What is the past tense of “occupy?” Most commonly, the past tense of the word “occupy” is “occupied.” Although the word form will change based on its participle. And the sentence where it’s used. For example, referencing “occupy” in the present participle form will change it to “occupying,” but in the infinitive form, will be “occupy.”
The past tense (past participle) form of “occupy” is “occupied.” The infinitive of the word form is “occupy.” The present participle form is “occupying.” The past tense form is “occupied” and past participle form is “occupied.”
The general grammar rules that govern past tenses are as follows. The simple past tense form is created by adding a -ed or -d affix to the root word of the verb. Some verbs use a -t variation where they end in a -t. For example, when "dream" turns into "dreamt."
The past perfect tense is formed for regular verbs (ending in -ed, -d, or -t) by adding "had" followed by the verb. For example, "I had finished."
The past continuous tense is formed by the verb "be" followed by the affix or ending of -ing. For example, "we were having dinner."
Lastly, the past perfect continuous tense is formed by adding "had been" followed by the affix or ending of -ing. For example, "I had been building a castle with my sister."
For more information on forming all past tenses, visit our "understanding verb tenses" resource.
Example sentences in all verb forms: