Past tense of attain
regular verb
The past tense of attain is attained. The past participle is also attained.
Forms of attain
| Base form (V1) | attain /əˈteɪn/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | attained /əˈteɪnd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | attained /əˈteɪnd/ |
| Present participle | attaining /əˈteɪnɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | attains /əˈteɪnz/ |
Attained in a sentence
- But an absolutely right time arrival of all trains on the same day is never attained.1964 July, S. W. Smart, “The Southern Needs No Centralised Control”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN...
- After John officially attained his majority, Robert bought him his first beer. This is a common American rite of passage.From the entry rite of passage
- This intense work was invariably draining; the Bolshoi style pushed me beyond anything I'd attained before.2017, David Hallberg, A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 292. From the entry recoach
- Some Chuds had attained a prominent position at the court of the early Russian princes.2015, Anti Selart, Livonia, Rus’ and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century, BRILL, →ISBN, page 62. From the entry chud
- Cook never attained meaningful practical experience, but Herron loved site mud on his boots.2008, Kenneth Allinson, Architects and Architecture of London, page 390. From the entry mud on one's boots
Meaning of attain
- verb To come to or reach (a place) by motion or progression.
- verb To arrive at (a certain age or time, condition or state, etc.); to reach.
- verb To gain (a desired result or other objective) through effort; to accomplish, to achieve.
Questions about the past tense of attain
- What is the past tense of attain?
- The past tense of attain is attained.
- What is the past participle of attain?
- The past participle of attain is attained.
- Is attain a regular or irregular verb?
- Attain is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: attain (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of attain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/attain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.