What Is The Past Tense Of Speak?

The verb “speak” is one of the first ones that many learn when learning English as a second language. Even when it is our mother tongue, learning to speak is one of the biggest milestones in our early development, and thus the word has a firm place in the imaginations of English speakers everywhere.

The simple past tense of speak is “spoke” and the past participle is “spoken.”

What is the past tense of “speak”?

Speak (verb):

(1) To say something with the aim of conveying information, opinions or ideas to another person

(2) To give evidence about something (used for objects, behavior, manner, etc.)

• Infinitive                       to speak
• Simple Past                spoke
• Past Participle             spoken

Conjugation Table of “speak”

Pronoun	Infinitive	Simple Past	Present Perfect	Present Continuous
I	speak	spoke	have spoken	am speaking
You (sing.)	speak	spoke	have spoken	are speaking
He/She/It	speaks	spoke	has spoken	is speaking
We	speak	spoke	have spoken	are speaking
You (pl.)	speak	spoke	have spoken	are speaking
They	speak	spoke	have spoken	are speaking

Example Sentences of “speak”

(1) To say something with the aim of conveying information, opinions or ideas to another person

• He spoke with clarity and conviction
• When someone else is speaking, you should be listening
• If you want to learn to speak another language, you should be ready for a big challenge

(2) To give evidence about something (used for objects, behavior, manner, etc.)

• The bags under his eyes speak to his lack of sleep recently
• His manner in court yesterday seemingly spoke guilt, it was difficult to watch

Focus: Past Tense of Speak

For a better and more comprehensive understanding of the word “speak” and how to use it in the past tense, we should study some example sentences in the following forms:

• Simple past
• Present perfect
• Past continuous
• Past perfect

Simple Past of “speak”

• The teacher spoke very quickly in class, and I’m afraid I couldn’t keep up when note taking
• He spoke to me in such a rude manner, I had to ask him to leave the room and come back later
• They spoke to one another like old friends, but they were thinking something very different

Present Perfect of “speak”

• I have spoken on this topic many times before, so I feel confident about this presentation
• My sister and I haven’t spoken in years because of some fight we had when we were in college. Do you know? I can’t even remember what the fight was about
• He has spoken to me before about you, and I am very excited to finally meet you in person

Past Continuous of “speak”

• I was speaking to him yesterday, but he seemed distracted
• Was that John you were speaking to yesterday?
• We were really speaking the same language during the meeting yesterday. I’m glad to hear you are being so supportive of the plan

Past Perfect of “speak”

• I had spoken to them about this on that very afternoon, so I’m surprised to hear that they subsequently went out and did that!
• You had spoken briefly about that topic, but I think were then interrupted by the fire alarm

Understanding the Verb “Speak”

“Speak” comes from the Old English “sprecan,” meaning “to talk.” It’s a fundamental verb for communication.

Phrasal Verbs with “Speak”

1. Speak up: To talk more loudly or more openly.
   • Can you speak up? I can’t hear you at the back.
   • It’s important to speak up for what you believe in.
2. Speak out: To publicly state one’s opinions or protest against something.
   • She spoke out against the injustices she witnessed.
   • Many celebrities are speaking out about mental health issues.
3. Speak for: To represent or express the thoughts or feelings of someone.
   • I can’t speak for everyone, but I believe this is a good decision.
   • Does this letter speak for the entire committee?

Common Mistakes with “Speak”

• Incorrect: He has spoke to the manager.
• Correct: He has spoken to the manager.

• Incorrect: I haven’t never spoke to him.
• Correct: I have never spoken to him.

We also have a full list of irregular verbs from A – Z on the site which you can access from the link here.

You can check other past tense words by clicking on the links in the table below.

Table 2: Table of Links for irregular Past Tense Verbs

bend	meet	copy	beat
lay	draw	buy	Fly
Drink	Think	wear	dive
rise	dream	Speak	bite
bear	begin	freeze	sink
get	give	take	sing
learn	keep	find	be
say	catch	eat	come
go	know	do	cut
drive	fall	let	make
pay	read	build	become

We also have articles and worksheets which we will link examples of below, and if you need more you can try the search box.

• Free Simple Past Tense Worksheets
• irregular verb list
• Simple Present Tense Worksheets
• Regular and irregular past tense worksheets
• Free online past tense games.
• Present perfect tense worksheets
• Simple Future tense worksheets
• Simple Past tense ‘ed’ ending rules and handouts