Laugh past tense

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Learn past tenses to communicate in English accurately

Meaning of laugh

to express amusement, happiness, or scorn by making a sound from the throat while showing the teeth with a wide smile.

Infinitive

Word: laugh /læf/
Examples:
  • 1. She always laughs at my jokes, even when they're not that funny.
  • 2. He laughs every time he watches that comedy show.
  • 3. They say laughter is the best medicine, so we try to laugh every day.

Past Simple

Word: laughed /læft/
Examples:
  • 1. She laughed so hard at the joke that she nearly cried.
  • 2. He laughed at the idea that he could ever become a professional athlete.
  • 3. They all laughed at the memories of their high school antics during the reunion.

Past Participle

Word: laughed /læft/
Examples:
  • 1. The joke was laughed at by the entire audience.
  • 2. The funny story has been laughed about for years.
  • 3. Her comedy special was laughed through from start to finish by the crowd.

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Bare infinitive

  1. To describe habits, repeated actions, or unchanging situations.
    Example. I receive emails from him regularly.
    Example. She receives a lot of attention for her work.
  2. To state general truths or facts.
    Example. I receive emails from him regularly.
    Example. She receives a lot of attention for her work.

Past Simple

  1. To talk about a specific action or situation that was completed in the past.
    Example. He received an award for his work last year. To describe a series of completed actions in the past.
    Example. We received your letter yesterday.

Past Participle

  1. In perfect tenses to talk about actions that are completed at the time of speaking or before, in relation to another time.
    Example. She has received many compliments today.
    Example. They had already received the news by the time we called. Future Perfect. For actions that will have been completed by a certain future time.
    Example. By next year, he will have received his degree.
  2. Present Perfect. For actions completed at an unspecified time before now; the exact time is not important.
    Example. She has received many compliments today.
    Example. They had already received the news by the time we called. Future Perfect. For actions that will have been completed by a certain future time.
    Example. By next year, he will have received his degree.
  3. Past Perfect. For actions that were completed before another action in the past.
    Example. She has received many compliments today.
    Example. They had already received the news by the time we called. Future Perfect. For actions that will have been completed by a certain future time.
    Example. By next year, he will have received his degree.
  4. As part of passive voice constructions, where the focus is on the action or the object of the action rather than who or what is performing the action.
    Example. She has received many compliments today.
    Example. They had already received the news by the time we called. Future Perfect. For actions that will have been completed by a certain future time.
    Example. By next year, he will have received his degree.
  5. Passive Voice. The award was received by the team with great excitement.
    Example. She has received many compliments today.
    Example. They had already received the news by the time we called. Future Perfect. For actions that will have been completed by a certain future time.
    Example. By next year, he will have received his degree.

Common mistakes

— 01

Incorrect Verb Form

A common mistake is using the wrong form of the past simple or past participle for irregular verbs. For the verb 'laugh,' which is a regular verb, the past simple form is 'laughed,' and the past participle form is also 'laughed.' However, learners often incorrectly apply irregular verb pattern changes to regular verbs. For example, they might mistakenly think 'laugh' should change similarly to 'sing' which becomes 'sang' (past simple) and 'sung' (past participle), leading to incorrect forms like 'laughed' (correct) being misconstructed as 'laugh' or 'laught' (incorrect) for its past participle.

— 02

Confusing Forms

Another mistake is Confusing Forms, especially in perfect tenses and passive voice. For regular verbs like 'laugh,' where both forms are 'laughed,' this might seem less problematic. However, learners might incorrectly use the base form or a misconstructed past form in compound tenses, saying 'I have laugh' instead of the correct 'I have laughed,' misunderstanding how to convey actions completed in the past in different contexts.

— 03

-Ed Ending

While 'laughed' correctly applies the -ed ending for both its past simple and past participle forms, learners sometimes overgeneralize this rule. They might incorrectly add an -ed ending to irregular verbs or apply it inconsistently, reflecting a misunderstanding of how regular verbs like 'laugh' form their past tenses. This error showcases a broader challenge in English verb conjugation, where the simplicity of adding -ed to form past tenses for regular verbs can lead to incorrect applications to verbs that don't follow this pattern.

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Frequently asked questions

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

The past simple form of 'laugh' is 'laughed.' The past participle form is also 'laughed.'

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

In the past simple tense, 'laughed' is used to describe an action that happened at a specific time in the past. For example. 'She laughed at the joke her brother told yesterday.' This sentence indicates that the action of laughing occurred at a specific time in the past, which is yesterday.

How is 'laughed' used as a past participle in a sentence?

The past participle form 'laughed' is often used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses or the passive voice. For example. 'They have laughed at that scene every time they watched the movie.' In this sentence, 'have laughed' is an example of the present perfect tense, indicating an action that happened at an unspecified time before now.

Can 'laughed' be used in passive voice, and if so, how?

While 'laugh' is not typically used in passive constructions due to its intransitive nature (it usually does not take a direct object), creative or less direct constructions can be made. For example. 'The joke was laughed at by everyone in the room.' This sentence is a bit awkward because 'laugh' is inherently an action done by someone actively, but it demonstrates a way to force a passive construction.