The verb to fly is irregular, since neither of its past tense forms end in -ed, as regular verb forms do. Walked, talked, laughed, and played are all examples of regular verb forms in English, since they end in -ed in both their past tense and past participle forms.

fly

Past: flew

Past part: flown

draw

Idioms & Phrases with "fly"

to be like a fly in milk

to be conspicuous or obvious

a fly in the ointment

to detract from a positive situation

wouldn't hurt a fly

said of someone harmless/gentle or kind

to fly off the handle

to be uncontrollably angry

you must lose a fly to catch a trout

small sacrifices are sometimes necessary for bigger gains

kill a fly with an elephant gun

to take excessive means to accomplish a relatively small task

fly by the seat of one's pants

to improvise rather than plan

if pigs could fly

meaning that something is impossible to accomplish or achieve

to fly too close to the sun

to take on something extremely ambitious that may lead to one's undoing

run around like a blue-arsed fly

to work quickly while taking on a large number of tasks

a fly on the wall

to be an observer and quiet in a situation

birds of a feather fly/flock

people with similar sentiments and attitudes stick together

Sentence examples: fly, flew, flown

Fly (present tense)

Examples:

• The aircraft is fully functional and fit to fly.

• Birds fly south for the winter.

• The planes fly through the clouds.

Flew (past simple)

Examples:

• She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.

• The bird flew away.

• He flew to Los Angeles.

Flown (past participle)

Examples:

• A wasp had flown in through the window.

• I've never flown before.

• The year has flown by.

Origin of the word "fly"

From etymology online on fly (v.):

"To soar through air; move through the air with wings," Old English fleogan "to fly, take flight, rise into the air" from Proto-Germanic *fleugan "to fly".

FAQs

What is the past tense of "fly"?

The simple past tense of the verb "fly" is flew. For example, "The planes flew through the clouds." The past participle is "flown".

Is "fly" a regular verb?

No, the verb "fly" is irregular. Regular verbs form their past tense by adding "-ed", but "fly" uses "flew" for the simple past and "flown" for the past participle.

When should I use "flew"?

Use "flew" for the simple past tense of "fly". This describes an action that was completed in the past, like "She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth."

When should I use "flown"?

Use "flown" as the past participle of "fly". It's paired with auxiliary verbs (like have or had), as in "I have flown that airline before" or "A wasp had flown in through the window."

Why is "flown" wrong alone?

"Flown" is the past participle and needs an auxiliary verb (like have, had) to be grammatically correct in a sentence. Using "flown" alone, as in "The pilot flown...", is incorrect.