Past tense of dwell
irregular verb
The past tense of dwell is dwelt or dwelled. The past participle is also dwelt or dwelled.
Forms of dwell
| Base form (V1) | dwell /dwɛl/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | dwelt /ˈdwɛlt/ dwelled /dwɛld/ |
| Past participle (V3) | dwelt /ˈdwɛlt/ dwelled /dwɛld/ |
| Present participle | dwelling /ˈdwɛl.ɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | dwells /dwɛlz/ |
Dwelt and dwelled in a sentence
- So it came about that long ere Ailie reached home it was on young Heriotside that her mind dwelled, and it was the love of him that made her eyes glow and her cheeks redden.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- In such a light, it was possible to believe faefolk dwelt in secret places.2013, Terri-Lynne DeFino, Beyond the Gate. From the entry faefolk
- But our particular friends were the rats, that dwelt by the stream.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC. From the entry titbit
- More particularly, and important for understanding much UFO religions, is Blavatsky's belief that certain masters dwelt on Venus.2003, Christopher Hugh Partridge, UFO religions, Routledge, page 10. From the entry UFO religion
- Each attempt has failed and each writer has dwelt with peculiar emphasis upon the qualities of the Mona Lisan smile.1914 March 20, Frederic J. Haskin, “The Restored Mona Lisa”, in The Evening Star, number 19,532, Washington, D.C., page 10. From the entry Mona Lisan
Meaning of dwell
- noun A period of time in which a system or component remains in a given state.
- noun A brief pause in the motion of part of a mechanism to allow an operation to be completed.
- noun A planned delay in a timed control program.
Verbs like dwell
Questions about the past tense of dwell
- What is the past tense of dwell?
- The past tense of dwell is dwelt or dwelled.
- What is the past participle of dwell?
- The past participle of dwell is dwelt or dwelled.
- Is dwell a regular or irregular verb?
- Dwell is an irregular verb: its past tense is not formed with -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dwell (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 dwell.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/dwell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.