Blew or Blown: Understanding the Correct Past Tense of Blow

Blow, Blew, Blown — See the Pattern

Look at these sentences. Can you see how blow changes?

• The wind blows hard in winter. (now — present)
• The wind blew hard last night. (past)
• The wind has blown the fence down. (with have/has/had)
• The wind is blowing right now. (happening now)

Did you see the pattern? Blew is for the past. Blown is for sentences with have, has, or had.

When to Use Blew and When to Use Blown

Use blew and blown in different situations:

1. Use blew when something happened in the past:

• She blew out the candles on her cake.
• The storm blew the roof off the house.

2. Use blown with have, has, had, or was:

• She has blown up all the balloons.
• The tree had been blown over by the wind.

Easy way to remember: If the verb is alone (no helping word), use blew. If there is a helping word like have, has, had, or was, use blown.

Real-Life Examples With Blow, Blew, and Blown

• He blew his nose because he had a cold. (he did it in the past)
• The wind blew my hat off at the beach. (it happened once)
• The children have blown up balloons for the party. (with “have”)
• She blew on her hot coffee to cool it down. (past action)
• The whistle was blown at the end of the game. (with “was”)

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

The Most Common Mistakes With Blew and Blown

Even advanced learners mix up blew and blown sometimes — so if you get confused, you are not alone. The two most common mistakes are using “blowed” (which does not exist) and swapping blew and blown in the wrong place.

How to remember: Think of “blow, blew, blown” like “know, knew, known” and “throw, threw, thrown.” They all follow the same pattern! If you can remember one set, you know them all.

Other verbs that follow this pattern: grow → grew → grown, throw → threw → thrown, know → knew → known.

Test Yourself: Blew or Blown?

Choose the correct answer for each sentence. Click Check to see if you are right.

Keep Going — You Are Building Something

You just learned that blow → blew → blown. That is one more irregular verb pattern you will never get wrong again.

Now here is a question: what about the verb throw? It follows the exact same pattern — throw, threw, thrown. But do you know when to use threw and when to use thrown? The rule is the same, but the mistakes people make are a little different.

Next lesson: Threw or Thrown: Which One is the Past Tense of Throw?

Source

Merriam-Webster
Etymology Online, origin of blow.