of tear |
|---|---|
| Mikel tore his jacket playing soccer in the park yesterday. | Have you torn your jacket again? |
| The flag tore in the storm last week and needs to be replaced. | It must have torn in the storm last week. |
Teared up meaning
Teared up is the simple past tense and past participle form of the phrasal verb tear up (pronounced so “tear” rhymes with “ear”), meaning “start to form tears in your eyes” (e.g., “She saw that he was tearing up and offered him a tissue”).
I don’t really cry at movies, but maybe I’ve teared up a few times.
However, the phrasal verb tear up (pronounced so “tear” rhymes with “air”) is an irregular verb. Its simple past tense form is “tore,” and its past participle form is “torn.” This verb means:
- “Split something into small pieces by pulling or ripping” (e.g., “I tore up those boxes yesterday,“ “I’ve already torn them up”)
- “Completely remove or destroy,” especially a piece of infrastructure or land” (e.g., “They tore up that parking lot last month; I think they’re going to build an apartment block,” “They’ve torn up the parking lot”)
- “Do something extremely well” (e.g., “Wow, you really tore it up on the soccer field today!,” “You’ve torn it up every game this season”)—this usage is informal
The object can go in different positions in the sentence. For instance, you can say:
- They are tearing up this parking lot.
- They are tearing this parking lot up.
- They are tearing it up.
But you can’t say:
- They are tearing up it.
Frequently asked questions about the past tense of tear
- What does tear up mean?
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The phrasal verb tear up , when pronounced so “tear” rhymes with “care,” has the following meanings:
- “Pull or rip into smaller pieces” (e.g., “Please tear the boxes up and put them in the recycling”)
- “Remove or destroy completely,” especially infrastructure or land (e.g., “They use bulldozers to tear up the forest”)
- “Perform something extremely well” (e.g., “You guys really tore it up on stage today!)—this is an informal usage
The past tense of tear in this phrasal verb is “tore,” the past participle is “torn.
The phrasal verb tear up , when pronounced so “tear” rhymes with “here,” means “begin to form tears in your eyes” (e.g., “He noticed that she was tearing up and offered her a tissue”). The past participle and past tense form of this phrasal verb is “teared up.”
- What is the past participle of tear?
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The past participle of tear is “torn” (e.g., “The doctor said I’ve torn a ligament in my knee”).
The past tense of tear is “tore” (e.g., “I tore the ligament playing soccer last weekend”).
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you to use tricky irregular verbs like “tear” correctly in your writing.
