What is the past participle of prove?

The past participle of prove is proven/proved.

What are the three forms of prove?

The three forms are prove – proved – proven/proved: base form, past simple and past participle.

Prove past tense: proved, proven/proved

demonstrate truth

Prove is an irregular English verb: the past simple of prove is proved and the past participle is proven/proved. Learn the three forms together — prove – proved – proven/proved.

Verb forms

Base form

prove

/pruːv/

Past Simple

proved

/pruːvd/

Past Participle

proven/proved

/ˈpruːvn/, /pruːvd/

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

Example sentences

Base form · prove

Facts prove theories right or wrong.

Past Simple · proved

The experiment proved his hypothesis.

Past Participle · proven/proved

The method has proven effective in many studies.

Key tenses

Present Simple	Past Simple	Present Perfect
I prove he / she / it proves	I proved	I have proven
Present Continuous:I am proving · he / she / it is proving

Learn when to use these forms:Past Simple lesson →Present Perfect lesson →

Grammar guide

Past simple – proved: a finished action at a definite time in the past. It is used on its own, without an auxiliary.
Past participle – proven/proved: 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 prove…? I didn’t prove.

Verbs with the same pattern

be — was/were — been do — did — done go — went — gone know — knew — known take — took — taken see — saw — seen

Questions about prove

What is the past simple of prove?: The past simple of prove is proved.
What is the past participle of prove?: The past participle of prove is proven/proved.
What are the three forms of prove?: The three forms are prove – proved – proven/proved: base form, past simple and past participle.