Past Tense of
despair
despaired
Regular Standard -ed
📄 Regular form · Standard -ed

Base Form Despair

7Letters
2Syllables
3Vowels
4Consonants
DStarts
REnds

Past Tense Despaired

9Letters
3Syllables
4Vowels
5Consonants
DStarts
DEnds

How to Form the Past Tense of "despair"

This verb follows the standard English past tense rule: simply add -ed to the base form.

Grammar Tips

  • Add -ed to form the past tense. Most common rule.

Common Mistakes

  • Do not forget the -ed: "Yesterday I despair" should be "despaired."
Frequently Asked Questions

Is despair regular or irregular?

Despair is regular. It follows the Standard -ed rule.

How do you use despaired in a sentence?

Use past time markers: "Yesterday, she despaired to the store."

Does despaired change in negative sentences?

No. Use "did not despair" (not "did not despaired").

About the past tense of despair

The verb despair follows the standard English past tense conjugation rule. When forming the past tense, despair becomes despaired. This follows the Standard -ed pattern, which is one of the most common conjugation rules in English.

Understanding why despair becomes despaired helps with spelling and pronunciation. This verb follows the standard English past tense rule: simply add -ed to the base form.

When using despaired in writing, remember that it functions as a past tense verb and typically appears with time markers like yesterday, last week, or ago. For example: "Yesterday, she despaired to the store." The past tense form does not change based on the subject — I despaired, you despaired, he/she despaired, we despaired, they despaired.