How to Use Swore vs. Sworn (Irregular Verb Conjugations)

Updated August 6, 2025

Originally published March 7, 2023

5 min read

By Yash, D

Swore is the simple past tense, whereas sworn is the past participle form of the present tense verb, swear.

Past Tense Of

How to Use Swore vs. Sworn (Irregular Verb Conjugations)

What’s the past tense of “swear”?

Swearing describes the use of rude or offensive language, usually uttered of anger.

To swear has a second meaning, which is to “promise to do something, and state, in a serious way, that you will do it.” Here, it’s synonymous with words like pledge or assure.

Tenses of the verb “swear”

	Present	Past	Future
Simple	I swear	I swore	I will swear
Continuous	I am swearing	I was swearing	I will be swearing
Perfect	I have sworn	I had sworn	I will have sworn
Perfect Continuous	I have been swearing	I had been swearing	I will have been swearing

When to use “swore” or “sworn”

You swore not to say anything.

She had sworn he looked familiar.

Both swore and sworn are past verb forms of swear (present tense). What distinguishes swore and sworn are the contexts and appropriate tenses that either form should be used in. As you’d guess, the first sentence uses the simple past tense conjugation of swear, i.e., swore. The second sentence combines the past participle ‘sworn‘ with the auxiliary verb had to form the past perfect tense. We would also use sworn with the auxiliary have in the present perfect tense. To better understand when you’d use either tense, we recommend reading this article on the present perfect tense.

Examples of “swear”, “swore”, and “sworn” in sentences

Verb form	Example sentences
know
swear (swearing, swears)	It's wrong to yell and swear. He swears to tell the whole truth. I swear I'm telling you everything I know.
swore	I fell over and swore not realizing the kids were listening. They swore they' be back by evening. We swore we had nothing to do with it!
sworn	They have sworn not to share his secret with anyone. I'd sworn to have this project finished by end of week. The witness had sworn under oath to tell the truth.

Phrases & idioms with swear

Phrases with “know”: meanings
Phrase	Meaning
to swear by	To believe strongly in something or someone, and have faith in them.
to swear off [something or someone]	To promise to stop doing something or to avoid something that is considered harmful or negative.
to swear like a sailor	To use profanity or curse words excessively and loudly.
to swear in [or be sworn in]	To administer an oath to someone as part of a formal ceremony to confirm their appointment or election to a position.
to swear up and down	To swear or affirm something with great emphasis or conviction, often in the face of doubt or skepticism.
to swear one to secrecy	to recover and succeed again after destruction or failure
to swear out a warrant	to file a legal or judicial claim against someone or something.
to pinkie swear	A playful way of saying you promise to tell the truth or keep a secret.
to swear on one's grave	To solemnly pledge to be telling the truth.

Origin of swear

Proto-Germanic, swērjanan* (uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE swer- “to speak, talk, say”).

Worksheet: Irregular verbs

FAQs

What’s the simple past tense of swear?
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According to the post, the simple past tense conjugation of ‘swear’ is ‘swore’. It’s used in simple past sentences like “She fell over and swore loudly” or “Alan ___ that he would do everything in.

When do I use “swore”?
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You should use ‘swore’ for the simple past tense of the verb ‘swear’. The post gives examples such as “She swore she’d never seen him before” and “They swore at them and ran off.”

When do I use “sworn”?
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‘Sworn’ is the past participle of ‘swear’. The post states it is used with auxiliary verbs like ‘have’ or ‘had’ in perfect tenses, as in “We have sworn to fight cruelty wherever we find it.”

What does “swear” mean?
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The post gives two meanings: using rude or offensive language, usually because you’re angry; or promising to do something in a serious way, synonymous with words like pledge or assure.

Is “swear” a regular verb?
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Based on a practice question in the post, ‘swear’ is identified as a non-regular verb. It does not follow the pattern of adding ‘-ed’ to form its past tense and past participle.

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