What Is The Past Tense Of Coming?
“Coming” is the present participle of the verb “come”. When you want to refer to the past action of “coming,” you should use the past tense form of “come”, which is “came”.
“Come” is an irregular verb, and it has a vowel change in the past tense, while its past participle form is also “come.” You can check out the table below to learn other verb forms of coming:
| Base Form/Infinitive Form (V1) | come |
| Present Form/3rd Person/Singular Form | comes |
| Past Simple Tense (V2) | came |
| Past Participle Form (V3) | come |
| Present Participle/Gerund | coming |
How To Pronounce Come And Came Correctly?
The word “come” is pronounced as /kʌm/. Came is pronounced as /keɪm/ in both British and American accents. Check out the following table for more details:
| Verb Forms | Pronunciation | |
| British English language | American English language | |
| come | /kʌm/ | /kʌm/ |
| came
(V2) |
/keɪm/ | /keɪm/ |
| come
(V3) |
/kʌm/ | /kʌm/ |
| coming | /ˈkʌmɪŋ/ | /ˈkʌmɪŋ/ |
How to say “come” and “came” correctly? Check out these videos:
Come:
Came:
What Are The Definitions Of Come? How To Use Came?
The past tense of “come” describes an action that occurred and was finished in the past. Below are the meanings of “come”:
- To approach or advance towards a person or place
Example: He came closer to me as I called his name loudly.
- To reach or go to a place/destination
Example: Yesterday, they came to the park and enjoyed a picnic together.
- To visit or arrive at a location for a specific purpose, usually to obtain something.
Example: She came to the store to buy groceries.
- To travel or accompany someone to a specific place or event
Example: We came together for the wedding ceremony.
- To cover a specific distance through travel
Example: He came all the way from across the country to visit his family.
- To move in a particular way or while doing something else.
Example: They came running to catch the bus.
- To occur or take place.
Example: The meeting came to an end after three hours of discussion.
- To become
Example: The curtains came apart at the seams.
- To reach a point where one realizes, understands, or believes something
Example: It came to me suddenly that I had forgotten my keys at home.
- To ask about the way or reason something happened
Example: How did you come to meet your best friend?
- To occupy or hold a specific position
Example: He came first in the race and received a gold medal.
Exercises
FAQs
What Are The Most Common Idioms Of Come?
Below are 5 most common idioms of “come”:
- Come rain or shine: Regardless of the circumstances or weather conditions.
Example: I’ll be there for you, come rain or shine.
- Come clean: To confess or admit the truth.
Example: He finally decided to come clean about his involvement in the incident.
- Come out of nowhere: To appear or happen suddenly and unexpectedly.
Example: The car came out of nowhere and almost hit me.
- Come/go/turn full circle: Returning to the starting point or completing a cycle.
Example: After many years, his career has come full circle, and he’s back where he started.
- Come hell or high water: No matter what obstacles or challenges arise.
Example: He’s determined to finish the project, come hell or high water.
What Are Synonyms Or Antonyms Of Come In Certain Situations?
Below are the most common synonyms and antonyms of the verb “come” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
To approach
- Synonyms: enter, advance, drop in, pop in
- Antonyms: go, withdraw, leave, retreat, exit, depart (See past tense of leave here)
To arrive
- Synonyms: appear, get in, get through, show up, land, turn up, reach, hit, fetch, make.
- Antonyms: go, leave, check out.
To become
- Synonyms: get, go, grow, turn, run, change, modify, transfer, transform.
- Antonyms: be, continue, remain, stay.
To happen:
- Synonyms: happen, be, do, occur
- Antonyms: remain, stand, stay, stop
Is There A Difference In Meaning Or Usage Between “Come” And “Go”?
Yes, there is a difference in meaning and usage between “come” and “go”. The difference lies in the perspective of the speaker and the direction of movement. (See the past tense of go)
“Come” indicates movement towards the speaker or the current location, while “go” indicates movement away from the speaker or the current location, to another place.
Examples:
- Come: Please come to my house for dinner tonight. (The speaker is inviting someone to move towards their location.)
- Go: I need to go to the grocery store. (The speaker intends to move away from their current location towards the grocery store.)
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.