Past Tense of Think | Definition & Examples
The verb think, meaning “ponder ideas,” “hold an opinion,” and “believe,” has the simple past tense and past participle thought.
Thought is also a countable abstract noun referring to an idea held in your mind (e.g., “I have a thought”).
| Past tense of think | Past participle of think |
|---|---|
| Janice thought long and hard about her decision.
George thought the idea was a good one. Katrin thought I was wrong. |
Even though I had thought of applying, I decided against it in the end.
It seemed that Sanjay had not thought about the consequences of leaving. Billy didn’t go because he had thought the gig would be dull. |
Past tense of think
Think is an irregular verb with the simple past tense form thought. We use the simple past to describe actions that were completed in the past.
Many of the listeners thought that Emil had expressed the problem succinctly.
The escape room was easy. At least, that’s what Josh thought!
Past participle of think
The past participle of think is also thought. It is used to form the perfect tenses and the passive voice.
Perfect tenses describe an action that is completed, was completed, or will be completed.
The passive voice makes the subject of the verb the person or thing being acted upon.
Joe has thought about visiting France for some time.
For years, it had been thought that a sub-four-minute mile was impossible.
Frequently asked questions about the past tense of think
- Is thinked a word?
-
Thinked is not a word in standard English. The past tense of the verb think is thought. As an irregular verb, think doesn’t follow the usual pattern of adding “-ed” to form the past tense or past participle.
- I went away and thinked about it.
- I went away and thought about it.
You can use the QuillBot Grammar Checker to make sure you’re using the past tense of think correctly.
- Is thunk a word?
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Thunk is not really a word, but you will find it used for comic effect (e.g., “Who’da thunk it?”). The past tense and past participle of think is thought.
Think is an irregular verb and doesn’t add “-ed” to form the past tense (e.g., “There’s no way he thought that was OK!”) or past participle (e.g., “Hamish had thought carefully about the decision”).
The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help ensure you’re using the past tense of think correctly.
- Is thought a verb?
-
Thought is the past tense (e.g., “Lenka thought it was easy”) and past participle (e.g., “Garth simply hadn’t thought of that”) of the verb think. It is also an abstract noun. So, when we think, we can be said to “have thoughts.”
Think is an irregular verb, so it doesn’t add “-ed” to form the past tense.
Use the QuillBot Grammar Checker to make sure your use of the past tense of think is correct.
