How to Use Ate or Eaten? (Irregular Verbs Conjugations)

First published on December 16, 2022 by Dalia Y.|Last revised on October 20, 2024

To eat is the base verb (present simple). Ate is the simple past tense, and eaten is the past participle form used in perfect/continuous tense constructions.

Past Tense Of

How to Use Ate or Eaten? (Irregular Verbs Conjugations)

What's the past tense of "eat"?

The simple past tense of eat is ate, and the past participle is eaten. Use ate for simple past and eaten for past participle forms.

Definition of eat

The Collins Dictionary defines eat as: "When you eat something, you put it into your mouth, chew it, and swallow it." The word encompasses both consuming individual food items and having meals in general.

The past tense of eat is ate.
The past participle of eat is eaten.

Verb forms of 'eat'

Simple Cont. Perfect Perfect Cont.

Present

I/you/they eat • He/she/it eats

Past

I/you/they ate • He/she/it ate

Future

I/you/they will eat • He/she/it will eat

Present

I am/you are eating • He/she/it is eating

Past

I was/you were eating • He/she/it was eating

Future

I/you will be eating • He/she/it will be eating

Present

I/you have eaten • He/she/it has eaten

Past

I/you had eaten • He/she/it had eaten

Future

I/you will have eaten • He/she/it will have eaten

Present

I have been eating • He/she/it has been eating

Past

I had been eating • He/she/it had been eating

Future

I will have been eating • He/she/it will have been eating

Is "eat" a regular or irregular verb?

The verb eat is irregular. Its past tense and past participle forms are ate and eaten, not "eated." This pattern is shared with many English verbs that change their vowel sound in the past tense.

When to use ate vs. eaten

I ate breakfast this morning.

She has eaten lunch already.

The participle form of a verb (shown in the second sentence) uses the auxiliary verb have (in its contraction, has). This indicates that the participle form is in use, not the simple past. The simple past doesn't use a helper verb since it's a complete tense, so ate can stand alone in sentences, whereas participles require an auxiliary verb.

Similar irregular verbs

eat

Past: ate

Past part: eaten

Sentence examples: eat, ate, eaten

Eat (present tense)

• I eat breakfast every morning.

• She eats healthy food.

• They are eating dinner now.

Ate (past simple)

• I ate lunch at noon.

• We ate together yesterday.

• I ate breakfast this morning.

Eaten (present or past perfect)

• She has eaten already.

• I had eaten before you arrived.

• She has eaten lunch already.

Synonyms & nearby words

Synonyms for eat

consume devour ingest nibble feast graze

Nearby phrases

eat crow eat humble pie dog-eat-dog grab a bite to eat eat high on the hog

Common phrases with "eat" (detailed)

Dog-eat-dog

You have to be ruthless to achieve what you want in society.

Don't crap where you eat

Don't fill your home or workplace with messy relationships/risky situations.

Eat an elephant one bite at a time

You accomplish a big task by taking it one step at a time.

Could eat the crotch out of a low-flying duck

A way of saying that you're extremely hungry.

Eat crow / eat humble pie

To admit when you're wrong, even if it's embarrassing.

To eat one's cake and have it too

To simultaneously have two things that are mutually exclusive.

Eat high on the hog

To flourish or otherwise live well.

Eat the bread of idleness

A phrase from the bible meaning to eat food one didn't personally earn.

Grab a bite to eat

Meant literally. To go get something to eat.

Origin of the word eat

Middle English eten, from Old English etan (class V strong verb; past tense æt, present or past perfect) "consume food; devour, consume," from Proto-Germanic *etan.

Practice: “Eat” conjugations

FAQs

What's the simple past tense of "eat"?

The simple past tense of "eat" is "ate." This is used to describe a completed action in the past, such as "I ate dinner last night." It's a simple past tense verb and contrasts with the past participle.

What is the past participle of "eat"?

The present or past perfect). Unlike the simple past "ate," it always needs a helping verb.

How do I use "ate" correctly?

Use "ate" in simple past tense sentences to describe a completed action in the past. For instance, "I ate a delicious pizza." It stands alone, unlike "eaten," which always needs a helping verb.

When is "eaten" the correct choice?

"Eaten" is the present or past perfect).

What are common mistakes with "eat"?

Common errors include using "eat" in the past tense ("Yesterday, I eat...") instead of "ate" or using "eaten" without a helping verb ("She eaten..."). Remember to use "ate" for simple past and "eaten" with helping verbs.