What’s the past tense of “sew”?
Were the clothes sewed (pronounced sow-ed), or were they sewn (which rhymes with loan)? Is sew another one of those irregular, and therefore inherently more complicated, verbs in English? You guessed it! Keep reading to learn more on the verb sew.
He sewed the button back on his shirt.
I’ve sewn since I was young.
Sewed or sewn?
First, let’s get a dictionary definition of the verb, sew: as defined by the Oxford Learner’s dictionary, to sew is when we “use a needle and thread to make stitches in cloth.” The verb sew (present tense) is both regular and irregular, since it has two commonly used past tense forms: sewed and sewn. Sewed is the regular verb form, since it ends in -ed; sewn is an irregular past verb form since it does not end in -ed.
- Sewed is more commonly used as the simple past tense conjugation, though sewn is also accepted as the simple past tense.
- Typically, sewn is used as the past participle verb form and pairs with auxiliary verbs, like had/have (to form the past perfect and present perfect tenses, respectively).
| present | past | future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| simple | I sew | I sewed/sewn | I will sew |
| continuous | I am sewing | I was sewing | I will be sewing |
| perfect | I have sewn | I had sewn | I will have sewn |
| perfect continuous | I have been sewing | I had been sewing | I will have been sewing |
Verb tenses of ‘sew’
| Verb conjugation | Examples |
|---|---|
| sew (present tense) | Can you sew a button on for me? |
| sewed (simple past) | He sewed a patch onto his sleeve. |
| sewing (present participle) | I’ve been sewing her dress in preparation for the big day. |
| sews (third-person present singular) | She sews and designs dresses for a living. |
| sewed/sewn (past participle) | The squares of fabric were all sewn neatly together. |
When to use sewed or sewn
Compare the following sentences (and note the differences between them).
| Past Tense (“sewed”) | Past Participle (“sewn”) |
|---|---|
| He sewed the patch onto the back of his jeans. | The jewel was sewn into the lining of his coat. |
The simple past tense conjugation (e.g., sewed/sewn) appears as a complete verb tense, without the need for any auxiliary verbs, such as have/had. The second sentence example, which uses the past participle verb form sewn, couples with auxiliary verbs to form perfect or progressive tenses in grammar.
Sewed and sewn (sentence examp)
| Verb conjugation | Examples |
|---|---|
| sewed |
He sewed the patch onto the back of his jeans.
He sewed a patch onto his sleeve. The surgeon sewed the wound shut. |
| sewn |
The jewel was sewn into the lining of his coat.
The squares of fabric were all sewn neatly together. …the ends of which are sewn together, a forming a kind of skirt. |
Similar words and phrases
| Synonyms | Phrases |
|---|---|
| sew | hem, stitch, suture, thread, seam |
| Idioms/phrases | A stitch in time saves nine, all sewed-up, cut from the same cloth |
Origin of the verb sew
From etymology online on sew (v.):
“Unite or attach (fabric, etc.) by means of thread or similar material, with or without aid of a needle or awl;” Middle English seuen, from Old English siwian “to stitch, sew, mend, patch, knit together, fasten by sewing,” earlier siowian, from Proto-Germanic *siwjanan.
More irregular verbs!
| Types of verbs & verb tenses | what’s the past tense of …? |
|---|---|
| forms of ‘to be’ | … seek? |
| auxiliary verbs | … teach? |
| present tense | … catch? |
| future tense | … buy? |
| past tense | … read? |
| perfect tense | … draw? |
| transitive vs. intransitive | … drive? |
| participles | … throw? |
| irregular verbs | … lead? |
| modals | … win? |
Practice: Irregular verbs
She ______ a beautiful dress for her daughter last weekend.
If the button falls off, I can ______ it back on for you.
The quilt was ______ by hand using colorful threads.
He has ______ patches onto his jacket for years.
She learned how to ______ when she was a child.
FAQs
What’s the past tense of sew?
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Is sew a regular verb?
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When do I use “sewn”?
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When do I use “sewed”?
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How do I use sewn as participle?
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Yash, D. "How to Use Sewed vs. Sewn (Explanation, Plus Examples)." Grammarflex, Aug 24, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/sewed-or-sewn/.
