Past tense of obey
regular verb
The past tense of obey is obeyed. The past participle is also obeyed.
Forms of obey
| Base form (V1) | obey /əʊˈbeɪ/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | obeyed /əʊˈbeɪd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | obeyed /əʊˈbeɪd/ |
| Present participle | obeying |
| Third person singular | obeys |
Obeyed in a sentence
- The request, "Chest your cards, please," or an equivalent, should be obeyed promptly.1969, Conde nast publications, Vogue's book of etiquette and good manners, page 71. From the entry chest one's cards
- The slant-eyed man was small, but the great hippocephalic bird was there to see he was obeyed.1927, H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath. From the entry hippocephalic
- A literal, simple soul that obeyed to the letter the slogan of the Anti-Saloon League.1925, Benjamin De Casseres, Mirrors of New York, page 79. From the entry bootleggery
- All feared and obeyed him; to use his roads we must have his countenance.1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “(please specify the page)”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph…. From the entry countenance
- Painstakingly negotiated agreements governed many aspects of international relations; the doctrine of pacta sunt servanda dictated that those agreements be obeyed.2015, Susan Pedersen, ‘At least we worried’, London Review of Books, volume 37, number 12. From the entry pacta sunt servanda
Meaning of obey
- verb To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
- verb To do as one is told.
- verb To be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).
Questions about the past tense of obey
- What is the past tense of obey?
- The past tense of obey is obeyed.
- What is the past participle of obey?
- The past participle of obey is obeyed.
- Is obey a regular or irregular verb?
- Obey is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: obey (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 obey.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/obey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.