Cost past tense
Meaning of cost
to require payment of (a specified amount of money); to have a price (for an object itself).
Infinitive
- 1. The movie ticket usually costs ten dollars.
- 2. How much does a new laptop cost these days?
- 3. The dinner at the fancy restaurant costs more than I expected.
Past Simple
- 1. The concert tickets cost more than I expected, but it was worth it for the experience.
- 2. That vacation cost us a lot, but the memories will last a lifetime.
- 3. The repair work on the house cost a fortune, leaving us tight on our budget for months.
Past Participle
- 1. The repairs had been cost by the storm last year.
- 2. An immense amount of money has been cost by the project so far.
- 3. The damages were cost by unforeseen circumstances.
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Bare infinitive
- Use case. To describe habitual actions, general truths, or actions that are not tied to any specific time.Example. 'It costs $5 to enter the museum.'
Past Simple
- To describe actions that happened at a specific time in the past.Example. 'The concert cost me $50 last night.'Example. 'My old computer cost much less than the one I have now.'Example. 'I bought a drink, it cost $3, then I found a seat.'
- To describe past states or conditions.Example. 'The concert cost me $50 last night.'Example. 'My old computer cost much less than the one I have now.'Example. 'I bought a drink, it cost $3, then I found a seat.'
- To describe a sequence of actions in the past.Example. 'The concert cost me $50 last night.'Example. 'My old computer cost much less than the one I have now.'Example. 'I bought a drink, it cost $3, then I found a seat.'
Past Participle
- In perfect tenses, to describe actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past or actions that influence the present.Example. 'I have never understood how much it cost.'Example. 'The bridge was costed at over a million dollars.'Example. 'The costed project showed higher expenses than expected.' Note. This usage is uncommon in everyday English and more often found in specific contexts (like budgeting or finance) where 'costed' refers to something having been assigned a cost.
- In passive voice, to describe an action done to the subject by someone/something.Example. 'I have never understood how much it cost.'Example. 'The bridge was costed at over a million dollars.'Example. 'The costed project showed higher expenses than expected.' Note. This usage is uncommon in everyday English and more often found in specific contexts (like budgeting or finance) where 'costed' refers to something having been assigned a cost.
- Adjectival use, to describe something in a particular state resulting from an action.Example. 'I have never understood how much it cost.'Example. 'The bridge was costed at over a million dollars.'Example. 'The costed project showed higher expenses than expected.' Note. This usage is uncommon in everyday English and more often found in specific contexts (like budgeting or finance) where 'costed' refers to something having been assigned a cost.
Common mistakes
— 01
Incorrect Use of Past Simple Form
A common mistake is altering the past simple form of 'cost' by adding an unnecessary suffix, such as '-ed'. The correct past simple form of 'cost' is the same as its base form; it does not change. Some might incorrectly write 'costed' when referring to past transactions. For example, the correct usage is 'The meal cost $50 last night,' not 'The meal costed $50 last night.'
— 02
Misuse of Past Participle Form
Similar to the past simple form, the past participle form of 'cost' remains unchanged and is 'cost.' A frequent error is using 'costed' as the past participle form, especially in perfect tenses or passive voice. For instance, the correct formation in a sentence is 'The project has cost a lot of money,' not 'The project has costed a lot of money.'
— 03
Confusion with Regular Verb Patterns
Many learners of English mistakenly apply the regular verb conjugation pattern (adding '-ed' for both past simple and past participle forms) to irregular verbs like 'cost.' This mistake arises from the general tendency to regularize irregular verbs, especially for those whose base, past simple, and past participle forms are identical, leading to incorrect forms such as 'costed' in both past and perfect constructions. Understanding and remembering that 'cost' is an irregular verb that does not change form across these tenses is crucial to avoid this mistake.
Past tense quiz
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