Past tense of contain
regular verb
The past tense of contain is contained. The past participle is also contained.
Forms of contain
| Base form (V1) | contain /kənˈteɪn/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | contained /kənˈteɪnd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | contained /kənˈteɪnd/ |
| Present participle | containing /kənˈteɪnɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | contains /kənˈteɪnz/ |
Contained in a sentence
- They were discounted because they contained blemishes, nicks or were otherwise factory seconds.From the entry second
- Her first novel contained a host of characters who were richly and convincingly drawn.From the entry draw
- His library contained the accumulated knowledge of the Greeks and Romans.From the entry knowledge
- The original manuscript contained spelling errors which were fixed in later versions.From the entry original
- The ESRB rated the video game M for Mature as it contained excessive blood and gore.From the entry m
Meaning of contain
- verb To hold inside.
- verb To include as a part.
- verb To put constraints upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds.
Questions about the past tense of contain
- What is the past tense of contain?
- The past tense of contain is contained.
- What is the past participle of contain?
- The past participle of contain is contained.
- Is contain a regular or irregular verb?
- Contain is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: contain (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 contain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/contain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.