Past Tense Of Tear: Teared Or Tore? (Pronunciation & Usage)

What Is The Past Tense Of Tear?

The past tense for tear is tore or teared. We use teared as the past tense of tear when it means “to fill up or overflow with tears.” Tore is more commonly used because it has more meanings.

The past participle of tear is torn or teared. You can check out the table below to get more verb forms of tear.

How do you spell tear, tore, and teared correctly and naturally like native speakers? The video below will help you:

How to say tear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fC35-_xtXM

How to say tore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz5DKxlx7OY

How to say teared: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvhWV6amzVs 

Pronunciation

According to the Oxford Learners Dictionary, the IPA transcription of tear is /teə(r)/ in British accents and /ter/ in American accents. The past tense tore is pronounced as /tɔːr/, and teared is pronounced as /teə(r)d/ or /terd/. You can watch the table below to make it clearer.

Definitions And How To Use Torn/Teared?

How to use tear past tense? Tore or teared has the same meaning as the basic form or the present tense of tore, but is used to talk about the action that happened and was completed in the past.

What is the definition of tear? The English verb tear has the following meaning:

• To damage something by pulling it apart/into pieces or by cutting it on something sharp.

Example: I tore a hole in my jeans to make them look cooler. However, my mother thought my pants were torn, so she sewed them up.

• To remove something from something by pulling it roughly or violently.

Example: I tore another first page from my notebook to fold little paper cranes for my sister. She liked it very much and wanted me to fold it more to put it in a small glass jar.

• To pull oneself away by force from somebody/something that is holding a person.

Example: She tore herself from his grasp and decisively said goodbye. After all the hurt she had to endure, she decided not to give him another chance to make up.

• To injure a muscle, etc., by stretching it too much.

Example: She tore a ligament in her left leg due to an injury in the 2019 tournament. This injury prevented her from competing after that, and she decided to continue her education.

• To move somewhere very quickly/ in an exciting way

Example: A truck tore past the fence, ran into the cattle on the farm, and crashed into the small hut. Fortunately, the driver only suffered minor injuries, and no one was hit (see past tense of hit) by this truck.

• To fill up or overflow with tears.

Example: Her eyes teared because she was so tired of the endless quarrel in this house. That’s why she often sits on the hillside watching the sunset in the distance. It was like a release for her. (Click here to know the past tense of sit)

Exercises

3

Created on December 27, 2022 By Benjamin Essek

Past Tense of Tear

Choose the correct verb tense to fill in the blanks:

1 / 6

1. In 1937, Antonia …… the letter of reconciliation in two pieces. This action was a foreshadowing of the inevitable war between Ukraine and Russia.

A. torn

B. tore

C. teared

D. tears

2 / 6

2. The storm yesterday …… most of the tile roofs of the entire house in this village. Rainwater has submerged the whole property of the residents here.

A. tears

B. teared

C. tore

D. torn

3 / 6

3. The story just …… me up and me of myself of the old days. In the past, I was penniless and had to beg for mercy from passersby.

A. tears

B. teared

C. tore

D. torn

4 / 6

4. While fighting in the Middle East, he …… the knee ligaments and was brought back to a safe place by his teammates.

A. tore

B. tearing

C. torn

D. teared

5 / 6

5. The entire propeller part of the plane was broken when it plunged into the forest. The engine …… off the front of the plane, causing it to burst into flames.

A. tore

B. tearing

C. torn

D. teared

6 / 6

6. His words …… her mother up, and she realized she was too harsh on her beloved child.

A. tore

B. tearing

C. torn

D. teared

Your score is

The average score is 66%

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FAQs

What Are Synonyms And Antonyms Of Tear?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the synonyms of tear are: 

Rip, rend, shred, break, split, ribbon, rupture, cut, rive, tatter, cleave, slash, gash, dissect, lacerate, butcher, hack, incise, mangle, dismember, yank, grab, pull, wrench, snatch, pry, wrest, sever, force, seize, extract, dissever, uproot, nab, amputate, jerk, and lop (off).

The antonyms of tear are: creep, drag, crawl, poke, hang (around or out), linger, poke, lag, stroll, tarry, dawdle, saunter, shuffle, amble, lumber, slow (down or up), decelerate, plod, loiter, dillydally, and dally.

Is Tear a Noun?

Yes. As a noun, tear has 2 main meanings: a hole that has been made in something by tearing, or a drop of liquid that comes out of your eye when you cry.

Example:

• The wall has a tear on it. Although it was obscured by the landscape painting, the traces were still recognizable.
• The memory brought a tear to her eye. She suddenly realized that she had gone through too many trials and tribulations in the past. The results achieved today are completely worth it.

Benjamin Essek

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.