What’s the past tense of “fly”?
| Simple Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| flew (past tense) | flown (past participle) |
- The aircraft is fully functional and fit to fly.
- She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.
- A wasp had flown in through the window.
- The planes flew through the clouds.
- The bird flew away.
- He flew to Los Angeles.
- He flew back to London.
- They flew a route between Chicago and New York.
Examples with “flown” (past participle) in sentences
- Personnel have to be flown in.
- I’ve never flown before.
- The year has flown by.
- The relief supplies are being flown from a warehouse in Pisa.
- The birds had flown, and their empty nests in the bare trees were filled with snow.
Idioms with “fly”
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| monkeys might fly out of my butt | said when there’s no chance of something happening |
| 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 |
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”.
Practice: Forms of “Fly”
Question 1 of 5
The birds ______ south for the winter.
I have never ______ in a helicopter before.
He ______ to New York for a business meeting last week.
The pilot had ______ that same route hundreds of times.
We watched the eagle ______ gracefully over the valley.
FAQs
- Q: What is the past tense of ‘fly’?
A: The simple past tense of the verb ‘fly’ is ‘flew’. For example, “The planes flew through the clouds.” The post also notes that ‘flown’ is the past participle. - Q: Is ‘fly’ a regular verb?
A: 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. - Q: When should I use ‘flew’?
A: Use ‘flew’ for the simple past tense of ‘fly’. The post states this describes an action that was completed in the past, like “She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.” - Q: When should I use ‘flown’?
A: Use ‘flown’ as the past participle of ‘fly’. The post shows ‘flown’ is 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.” - Q: Why is ‘flown’ wrong alone?
A: The post explains that ‘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.
Sources
- Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of fly.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/fly. Accessed 21 January, 2023.
Yash, D. "How to Use Flew or Flown? (Irregular Verb Forms)." Grammarflex, Aug 24, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/flew-or-flown/.
