Past tense of can
irregular verb
The past tense of can is could. The past participle is also could.
Forms of can
| Base form (V1) | can /kæn/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | could /kəd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | could /kəd/ |
| Present participle | able /ˈeɪ.bl̩/ |
| Third person singular | can /kæn/ |
Past tense of can by meaning
- to know how to.: could
- to seal in a can.: canned
Could in a sentence
- Only by submitting to the aberration could the human traders travel safely through the territory of Zularn.From the entry aberration
- "I never could abide shoemakers," said an old servant,—and it ended in her marrying one.From the entry abide
- All they could ever do was to shout abusive inanities at me.From the entry abusive
- The few cheapest hotels I could find are the farthest too.From the entry few
- The work was done in secret, so that nobody could object.From the entry secret
Meaning of can
- verb To know how to.
- verb To be able to.
- verb May; to be permitted or enabled to.
Verbs like can
Questions about the past tense of can
- What is the past tense of can?
- The past tense of can is could.
- What is the past participle of can?
- The past participle of can is could.
- Is can a regular or irregular verb?
- Can is an irregular verb: its past tense is not formed with -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: can (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 can.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/can. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.