What Is The Past Tense of Freeze

The English verb “to freeze” might be most closely associated with the coldest season of the year, but of course it carries a wealth of different meanings, some of which we will explore below.

While the infinitive is “freeze,” the simple past tense is “froze” and the past participle is “frozen.” The present participle is “freezing,” which incidentally is also usable as an adjective to describe conditions that are very cold.

What is the past tense of “freeze”?

Freeze (verb):

(1) (Of a liquid) turn from a liquid state to a solid state due to downward temperature changes

(2) Store something in a very low temperature compartment/unit for preservation

(3) Suddenly stop and remain still

• Infinitive                       to freeze
• Simple Past                froze
• Past Participle             frozen

Conjugation Table of “freeze”

Pronoun	Infinitive	Simple Past	Present Perfect	Present Continuous
I	freeze	froze	have frozen	am freezing
You (sing.)	freeze	froze	have frozen	are freezing
He/She/It	freezes	froze	has frozen	is freezing
We	freeze	froze	have frozen	are freezing
You (pl.)	freeze	froze	have frozen	are freezing
They	freeze	froze	have frozen	are freezing

Example Sentences of “freeze”

(1) (Of a liquid) turn from a liquid state to a solid state due to downward temperature changes

• We left the can of Coke in the freezer for too long and it has frozen solid
• Winter weather is here, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the lake freezes up overnight
• Water freezes at about zero degrees centigrade, but what about mercury

(2) Store something in a very low temperature compartment/unit for preservation

• If you don’t want to eat that now, freeze it and look again in a few weeks time
• You can freeze just about anything if you want, it’s so convenient

(3) Suddenly stop and remain still

• Freeze! Don’t move!
• I froze as soon as I heard the strange, chilling noise coming from the attic

Focus: Past Tense of Freeze

Let’s learn more about using “freeze” in the past tense by looking at example sentences that use it in the following forms:

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

Simple Past of “freeze”

• We froze the chicken stock so we could eat it another day when we felt like making soup
• It was so cold that every body of water froze over completely.
• She froze with fear when she saw the man who had attacked he the week before

Present Perfect of “freeze”

• We have frozen all his bank assets in this country, and will keep it this way until we complete the investigation surrounding his alleged corruption
• Why did you leave the drinks in the freezer for so long? They have completely frozen up!

Past Continuous of “freeze”

• I was freezing the vegetables when the telephone rang
• They were freezing and unfreezing accounts daily in what was seen as a day of banking chaos

Past Perfect of “freeze”

• The lake was frozen for the entire winter
• My tongue was frozen to the lamppost for 2 hours before someone came to help

Understanding the Verb “Freeze”

The verb “freeze” is derived from the Old English “freosan,” which means “to turn to ice.” The term has grown to encompass both literal and figurative meanings, from turning solid due to cold to halting movement.

Phrasal Verbs with “Freeze”

1. Freeze up: When machinery stops working or when someone becomes very nervous and cannot move or think.
   • My computer froze up, so I couldn’t finish my work.
   • She froze up during her presentation.
2. Freeze out: To deliberately exclude or ostracize someone.
   • The group froze him out of the conversation.
   • She felt frozen out at work after the argument.
3. Freeze over: When a surface, especially a liquid, becomes solid due to cold temperatures.
   • The lake freezes over every winter.
   • Be careful on the roads; they’ve frozen over.

Common Mistakes with “Freeze”

• Incorrect: The water has freezed.
• Correct: The water has frozen.

• Incorrect: I freezed when I heard the noise.
• Correct: I froze when I heard the noise.

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