What is the past tense of 'wake'?

What is the past tense of 'wake'?

• A. Waked
• B. Woken
• C. Wake
• D. Woke

Answer: (D)

Irregular verbs in English often change their vowel when forming the past tense. For wake, the past tense is woke: I woke up early this morning, he woke to the sound of rain. Waked is not standard in modern usage, though you might encounter it in some dialects or older texts. Woken is the past participle, used with have/has/had (I have woken up). Wake is the base form or present tense (I wake up). So woke is the simple past form, which is why it’s the best choice here.

Irregular verbs in English often change their vowel when forming the past tense. For wake, the past tense is woke: I woke up early this morning, he woke to the sound of rain.

Waked is not standard in modern usage, though you might encounter it in some dialects or older texts. Woken is the past participle, used with have/has/had (I have woken up). Wake is the base form or present tense (I wake up). So woke is the simple past form, which is why it’s the best choice here.