Past tense of phrase
regular verb
The past tense of phrase is phrased. The past participle is also phrased.
Forms of phrase
| Base form (V1) | phrase /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | phrased /fɹeɪzd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | phrased /fɹeɪzd/ |
| Present participle | phrasing /ˈfɹeɪzɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | phrases /ˈfɹeɪzɪz/ |
Phrased in a sentence
- Like other readers, they enjoy good reading and delight in lively, neatly phrased ideas.2004, George Ehrenhaft, Robert L. Lehrman, Allan Mundsack, Fred Obrecht, Barron's How to Prepare for the ACT Assessment, 13th edition…. From the entry throw the bull
- Her idea of wit is nothing more than an incisive observation humorously phrased and delivered with impeccable timing".1996 February 4, Jennifer Crittenden, “Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 14, production…. From the entry wit
- The relevant tags here were very similar to LJ, if phrased slightly differently: e.g., parentlock (portmanteau of parent + Sherlock), military John, genderswap, mpreg.2017, Judith May Fathallah, Fanfiction and the Author: How Fanfic Changes Popular Cultural Texts, page 65. From the entry parentlock
- I asked Father Butterballino, “Why do it at all, if you're going to do it in this rinky-dink, sneaky way?” (phrased more diplomatically, of course).2012, Scott Pomfret, Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir, →ISBN, page 246. From the entry rinky-dink
- In a city where everybody was "hustling," everybody, as they phrased it, "on the make," why should anyone take a second glance at Peter Gudge?1920, Upton Sinclair, chapter 1, in 100%: The Story of a Patriot. From the entry on the make
Meaning of phrase
- noun A short written or spoken expression.
- noun A word or, more commonly, a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, always containing an expressed or implied head (the principal word or subgroup, with core importance) and often consisting of a head plus some other elaborating words.
- noun A small section of music in a larger piece.
Questions about the past tense of phrase
- What is the past tense of phrase?
- The past tense of phrase is phrased.
- What is the past participle of phrase?
- The past participle of phrase is phrased.
- Is phrase a regular or irregular verb?
- Phrase is a regular verb: its past tense adds -d.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: phrase (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 phrase.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/phrase. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.