Is breeded or bred the correct past tense?
How should you denote the past tense of the verb breed? Breeded or bred? If you’re looking for the short answer, it’s bred. For the longer (and better, more comprehensive) answer, read the full post.
Conjugations of breed
| Present | Past | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | I breed | I bred | I will breed |
| Continuous | I am breeding | I was breeding | I will be breeding |
| Perfect | I have bred | I had bred | I will have bred |
| Perfect Continuous | I have been breeding | I had been breeding | I will have been breeding |
what does ‘breed’ mean?
To clarify any confusion, the word breed can be both a verb and a noun, but not at the same time. As a noun, the word breed is understood as “a breed of a pet animal or farm animal is a particular type of it. For example, terriers are a breed of dog” (defined by Collins Dictionary).
As a verb, breed is understood as, ‘if you breed animals or plants, you keep them for the purpose of producing more animals or plants with particular qualities, in a controlled way: He lived alone, breeding horses and dogs.‘ (defined by Collins Dictionary, breed).
is breed a regular or irregular verb?
Is breed a regular or irregular verb? What’s the difference between regular and irregular verbs? It’s a simple rule: verbs that end in –ed in their past verb forms are regular; anything other ending is irregular. The thing is, you may have noticed that the verb breed does, in fact, end in –ed in both its past tense verb forms, as both are bred. Wouldn’t that make the verb breed a regular verb rather than irregular?
Not quite. Breed remains firmly within the category of irregular verbs. Notice how breed modifies from the present to its past verb forms: breed/bred vs. the way regular verbs like walk/walked, and talk/talked modify in their verb forms. Can you spot the difference?
| base verb | past tense | past participle |
|---|---|---|
| lead | led | led |
| speed | sped | sped |
| bleed | bled | bled |
| feed | fed | fed |
| breed | bred | bred |
Regular verbs add or attach the –ed to the base form of the verb to show tense or aspect. Breed, on the other hand, removes an internal (e) vowel, and does not add anything else to its base form (breed), which leaves it as bred.
This changes the entire spelling and pronunciation of the past forms of breed, which rhymes with speed. Bred, which rhymes with bread and spread, doesn’t add the –ed, but just removes an –e. For English speakers, this adjustment is weird. it’s also why breed is an irregular verb that is frequently mistaken and confused.
breeded or bred?
| Form | Examples |
|---|---|
| Past tense | I was born and bred in the highlands. |
| Past participle | These dogs had been bred to fight. |
The past tense of “breed,” associate it with the word “bread”—both are short, single-syllable words, and “bred” is the correct past tense.
Examples of the verb breed in context
|
1. During the breeding season the birds come ashore. (present participle) |
|
2. He used to breed dogs for the police. |
|
3. Frogs will usually breed in any convenient pond. |
|
4. He lived alone, breeding horses and dogs. (present participle) |
|
5. The area now attracts over 60 species of breeding birds. (present participle) |
Examples of the word bred in context
|
1. I’m a countryman born and bred. |
|
2. The birds bred successfully in the dense forests. |
|
3. I was born and bred in the highlands. |
|
4. The bear bred two cubs. |
|
5. This breed is known to bred plentifully. |
Phrases with the word breed/bred
- love breeds love (love begets love, kindness begets kindness)
- old enough to bleed, old enough to breed (once a girl starts menstruating she is ‘old enough’ to bear children)
- like breeds like (habits and traits are inherited).
- familiarity breeds contempt (knowing someone too well, or overexposure can cause hostility)
- breed like rabbits (have tons of children/offpsring)
- born and bred (raised in a certain place/or to do a certain thing)
Origin of the verb breed
Old English bredan “bring (young) to birth, procreate,” also “cherish, keep warm,” from West Germanic *brodjan.
Practice: ‘Breed’ word forms
Farmers often ___ cattle for milk and meat.
She ___ dogs for many years before retiring.
These horses were ___ for speed and endurance.
The farmer plans to ___ a new variety of sheep.
The golden retriever is a popular ___ of dog.
FAQs
What’s the past tense of breed?
+
Is ‘breeded’ the correct past tense?
+
How is ‘bred’ used?
+
Is breed a regular verb?
+
Why is breed irregular?
+
Sources
-
Definition of breed from the Collins English Dictionary. Accessed on January 17, 2023.
Yash, D. "How to Use *Breeded or Bred (Explained, With Examples)." Grammarflex, Aug 24, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/breeded-or-bred/.
