How to Use Beat or *Beated (Irregular Verb Conjugations)

What's the past tense of "beat"?

Beat, which sounds like beet, the root vegetable, is a versatile verb that can mean to strike something repeatedly, to defeat someone or something, or to mix ingredients vigorously ("beat the eggs").

Being an irregular verb, the simple past tense is also beat. Beated is incorrect in all cases. The past participle form is beaten.

Definition of beat

The Oxford English Dictionary defines beat as "to strike (a person or animal) repeatedly and violently so as to hurt or injure them; to defeat or do better than." The verb is used in both physical contexts (beating eggs, beating a drum) and competitive contexts (beating a record, beating an opponent).

• The past tense of beat is beat.

• The past participle of beat is beaten.

Verb forms of 'beat'

Is "beat" a regular or irregular verb?

Note: Regular verbs end in -ed in the past tense. Any other verb ending is considered irregular.

The verb beat is irregular. The past tense remains beat (the same as the base form), and the past participle form is beaten. Regular verbs would add -ed, but beat follows an irregular pattern shared by some other English verbs.

When to use "beat" vs. "beaten"

She beat the champion in the final round.

The eggs have been beaten until fluffy.

The participle form of a verb (shown in the second sentence) uses the auxiliary verb have as a contraction, I've.

When auxiliaries like have or had appear in the same sentence as a past participle verb form, this indicates that the verb's aspect is in the present or past perfect, and not the simple past tense.

Remember, a participle always uses a helper verb to form the complete tense or aspect. Simple tenses, on the other hand, can stand on their own.

Sentence examples: beat, beat, beaten

Synonyms & nearby words

Practice: "Beat" verb conjugations