Glow past tense

Type your word here
Try:

Learn past tenses to communicate in English accurately

Meaning of glow

emit light as a result of great heat.

Infinitive

Word: glow /ɡloʊ/
Examples:
  • 1. Fireflies glow in the dark, making the night landscape magical.
  • 2. His smile always seems to glow whenever he talks about his passion for music.
  • 3. The candles glow softly, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere in the room.

Past Simple

Word: glowed /ɡloʊd/
Examples:
  • 1. The fireflies glowed softly in the twilight, creating a magical atmosphere in the garden.
  • 2. Her cheeks glowed with embarrassment when she realized everyone was watching.
  • 3. After applying the special cream, her skin glowed with a healthy radiance.

Past Participle

Word: glowed /ɡloʊd/
Examples:
  • 1. The cave walls had glowed, illuminated by the hidden light source.
  • 2. A soft light had glowed from the lantern, casting shadows across the room.
  • 3. The fireflies had glowed softly in the dark, and created a magical atmosphere.

Learn more words on the go

Master verb forms with Promova!

Download the app
cta-section-decorative-line-left
cta-section-decorative-line-left

Bare infinitive

  1. To describe habits or general truths.
    Example. 'The moon glows softly in the night sky.'
    Example. 'Fireflies glow in the dark.'
  2. To state facts or traits that are always true.
    Example. 'The moon glows softly in the night sky.'
    Example. 'Fireflies glow in the dark.'

Past Simple

  1. To describe actions or conditions that took place and were completed at a definite time in the past.
    Example. 'The fire glowed warmly last night, keeping us all toasty.'
    Example. 'Her cheeks glowed with excitement after she heard the good news yesterday.'
  2. To narrate a series of completed actions in the past.
    Example. 'The fire glowed warmly last night, keeping us all toasty.'
    Example. 'Her cheeks glowed with excitement after she heard the good news yesterday.'

Past Participle

  1. Used with auxiliary verbs to form the perfect tenses.
  2. Used to form the passive voice.
  3. Examples for Perfect Tenses.
  4. Present Perfect. 'I have never seen such a beautiful glow in the sky before.'
  5. Past Perfect. 'By the time we arrived, the embers had glowed briefly and died out.'
  6. Future Perfect. 'By New Year's Eve, the lights will have glowed in every house.'

Common mistakes

— 01

Regular and Irregular Verbs

A prevalent mistake is treating 'glow' as a regular verb by adding '-ed' for its past simple and past participle forms, thus incorrectly forming 'glowed' for both. The mistake here lies not in the forms—since 'glow' is indeed a regular verb and forms its past simple and past participle as 'glowed'—but in the misunderstanding of how regular verbs operate. Users might apply this rule inconsistently across truly irregular verbs, assuming a pattern where there isn't one. For instance, applying a similar pattern to an irregular verb like 'sing' and erroneously creating 'singed' instead of 'sang' (past simple) and 'sung' (past participle).

— 02

Incorrect Use in Perfect Tenses

Another common error involves the misuse of the past participle form in perfect tenses. For 'glow,' the correct past participle is 'glowed,' which should be used with forms of 'have' to construct perfect aspects (e.g., 'have glowed,' 'had glowed'). A mistake would be using the simple past 'glowed' without 'have' for perfect constructions, such as mistakenly saying 'I glowed in the dark' when intending to convey a past perfect aspect ('I had glowed in the dark').

— 03

Past Participle as an Adjective

It's also common to incorrectly use the past participle form of 'glow' when an adjective is more appropriate. While 'glowed' can describe a state resulting from the action (e.g., 'The lamp glowed brightly'), using it as a descriptive adjective in place of 'glowing' (e.g., 'a glowed complexion' instead of 'a glowing complexion') is incorrect. This mistake stems from misunderstanding the participial adjective form, which often differs in usage and meaning from the past participle, even when the word forms are identical.

Past tense quiz

Check your skills and find areas for improvement

Take quiz

Frequently asked questions

What is the past simple form of 'glow'?

The past simple form of 'glow' is 'glowed.' It is used to describe an action that happened at a specific time in the past. For example, 'Last night, the stars glowed brightly in the sky.'

What is the past participle form of 'glow'?

The past participle form of 'glow' is also 'glowed.' It is used in perfect tenses and passive voice. For example, in the present perfect tense, you might say, 'The fireflies have glowed every evening this week.'

Can 'glow' ever use an irregular past participle form like 'glown'?

No, 'glow' does not have an irregular past participle form like 'glown.' The correct past participle form is 'glowed.' Using 'glown' would be considered incorrect in standard English. Always use 'glowed' for both the past simple and past participle forms.

How do I use 'glowed' in passive voice constructions?

In passive voice constructions, 'glowed' is used to indicate that the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action. For example, 'The room was glowed by the soft light of the candles.' However, it’s worth noting that 'glow' is not commonly used in the passive voice because 'glow' typically does not have a direct object, making it an intransitive verb. A more natural way to express the idea might be, 'The soft light of the candles made the room glow,' which keeps 'glow' in an active voice construction.