What’s the Past Tense of Drink: A Simple Guide to English Verbs

Drink, Drank, Drunk — See the Pattern

Read these sentences. Look at how the verb changes:

• She drinks tea every morning. (now — every day)
• She drank tea this morning. (past — it is finished)
• She has drunk three cups of tea today. (past with “has”)

Did you see the pattern? There are three forms:

When to Use Drank and When to Use Drunk

This is the part that confuses many learners. Here is the simple rule:

Use “drank” when you talk about the past — something that is finished:

• He drank a glass of juice yesterday.
• We drank water after the game.

Use “drunk” when there is a helping word before it — have, has, or had:

• I have drunk two bottles of water today.
• She has drunk all the milk.
• They had drunk the tea before I arrived.

Easy way to remember: If you see have, has, or had before it, use drunk. If not, use drank.

Real-Life Examples With Drink, Drank, and Drunk

Here are examples you might use every day:

• The children drank their milk at breakfast. (past — it is finished)
• I drank too much coffee and could not sleep. (past — it is finished)
• He has already drunk his water. (with “has” — use drunk)
• We have not drunk anything since lunch. (with “have” — use drunk)
• She drank a smoothie after her run. (past — no “have”)

You are doing great. Now let’s look at the mistakes many learners make.

Three Mistakes to Avoid With Drink

These are the most common mistakes with “drink.” Even advanced learners mix up “drank” and “drunk” sometimes — so if you get confused, you are not alone.

How to remember: Think of sing, sang, sung. It follows the same pattern: drink, drank, drunk. The vowel changes from i → a → u.

Test Yourself: Drink, Drank, or Drunk?

Choose an answer to see your feedback immediately. Your first answer counts towards your score.

Drink is not the only verb with this vowel pattern. Compare begin, began and begun and choose the right form after have.

Keep Going — You Are Building Something

You just learned drink, drank, drunk. That is one more irregular verb you will never get wrong again.

Use the examples above to practise this pattern. When you are ready, choose your next topic below.

Related Lesson for Review: Sang or Sung — Which One is Correct?

Source

drink (v.) — Online Etymology Dictionary

Khamis Maiouf

I’m Khamis Maiouf. I’m studying Health and Social Care and have completed Functional Skills Level 2 in English and Level 3 Hairdressing. I have taught ESOL in my community and helped students with GCSE English. I run English Teacher Site to help people learn and practise English.