Past tense of motivate
regular verb
The past tense of motivate is motivated. The past participle is also motivated.
Forms of motivate
| Base form (V1) | motivate /ˈməʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | motivated |
| Past participle (V3) | motivated |
| Present participle | motivating |
| Third person singular | motivates |
Motivated in a sentence
- He was motivated purely by self-interest.
- Steam-motivated pumps are used in manufacturing.
- They set accomplishable goals to keep the team motivated and focused.From the entry accomplishable
- The missionary was motivated by a sincere desire to rescue souls from eternal torment in the netherworld.From the entry netherworld
- We're looking for a highly motivated individual who will fit into our fast-paced corporate culture.From the entry motivated
Meaning of motivate
- verb To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate.
- verb To animate; to propel; to cause to take action.
Questions about the past tense of motivate
- What is the past tense of motivate?
- The past tense of motivate is motivated.
- What is the past participle of motivate?
- The past participle of motivate is motivated.
- Is motivate a regular or irregular verb?
- Motivate is a regular verb: its past tense adds -d.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: motivate (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.
Last updated:
Cite this page: “Past tense of motivate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/motivate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.