Past Tense of Sing: What Is It?

The word sing is an irregular verb, which means you can’t conjugate it into its past tense form by adding -ed to the end.

Instead, the past tense form of sing is sang, and the past participle is sung.

This article will explain the verb forms of to sing, and help you use the past tense of sing correctly in your writing.

What Is the Past Tense of Sing?

The past tenses of sing are sang and sung.

Like many irregular verbs, sing’s past simple form is different from its past participle form. Sang is the past simple form.

Here are some examples of what this looks like in a sentence:

• “I sing a sad song.” (present) → “I sang a sad song.” (past)
• “You sing her favorite tune.” (present) → “You sang her favorite tune.” (past)
• “She sings in her church choir.” (present) → “She sang in her church choir.” (past)

If you accidentally use the past participle when you should be using the simple past tense, or vice versa, have no fear!

ProWritingAid will highlight these grammatical errors and help you use the correct version instead.

What Is the Past Participle of Sing?

The past participle of sing is sung.

For example, you would say, “The mother had sung many songs by the time the baby fell asleep.”

Similarly, you would say, “The national anthem has been sung at every ball game.”

Examples of the Past Tense of Sing (Sang) in Sentences

Here are some examples of the past tense of sing in popular English books.

“She laughed, and the desert sang.”—Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

“Once, I sang colors to a blind man. Seven hours I played, but at the end he said he saw them, green and red and gold.”—Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“I was born singing. Most babies cry, I sang an aria.”—Gail Carson Levine, Fairest

Examples of the Past Participle of Sing (Sung) in Sentences

Here are some examples of the past participle of sing in English novels.

“We were a song that had been sung from the very first ember of light in the world.”—Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

“Have you ever heard somebody sing some lyrics that you’ve never sung before, and you realize you’ve never sung the right words in that song?”—Ellen DeGeneres, My Point… And I Do Have One

“Where is the song when it’s been sung? The dance when it’s been danced?”—Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia

Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve covered in this article:

• Sing is the present tense
• Sang is the simple past tense
• Sung is the past participle

Just remember sing, sang, and sung, and you’ll be good to go!

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