What Is The Past Tense Of Swing?
According to Collins dictionary, the past tense for swing is swang or swung. Usually, “swung” is the normal usage and “swang” is the literary usage.
Swing is an irregular verb, but its past tense form is not difficult to remember. You need to replace the -i consonant with -u or -a consonant.
The past participle of swing is swung or swungen. You can check out the table below to get the correct form of swing.
Simple Present | He/She/It swings
I/You/We/They swing |
Present Continuous | He/She/It is swinging
I am swinging You/We/They are swinging |
Present Perfect | He/She/It has swung or swungen
I/You/We/They have swung or swungen |
Present Perfect Continuous | He/She/It has been swinging
I/You/We/They have been swinging |
Simple Past | He/She/It/I/You/We/They swang or swung |
Past Continuous | I/He/She/It was swinging
You/We/They were swinging |
Past Perfect | He/She/It/I/You/We/They had swung or swungen |
Past Perfect Continuous | He/She/It/I/You/We/They had been swinging |
Simple Future | He/She/It/I/You/We/They will/shall swing |
Future Continuous | He/She/It/I/You/We/They will/shall be swinging |
Future Perfect | He/She/It/I/You/We/They will/shall have swung or swungen |
Future Perfect Continuous | He/She/It/I/You/We/They will/shall have been swinging |
How do you spell swing correctly and naturally as native speakers? The following part will answer, or you can take a look at this video below:
Pronunciation
According to the Oxford Learners Dictionary, the IPA transcription of the base form swing is /swɪŋ/, of swung is /swʌŋ/, of swang is /swæŋ/ in both American and British English. The past participle form of swing is pronounced as /swʌŋən/.
You can watch the table below to make it clearer.
Form of word |
Pronunciation |
|
US |
UK | |
swing | /swɪŋ/ |
/swɪŋ/ |
swung/swang |
/swʌŋ/
/swæŋ/ |
/swʌŋ/
/swæŋ/ |
swung/swungen | /swʌŋ/
/swʌŋən/ |
/swʌŋ/ /swʌŋən/ |
Definitions And How To Use Swung/Swang? Is Swung a Word?
What are the meanings of swing? The English verb swing has 8 main meanings:
- To move backward/forwards or from side to side while hanging from a fixed point, without interruption, to make someone/something do this
Example: Jim and his younger sister are playing on the swings in the garden very happily. Every time her brother takes her, she swings higher and higher, and she seems to enjoy it.
- To move from one place to another by holding something that is fixed and pulling oneself along/up.
Example: The sound of poachers startled the monkeys in the forest. They swing away through the trees as quickly as possible, alerting other animals that danger is coming.
- To move/make something move with a wide curved movement
Example: Gate swung his legs over the table when his mother caught him. As a result, he had to receive a scolding from her.
- To change/cause somebody/something to change from one opinion, mood, etc., to another
Example: She is a person of opinion, but this time, she swings between the opinions of her subordinates. It seems like she will put her own interests ahead of the company’s.
- To (cause someone/something) to turn/change direction suddenly
Example: The bus was moving at normal speed when it suddenly swung sharply to the right to avoid a boy running into the middle of the road.
- To move something/move one’s fist in an attempt to hit something/someone
Example: There’s a big fight in the bar. I see a guy swinging at another guy with the iron bar. Everyone around does not dare to intervene for fear of getting hurt. (see the past tense of see)
- To succeed in getting or achieving something by persuading people, sometimes in a slightly dishonest way
Example: Can you get this money and swing us a couple of tickets? Because of the traffic jam, we couldn’t arrive on time.
- To be exciting and enjoyable
Example: I think you need music to make your birthday party swing.
How about the meaning of swang or swung? The swing past tense has the same meaning as the basic form but is used to talk about the action that happened and was completed in the past.
Examples:
- I remember the old rocking chair that my grandmother used to put me to sleep. My mother was behind and swung it, looking at me with a loving gaze.
- Last night, I heard screams coming from the house next door. The man in the house swung the glass beer bottle against the wall in the anger of the others. (click here to know more about heard – the past tense of hear)
Exercises
FAQs
What Are Synonyms And Antonyms Of Swing?
The synonyms of swing are: deviate, turn, veer, swerve, wheel, detour, diverge, turn off, tack, turn back, whip, shift, move, manipulate, handle, take, manage, address, play, negotiate, maneuver, treat, field, hack, pull, control, carry out, get off, hang, and rotate.
The antonyms of swing are recede, go, avoid, refrain, and diverge.
Is Swing a Noun?
Yes. As a noun, swing means a swinging movement or rhythm, a change from one opinion or situation or the amount by which something changes. It also means a seat for swinging on, hung from above on ropes or chains, or a handful of swing states.

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.