What Is The Past Tense For Deal?
While “let” in the past tense is similar to its original verb, you may ask whether the same is true for “deal.”
How to write deal in the past tense? The deal past tense is “dealt” which is spelt D-E-A-L-T, whereas the base form is D-E-A-L. We add the character “T” after its original word.
Look at this table, and you will grab the modifications in five different forms of verbs:
Base Form/To-infinitive (V1) | deal |
Present Form (V2) | deals |
Past Form (V3) | dealt |
Past Participle Form (V4) | dealt |
Present Participle/Gerund (V5) | dealing |
Adding a short and inspiring video will help you secure a better understanding of the verb’s past tense:
Do you want to know how to say “deal in 12 tenses”? This site explains verb construction in both active and passive voice. Click on it to reach a whole new horizon!
How Do You Spell “Deal” The Right Way?
Consult the Oxford English Dictionary for further information on how to pronounce this verb, including American English and English accents. For details, take a look at the table below to learn how to spell it precisely:
Form of word | Pronunciation | |
British English | American English | |
Deal | /diːl/ | /diːl/ |
Deals | /diːlz/ | /diːlz/ |
Dealt (V2 + V3) | /delt/ | /delt/ |
Dealing | /ˈdiːlɪŋ/ | /ˈdiːlɪŋ/ |
Definitions & Examples For “Deal”
Definitions are the backbones regarding learning a new word. Let’s see the meanings and corresponding examples of the verb “deal”:
- To buy and sell illegal drugs.
E.g.:
- The culprits were sent to jail as they dealt drugs with their fellows.
- These men had dealt drugs illegally, so they were captured by the police at night.
- To give cards to each player in a game of cards.
E.g.:
- Anna dealt out twenty cards to each participant 15 minutes ago,
- The host has just dealt all game cards to each member.
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FAQs
Is This Word An Irregular Verb?
Yes. Like the verb “slay”, it is an irregular verb. Beyond that, “deal” also plays as a noun in a sentence. Check the context of the whole paragraph thoroughly to get the correct meaning of words!
Dealed Or Dealt?
As aforementioned, “dealed” does not exist in English. The past-tense form of the “verb deal” is “dealt”.
What Are Idioms Using This Verb?
- deal something/somebody a blow | deal a blow to something/somebody: to shock/hit something/somebody much; to be very harmful to something/somebody.
- wheel and deal: to do multiple complex deals in politics or business dishonestly.
deal with it: to imply to somebody that they have no ways to change a situation, so they have to accept it.

His name is Benjamin Essek – The founder of Grammar Wiki. He is an English native speaker and has joined many English classes, learning communities to support other people with this common language as well.