Hello lovely students! You might have, at some point during your English learning, found yourself getting confused by the words drank and drunk. Perhaps you have used drunk rather than drank in the Past Simple tense. Or maybe you simply wanted to know what the correct past verb is for that glass of water you have just finished.
If all of these sound like you, this guide on what the past tense of drink is will be very useful.
What does drink mean?
Drink has two meanings and can be used in different ways in English. The first way is to use it as a noun.
For example, coffee, water, soda, wine and juice are all types of drinks. Drinks is the plural of drink.
Let’s take a look at some examples of this.
I had a drink last night and this morning I don’t feel so well.
I don’t know what my favourite drink is, but I think it is coffee.
This is drink as a noun and it is quite simple to follow.
The second way to use drink, and the way we will be looking at it in this article, is in its verb form.
The verb to drink means to swallow liquid. For instance, anytime you consume a liquid, you drink it.
,As English is often somewhat of a difficult language, we can say this: I drink a drink every morning.
Don’t be confused by this sentence. It only means you consume a beverage every morning. The first drink in this sentence is the verb, whilst the second drink is the noun. It makes perfect sense to us.
Do you want to know the past forms of this verb? Look below.
Drink and the past simple
In the past simple tense, drink is drank. Do not confuse this word with drunk (more on that later). It is also important to remember, that as drink is not a regular verb, we do not say drinked.
Let’s take a look at these examples
I drank coffee everyday when I visited Colombia.
We drank juice this morning.
Dave drank a cup of tea last night and stayed awake because of it.
Are you ready for a closer look at drink and the past participle?
Drink and the past participle
We use drunk as the past participle of drink (not drank). Drunk is commonly used with the perfect tenses, such as the present perfect and the past perfect.
Let’s see some sentences with both of these tenses.
Present perfect and drunk
I have drunk four litres of lime cordial today.
He has drunk wine before.
Sunita has never drunk lemonade from the supermarket. She always makes her own.
Past perfect and drunk
I had drunk juice before going to see the game.
She had drunk a fizzy drink prior to feeling ill.
Polina had drunk two bottles of water before competing in the marathon.
Seems straightforward right? There is one more thing I would like to share with you before the end: drunk is also an adjective.
Drunk as an adjective
Oddly enough, the word drunk also means intoxicated when used to describe someone that has drunk too much alcohol.
Here are some examples.
Erin was really drunk last night; she had two glasses of wine.
I don’t like to be drunk often.
This adjective is used frequently in English.
Fun fact: in the past, people used drank as the past participle and not drunk because the word drunk was associated with intoxication.
Is that everything?
Absolutely not! If you want more engaging, English content, check out my YouTube channel English with Lucy.