“Want” is one of the most necessary and commonly used regular verbs in the English language that you simply cannot live without. Below we explore its past tense usage.
The verb Want is used for express wishes and needs, and to give advice
WANT verbs forms
| Infinitive | Past form | Past Participle form |
| Want | Wanted | Wanted |
Simple past tense: WANTED
The 2nd form (past tense of the verb “want“) is seemingly the same as its past participle form.
Example:
- What do you want for lunch?
- All I want is the truth.
- We desperately want rain.
Past participle: ‘WANTED
The 3rd form of the verb “want” is the same as in the past form: WANTED. A past participle is a word derived from a verb that can be used as:
- an adjective,
- to form perfect verb tenses,
- and to form the passive voice.
Example:
- You’re wanted on the telephone.
- They had wanted.
- I will have wanted.
Past continuous: ‘was wanting’
The past continuous is formed by adding the verb be in the past form “was” (for the singular of the 1st and 3rd person), or “were” (others). The suffix ‘-ing-‘ is added to the end of the verb “want”.
The past continuous tense is used when an activity occurred in the past or when the activity happened at a certain moment in time.
Example:
- It was wanting.
- They were wanting.
TIP: see: the most common words in English.