What's The Difference Between Ate And Eaten?

ForumsGrammar & Sentence Structure
  •  1
  •  15,739
+0
Hi, I would like to know the difference between eat and eaten, beat and beaten, and any words in the past tense that ends with -en...

Can you also give me some examples in sentences so I can understand it better?

Thank you so much.
+1
Hi Anon:

Every English verb has 4 parts. One part is the word you find in the dictionary, such as "beat" or "eat". This is used in present tense and infinitives.
I like to eat.
My mom likes to beat eggs.

The second part is past. The past of "eat" is "ate". The past of "beat" is "beat".!
I ate the eggs.
Mom beat three eggs and scrambled them.

The third part is the present participle - "eating", "beating". It is used in the progressive (continuous) tenses:

I am eating breakfast.
Mom is beating the eggs.

The fourth part (the one you ask about) is the past participle. It is used in the perfect tenses and in the passive voice. It can be used as an adjective.

Passive:

The eggs were beaten for three minutes.
All of the eggs were eaten for breakfast.

Perfect:
I have eaten breakfast already.
The White Sox have beaten the Mets fairly and squarely.

Adjective:
The recipe calls for three well-beaten eggs.
The old wool coat looked shabby and moth-eaten.

All the best,
A-Emotion: stars
Comments  
AnonymousHi, I would like to know the difference between eat and eaten, beat and beaten, and any words in the past tense that ends with -en...
Can you also give me some examples in sentences so I can understand it better?
I eat every day.
I have eaten. I'm no longer hungry.

Our team beat their soccer team yesterday.
Their team was beaten by our team yesterday.
Students: Are you brave enough to let our tutors analyse your pronunciation?
 AlpheccaStars's reply was promoted to an answer.
eat is present tense and eaten is past participle. Eat is used in Simple present sentences, where as eaten is used in present perfect and past perfect sentences with the word "been".
the first sentence is simple present and the second is present prefect.
Site Hint: Check out our list of pronunciation videos.
hank u dear to give a such good examples
Can you believe I took eat for breakfast and since than I don't feel like eating anything.
Honestly, this is one of the most concise answers I've found in answer to my own question. Thank you!
Students: We have free audio pronunciation exercises.
Thanks!

Answer this Question

Guides