How to Use Sang or Sung (Definition, Correct Usage)

August 9, 2025

5 min read

By Yash, D

Sing is the simple present, sang is the standard simple past tense, and sung is the past participle.

How to Use Sang or Sung (Definition, Correct Usage)

What’s the past tense of “sing”?

Have you ever sung your sweet soul out in the shower? Do you like to sing? If you’d like—sing a song about the proper tenses of the verb sing—now would be a good time do so.

Let’s answer some common questions on the verb and topic of today’s post: what’s the past tense of sing?

“Sang” or “sung”, which is correct?

Sing is the base verb and simple present tense.
Sang is the simple past verb form;
Sung is the past participle used in perfect/progressive tense constructions with auxiliaries.

Altogether, the irregular verb sing uses two past tense conjugations sang and sung. “Sung” is the past participle form used with auxiliaries, (e.g., had in the past perfect; have in the present perfect, respectively).

Conjugations of “sing”

	Present	Past	Future
Simple	I sing	I sang	I will sing
Continuous	I am singing	I was singing	I will be singing
Perfect	I have sung	I had sung	I will have sung
Perfect Continuous	I have been singing	I had been singing	I will have been singing

Irregular verbs like sing

Base verb	Past tense	Past participle
grow	grew	grown
give	gave	given
begin	began	begun
sing	sang	sung
drink	drank	drunk

Irregular verbs with two past tenses.

I wish I knew how to sing.
Wow, she might love to sing, but she shouldn’t quit her day job.
You sing beautifully!
People that can sing have a cherished gift and talent.

Sentences with “sang” (simple past)

Rob played piano and Lucy sang.
She sang the anthem.
She sang in her church choir.
I sang in an a cappella group in college.
“I was born singing. Most babies cry, I sang an aria.” —Gail Carson Levine, Fairest

Sentences with “sung” (past participle)

She had sung with them on tour.
The mother had sung many songs by the time the baby fell asleep.
She had sung in her church choir when she was young.
They had sung and danced the night away.
The night of their wedding they’d sung at the tops of their lungs.

Phrases with “sing”

Phrase	Meaning
it’s not over until the fat lady sings	The final outcome of a situation can’t be determined until it’s entirely finished.
if you sing before breakfast, you’ll cry before night	If you’re too optimistic at the start of the day, you may end up having a bad day.
lay low and sing small	To be inconspicuous.
to sing someone’s praises	To speak highly of someone or something.
to sing for one’s supper	To obtain something by working for it.
to sing a different song/tune	To change one’s opinion or view of something.
to sing from the same songbook/hymnbook	To “be on the same page” as someone, or share the same view/understanding of a situation.

Origin of the word sing

Middle English singen, from Old English singan “to chant, sing,” especially in joy or merriment; “celebrate, or tell in song” from Proto-Germanic *sengwan.