Past tense of hesitate
regular verb
The past tense of hesitate is hesitated. The past participle is also hesitated.
Forms of hesitate
| Base form (V1) | hesitate /ˈhɛz.ɪ.teɪt/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | hesitated /ˈhɛzɪteɪtɪd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | hesitated /ˈhɛzɪteɪtɪd/ |
| Present participle | hesitating /ˈhɛzɪteɪtɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | hesitates |
Hesitated in a sentence
- He hesitated whether to accept the offer or not; men often hesitate in forming a judgment.
- He hesitated about climbing such a small, rickety ladder.From the entry rickety
- The manager hesitated to open the doors to the thronging holiday crowds, knowing that a feeding frenzy would soon ensue near the display of coveted toys.From the entry feeding frenzy
- When she hesitated, he picked up his helmet and said, “I’ve got a spare.2016, M[ary] A[ann] Clarke Scott, chapter 5, in Reconcilable Differences (A Having It All Novel; 1), [Vancouver, B.C.], →ISBN, page 75. From the entry c'm'on
- Behind her, a band of drummers hesitated in mid-beat over now-silent dumbeks.2014, Robin Wayne Bailey, Swords Against the Shadowland, →ISBN. From the entry dumbek
Meaning of hesitate
- verb To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
- verb To stammer; to falter in speaking.
- verb To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
Questions about the past tense of hesitate
- What is the past tense of hesitate?
- The past tense of hesitate is hesitated.
- What is the past participle of hesitate?
- The past participle of hesitate is hesitated.
- Is hesitate a regular or irregular verb?
- Hesitate is a regular verb: its past tense adds -d.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hesitate (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 hesitate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/hesitate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.