What is the past participle of see?

The past participle of see is seen.

What are the three forms of see?

The three forms are see – saw – seen: base form, past simple and past participle.

See is irregular: its past simple is saw, not seed.

perceive with eyes

See is an irregular English verb: the past simple of see is saw and the past participle is seen. Learn the three forms together — see – saw – seen.

Base form

see

/siː/

Past Simple

saw

/sɔː/

Past Participle

seen

/siːn/

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

Base form · see

I see my dentist twice a year.

Past Simple · saw

We saw a beautiful sunset at the beach.

Past Participle · seen

Have you seen this film before?

Present Simple	Past Simple	Present Perfect
I see he / she / it sees	I saw	I have seen
Present Continuous:I am seeing · he / she / it is seeing

see the point

to understand the reason

see you later

an informal way to say goodbye

See belongs to the ABC group: all three forms are different (see – saw – seen), so each form has to be learnt separately.

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

Verbs with the same pattern

Which sentence is correct?

What is the past simple of see?: The past simple of see is saw.
What is the past participle of see?: The past participle of see is seen.
What are the three forms of see?: The three forms are see – saw – seen: base form, past simple and past participle.
Is see a regular or an irregular verb?: See is irregular: its past simple is saw, not seed.