Past tense of captain
regular verb
The past tense of captain is captained. The past participle is also captained.
Forms of captain
| Base form (V1) | captain /ˈkæp.tɪn/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | captained |
| Past participle (V3) | captained |
| Present participle | captaining |
| Third person singular | captains /ˈkæp.tɪnz/ |
Captained in a sentence
- He rose from ensign to lieutenant-commander and by the war’s end, he captained his own ship.2015 October 5, Barbara Diamond, “Our Laguna: VFW fundraiser honors Harry Lawrence, veterans”, in Daily Pilot, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los…. From the entry lieutenant-commander
- Among the diversions will be an old-time spelling bee, captained by Frank H.1929 May 14, “Golden Jubilee Banquet May 27: Students of the Hollidaysburg High School During Last Half Century Will Dine, Dance, Renew…. From the entry spellmaster
- South Africa's leading runscorer Jacques Kallis, who captained the side for one Test against Australia in Johannesburg three years ago, will be skipper in Cape Town.2009 March 13, AAP, “Aussies relax amid Proteas' captain chaos”, in Herald Sun. From the entry runscorer
Meaning of captain
- noun A chief or leader.
- noun The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.
- noun An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.
Questions about the past tense of captain
- What is the past tense of captain?
- The past tense of captain is captained.
- What is the past participle of captain?
- The past participle of captain is captained.
- Is captain a regular or irregular verb?
- Captain is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: captain (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 captain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/captain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.