Feed past tense

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Learn past tenses to communicate in English accurately

Meaning of feed

to give food to.

Infinitive

Word: feed /fiːd/
Examples:
  • 1. Every morning, I feed the birds in my backyard.
  • 2. She feeds her dog twice a day to keep him healthy.
  • 3. He often feeds the stray cats in the neighborhood.

Past Simple

Word: fed /fɛd/
Examples:
  • 1. She fed the stray cat that had been lingering around her backyard for days.
  • 2. He felt well-fed and content after the lavish meal at the upscale restaurant.
  • 3. The caretaker fed the plants with a special nutrient mix to enhance their growth.

Past Participle

Word: fed /fɛd/
Examples:
  • 1. The dog had been fed by its owner before they left for work.
  • 2. The plants were fed with water and nutrients weekly.
  • 3. A detailed report had been fed into the system before the error occurred.

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Bare infinitive

  1. Routine or Habit. Use the present simple form 'feed' when discussing regular, habitual actions or routine events.
    Example. 'I feed my dog twice a day.'
  2. General Truths or Facts. When stating a fact or a universally acknowledged truth.
    Example. 'Birds feed their young in the nest.'
  3. Scheduled Events in the Near Future (in narratives). In a timetable or a schedule context.
    Example. 'The zookeeper feeds the lions at 3 pm every day.'

Past Simple

  1. Completed Actions in the Past. When talking about an action that was completed at a specific time in the past.
    Example. 'I fed the cat before leaving for work yesterday.'
  2. A Series of Completed Actions. When listing several actions that happened one after another in the past.
    Example. 'I woke up, fed the birds, and took a walk in the park.'
  3. Habit in the Past. To describe a habit that was regular in the past but no longer happens.
    Example. 'When I was a child, I fed the ducks at the lake every Sunday.'

Past Participle

  1. Perfect Tenses.
  2. Present Perfect. To talk about actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past or that have relevance to the present moment.
    Example. 'I have already fed the pets.'
  3. Past Perfect. To discuss an action that was completed before another action in the past.
    Example. 'She realized she had fed the fish twice.'
  4. Future Perfect. To indicate an action that will have been completed by a certain future time.
    Example. 'By tomorrow, I will have fed the neighbors' cat for a week.'
  5. Passive Voice. When the subject of the sentence is acted upon by someone else. In passive voice constructions, the past participle form is used with a form of 'to be.'
    Example. 'The stray dog was fed by the kind-hearted woman.'
  6. Adjective Use. Sometimes, the past participle can be used as an adjective to describe a noun.
    Example. 'The well-fed children looked happy and healthy.'

Common mistakes

— 01

Confusing forms

One of the most common mistakes is mixing up the past simple form of a verb with its past participle form. For the verb 'feed,' the past simple is 'fed,' and the past participle is also 'fed.' However, learners often mistakenly use the base form or an incorrect variant when they should be using one of these. For example, they might incorrectly say 'I have feed the cat' instead of the correct 'I have fed the cat' for the present perfect tense, confusing the base form with the past participle.

— 02

Incorrect use in Perfect Tenses

Another mistake involves using the wrong form of 'feed' in perfect tenses, which require the past participle. The correct construction for the present perfect tense is 'have/has fed,' and for the past perfect, 'had fed.' However, learners might mistakenly use the past simple instead, saying 'I have fed' or 'I had feed' instead of using 'fed' in both instances.

— 03

Forgetting irregular verb forms

'Feed' is an irregular verb, meaning its past simple and past participle forms do not follow the regular -ed ending pattern. A common mistake is to treat it as a regular verb and add -ed to make what they think is the past simple or past participle form, resulting in 'feeded.' This error shows a misunderstanding of irregular verb forms in English, where the correct past simple and past participle form is 'fed,' not 'feeded.'

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Frequently asked questions

What are the past simple and past participle forms of 'feed'?

The past simple form of 'feed' is 'fed,' and the past participle form is also 'fed.'

How do you use 'fed' in a past simple tense sentence?

To use 'fed' in a past simple tense sentence, you need to be referring to an action that was completed in the past. For example. 'Yesterday, I fed the cat before leaving for work.' In this sentence, 'fed' indicates the action of feeding that was completed at a specific time in the past, which is yesterday.

Can you give an example of how to use 'fed' as a past participle in a sentence?

Certainly! When using 'fed' as a past participle, it often appears in perfect tenses or passive voice constructions. For example, in the present perfect tense. 'I have already fed the dogs today.' Here, 'have fed' indicates an action that has relevance to the present moment. In a passive voice construction, you might say. 'The stray cats were fed by the kind lady every morning.' In this sentence, 'were fed' indicates a past action done to the cats by someone else. Is the past participle of 'feed' ever different from the past simple form