“Feel” is irregular: feel → felt → felt. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; grammar and surrounding auxiliaries identify the role. The same conjugation applies across ordinary sensation, emotion, touch, and opinion senses of the verb.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
The simple past and past participle of “feel” are both “felt.”
Key details
Confusion Familyirregular merged past and participle
Rule Familyverb forms
Termsfeel, felt
Variant ScopeBoth simple past and past participle are “felt.” The same conjugation applies across ordinary sensation, emotion, touch, and opinion senses of the verb.
Choose the right form
Decision table for Past Tense of Feel
Meaning / situation
Form / construction
Decision
completed action in simple past
felt
Use “felt.”
past participle after have/has/had
felt
Use “felt.”
present/base-form context
feel
Use “feel” when a past form is not required.
Quick tests
Verb-form test
Do you need the simple past or past participle of “feel”?
If yes: Use “felt.”
If no: Use “feel” or the appropriate present form when the sentence is not past.
Caveat: Both simple past and past participle are “felt.” The same conjugation applies across ordinary sensation, emotion, touch, and opinion senses of the verb.
Examples
Example
I felt tired after the trip.
“Felt” is the simple past.
Example
She has felt more confident since Monday.
“Felt” is the past participle after “has.”
Example
I feel better today.
The present form is “feel.”
Further guidance
Core difference
Use “felt” for both the simple past and the past participle.
Fast Test
If the sentence is past or requires a participle, choose “felt”; use “feel” or its present-tense form when the clause is present.
Usage Boundary
Both simple past and past participle are “felt.” The same conjugation applies across ordinary sensation, emotion, touch, and opinion senses of the verb.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
“Bend” follows the pattern bend → bent → bent. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; surrounding grammar identifies the role. Noun uses such as “a bend” and adjective uses of “bent” are separate from the verb-form decision.
“Bleed” follows the pattern bleed → bled → bled. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; surrounding grammar identifies the role. The verb uses the same irregular form across literal blood-loss and other established verb senses; noun uses are separate.
“Breed” is irregular: breed → bred → bred. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; grammar and surrounding auxiliaries identify the role. The same irregular form applies across reproductive, cultivation, and figurative produce/engender senses, even though those senses remain semantically distinct.
“Bring” follows the pattern bring → brought → brought. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; surrounding grammar identifies the role. The reviewed standard paradigm is bring → brought → brought; avoid unsupported claims about every dialectal or nonstandard form.
“Build” follows the pattern build → built → built. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; surrounding grammar identifies the role. The ordinary irregular paradigm is build → built → built; do not infer an unreviewed regular past form.
“Catch” follows the pattern catch → caught → caught. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; surrounding grammar identifies the role. For ordinary standard uses of the verb, do not regularize the past as “catched”; the reviewed authorities give “caught” for both past roles.
