Base
I eat breakfast at seven.
A daily routine in the present uses eat.
Past Tense of Eat: Ate and Eaten
Eat is an irregular verb. Use ate for a finished action in the past. Use eaten after have or has.
Base
eat
Past
ate
Past participle
eaten
Third person: eats · -ing form: eating
ABC: form patternExamples
Base
Cats eat fish.
A general fact in the present uses eat.
Past
We ate pizza on Friday.
Friday is a finished time, so use ate.
Past
She ate an apple after school.
Ate is the past simple; it does not need have.
Past participle
I have eaten too much cake.
Have eaten connects the past with now.
Past participle
The children have already eaten.
After have, use eaten.
Usage notes
Pronouncing ate
In American English, ate sounds like eight, /eɪt/. In British English, it is often /ɛt/, like et. Both are correct. The spelling is always ate.
Eat or have for meals?
Eat is correct for food: eat lunch, eat an apple. But for meals, English often uses have: have breakfast, had dinner. In the past, say ate or had; both are natural.
Common mistakes
I eated rice for lunch.
I ate rice for lunch.
Eat is irregular. The past is ate, not eated.
She has ate already.
She has eaten already.
After has, use the past participle eaten, not ate.
Have you ate lunch yet?
Have you eaten lunch yet?
In present perfect questions, use have plus eaten.
Practise this verb
0/8
Choose the right form
Choose the form that completes each English sentence.
1.We ___ dinner at eight last night.
2.I have never ___ meat.
3.My dog ___ twice a day.
4.He ___ all the bread yesterday.
Write the missing form
Type the correct form of eat in each sentence.
Correct the mistake
Rewrite the English sentence with the correct verb form.
8.Choose the mistake in this sentence.
Answer key
1. We ___ dinner at eight last night.
Answer: ate
Last night is finished, so use ate.
2. I have never ___ meat.
Answer: eaten
Have takes the past participle eaten.
3. My dog ___ twice a day.
Answer: eats
A daily routine with my dog (it) uses eats.
4. He ___ all the bread yesterday.
Answer: ate
Yesterday takes the past simple ate. Eaten needs have.
5. Have you ___ lunch yet?
Answer: eaten
Have plus the past participle is have eaten.
6. Yesterday, I ___ soup for dinner.
Answer: ate
Yesterday takes the past simple ate.
7. They ___ at home on Sundays.
Answer: eat
A regular habit with they uses eat.
8. He has ate all the cookies.
Answer: He has eaten all the cookies.
After has, use eaten, not ate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the past tense of eat?
The past tense of eat is ate: I ate lunch an hour ago.
What is the past participle of eat?
The past participle is eaten: I have eaten lunch.
Is eated a word?
No. Eat is irregular. Use ate for the past and eaten for the past participle.