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Past tense of “seek”
🔎 To look for something.
Number 119 of 175 by frequency — common in reading and television, less so in your own speech, and the past and the participle are both sought. Recognising it is the priority.
Mistakes people make with “seek”
Not “seeked”. Seek does not take -ed — the past simple is sought, however regular it feels to add the ending.
Phrases you will actually hear
These are worth learning whole. A verb sticks far better inside a phrase somebody would really say than on its own in a table.
Unrecognisable base, predictable ending
Seek and sought barely look related, and that is normal for this group. What holds it together is the ending: -ought or -aught, shared by think, buy, bring, catch, teach, seek and fight.
The good news is that the past and the participle are identical — sought covers both — so there is one strange word to learn rather than two. The gh is silent; it is a fossil from a sound English lost centuries ago.
- Past simple: They sought shelter from the rain.
- Past participle: He has sought help from many doctors.
The same pattern — the -ought gang — runs through 8 verbs:
Practise it
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