What is the past participle of eat?

The past participle of eat is eaten.

What are the three forms of eat?

The three forms are eat – ate – eaten: base form, past simple and past participle.

Eat is irregular: its past simple is ate, not eated.

consume food

Eat is an irregular English verb: the past simple of eat is ate and the past participle is eaten. Learn the three forms together — eat – ate – eaten.

Base form

eat

/iːt/

Past Simple

ate

/et/, /eɪt/

Past Participle

eaten

/ˈiːtn/

Press the speaker button to hear each form. The transcription under each word shows the British pronunciation (IPA).

Base form · eat

We eat dinner together as a family every evening.

Past Simple · ate

He ate three slices of pizza at the party.

Past Participle · eaten

Have you eaten anything since breakfast?

Present Simple	Past Simple	Present Perfect
I eat he / she / it eats	I ate	I have eaten
Present Continuous:I am eating · he / she / it is eating

Eat belongs to the ABC group: all three forms are different (eat – ate – eaten), so each form has to be learnt separately.

Past simple – ate: a finished action at a definite time in the past. It is used on its own, without an auxiliary.
Past participle – eaten: after have, has or had (present perfect, past perfect) and after be in the passive voice.
Questions and negatives in the past simple use did + the base form: Did you eat…? I didn’t eat.

Verbs with the same pattern

Which sentence is correct?

What is the past simple of eat?: The past simple of eat is ate.
What is the past participle of eat?: The past participle of eat is eaten.
What are the three forms of eat?: The three forms are eat – ate – eaten: base form, past simple and past participle.
Is eat a regular or an irregular verb?: Eat is irregular: its past simple is ate, not eated.