What is The Past Tense of Cut

The English verb “cut” is one of those that is seemingly quite simple, but when one looks more closely one can see that there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.

This verb is used both in a literal sense of cutting objects with sharpened objects such as scissors or knives, but also in a more figurative sense, to reduce or lower the amount of something. The past tense of “cut” is ‘cut’ and the past participle is also ‘cut’.

What is the past tense of “cut”?

Cut (verb):

(1) To wound, make an incision, or make an opening in something with a sharp tool or other object; to divide a larger object into smaller pieces using a sharp implement

(2) To reduce the size, quantity, or amount of something

• Infinitive                      to cut
• Simple Past                 cut
• Past Participle             cut

Conjugation Table of “cut”

Pronoun	Infinitive	Simple Past	Present Perfect	Present Continuous
I	cut	cut	have cut	am cutting
You (sing.)	cut	cut	have cut	are cutting
He/She/It	cut	cut	has cut	is cutting
We	cut	cut	have cut	are cutting
You (pl.)	cut	cut	have cut	are cutting
They	cut	cut	have cut	are cutting

Example Sentences of “cut”

(1) To wound, make an incision, or make an opening in something with a sharp tool or other object; to divide a larger object into smaller pieces using a sharp implement

• He wasn’t paying attention and cut himself with the kitchen knife
• Be careful not to cut your feet on the sharp stones here
• As the surgeon cut into the patient’s chest cavity, she realized this was going to be a more complex operation than she thought

(2) To reduce the size, quantity, or amount of something

• If you don’t cut your spending soon, you will be bankrupt
• He was forced to cut several members out of the team because of their poor performance

Focus: Past Tense of Cut

As we can see, the verb “cut” is very useful as a way to talk both literally and figuratively.

One bit of good news for learners who struggle with verbs is that “cut” doesn’t change its form in either past or perfect tense, which makes it easy to apply to different situations. Below we will show you how “cut” can be used in the following tenses:

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

Simple Past of “cut”

• He cut his finger quite badly on the sharp can lid
• The mayor cut the ribbon and the community center was officially opened
• I don’t support the idea, but I can see why the city council cut funding to these programs

Present Perfect of “cut”

• We have cut down on carbohydrates, and we are seeing great weight loss results
• You have cut these papers in the wrong place, so we’ll have to start again
• I have cut myself on this paper before, so I’ll be more careful this time

Past Continuous of “cut”

• I was cutting cookies into star shapes with grandma when we heard the news
• They were cutting meat for so long each day that they started to smell like steak

Past Perfect of “cut”

• I had almost cut off my finger that time, I’ve never been so frightened in my life
• She had cut her budget so much that there wasn’t even enough left to take the employees out for lunch

Understanding the Verb “Cut”

Derived from middle English “cyttan,” meaning “to cut,” the term implies severing or dividing something into parts, often using a sharp-edged instrument.

Phrasal Verbs with “Cut”

“Cut” is integral to several phrasal verbs:

• Cut down: To reduce in number or size, or to fell like a tree.
  • We need to cut down on our expenses.
  • They cut down the old oak.
• Cut out: To remove or omit.
  • She cut out a coupon from the newspaper.
  • This noise needs to be cut out.
• Cut back: To reduce or curtail.
  • The company is cutting back on its marketing budget.
  • I’m trying to cut back on caffeine.

Common Mistakes

Typical pitfalls with “cut”:

• Incorrect: He has cutted his finger.
• Correct: He has cut his finger.

• Incorrect: She cuts out the pattern wrong.
• Correct: She cut out the pattern wrongly.

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 and our past tense resources by clicking on the links in the table below and in the resource list below that.

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