How to Use Lighted or Lit (Explained, Examples & Quiz)

August 7, 2025

5 min read

By Yash, D

Lighted vs Lit in conversation. By Gflex. What’s the past tense of “light”? “Light” is what we call the life-sustaining stuff that emanates from the sun …or a lamp…and even the screen you’re using to...

Past Tense Of

How to Use Lighted or Lit (Explained, Examples & Quiz)

Lighted vs Lit in conversation. — *Lighted* vs *Lit* in conversation. By *Gflex*.

What’s the past tense of “light”?

“Light” is what we call the life-sustaining stuff that emanates from the sun …or a lamp…and even the screen you’re using to read this ‘illuminating’ lesson on irregular verbs.

As a verb, ‘light’ can mean to set fire or ignite something (“Please light the candles”). It can also refer to something that is illuminated, as in, “…the fire lit the cold and damp room”.

More often than not, in daily conversation, ‘light’ and its forms are meant figuratively as a turn of phrase: She lights up each room she enters.

👍🏼Examples

Present simple: Please light the candle.

Past simple: She lit the fire to stay warm.

Past participle: The hallway was dimly lighted by a single bulb.

Incorrect: He litted the match.

Forms of the verb “light”

	Present	Past	Future
simple	I light	I lit/lighted	I will light
continuous	I am lighting	I was lighting	I will be lighting
perfect	I have lit/lighted	I had lit/lighted	I will have lit/lighted
perfect continuous	I have been lighting	I had been lighting	I will have been lighting

Is “light” a regular or irregular verb?

Both lit and lighted are correct for the past tense and past participle of light, but lit is more common in modern English. Use lighted when you want to emphasize the process of making something bright, especially in formal writing.

Base Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
light	lit / lighted	lit / lighted
lend	lent	lent
bend	bent	bent
send	sent	sent
spend	spent	spent

Practice: Forms of “Light”

FAQs

What is the past tense of “light”?
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Both “lit” and “lighted” are correct past tenses of “light.” “Lit” is more common, while “lighted” is often used as an adjective before a noun (e.g., “a lighted candle”).

Is “litted” ever correct?
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No, “litted” is not a correct word. The correct past tense and past participle forms are “lit” or “lighted.”

Is “light” a regular verb?
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It is both. It has a regular past tense form (“lighted”) and an irregular one (“lit”).

When should I use “lighted” vs. “lit”?
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“Lit” is the more common choice for the simple past tense (He lit the fire). “Lighted” is often preferred when used as an adjective before a noun (a brightly lighted room), though “lit” is also correct here.

Yash, D. "How to Use Lighted or Lit (Explained, Examples & Quiz)." Grammarflex, Aug 7, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/lighted-or-lit/.

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