Mastering the Past Tense of “Grant”: Usage, Rules & Examples

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Understanding how to correctly use the past tense of verbs is a cornerstone of mastering English grammar. This comprehensive guide focuses on the past tense of the verb grant, a common yet sometimes confusing verb for learners. Whether you need to describe permissions, approvals, or official acknowledgments, knowing how to use granted correctly will make your communication clearer and more professional.

This article is designed for students, ESL learners, teachers, writers, and professionals who want to improve their English proficiency. You will learn:

  • What grant means and how it functions as a verb
  • How to form and use the past tense granted in different sentence structures
  • Common mistakes and how to avoid them
  • Extensive examples and tables illustrating correct usage
  • Practice exercises with detailed answers
  • Advanced insights including idioms and perfect tenses

Let’s embark on this detailed journey to master the past tense of grant!

Table of Contents

  1. Definition Section
  2. Structural Breakdown
  3. Types or Categories
  4. Examples Section
  5. Usage Rules
  6. Common Mistakes
  7. Practice Exercises
  8. Advanced Topics
  9. FAQ Section
  10. Conclusion

3. Definition Section

3.1. What Does “Grant” Mean?

The verb grant primarily means to give something formally or legally, to allow or permit, or to bestow officially. It often involves some authority or official capacity granting rights, permissions, or benefits.

Contexts include:

  • Legal: “The court granted bail to the defendant.”
  • Academic: “The university granted her a scholarship.”
  • Conversational: “My dad finally granted me permission to go.”
  • Formal and Informal: Appropriate in both formal documents and everyday speech, though more common in formal contexts.

Note: Grant is also a noun meaning a sum of money given, e.g., “They received a research grant,” but this guide focuses on its verb forms.

3.2. Grammatical Classification

  • Type: Grant is a regular verb.
  • Transitive: It requires a direct object (“grant permission”, “grant access”).
  • Main verb: It is a lexical verb conveying the main action in a sentence.

3.3. The Past Tense: An Overview

The past tense expresses actions or events that were completed in the past. For grant, the simple past tense form is granted.

Verb Forms of “Grant”:

Base Form Present Participle Past Simple Past Participle
grant granting granted granted

Both the past simple and past participle are the same: granted.

4. Structural Breakdown

4.1. Forming the Simple Past of “Grant”

Since grant is a regular verb, you form the past tense by simply adding -ed to the base form:

  • grant + ed = granted

Spelling rules:

  • No consonant doubling (e.g., not grantted).
  • No change to the stem.
  • No -y to -ied change.

Pronunciation: The -ed ending in granted is pronounced as /ɪd/.

4.2. Affirmative Statements

Structure: Subject + granted + object

Examples:

  • “She granted access to the files.”
  • “The board granted the request.”
  • “They granted him a visa.”
  • “The university granted me a scholarship.”

4.3. Negative Statements

Structure: Subject + did not (or didn’t) + base form grant

Use did not grant, not granted not.

Examples:

  • “They did not grant permission.”
  • “He didn’t grant the extension.”
  • “The council did not grant the license.”
  • “The teacher didn’t grant an extension.”

4.4. Questions (Interrogatives)

Structure: Did + subject + base form grant + object?

Examples:

  • “Did the committee grant your proposal?”
  • “Did she grant the scholarship?”
  • “Did they grant you access?”
  • “Did the judge grant bail?”

4.5. Short Answers

  • Positive: “Yes, [subject] did.”
  • Negative: “No, [subject] didn’t.”

Examples:

  • “Yes, they did.”
  • “No, they didn’t.”
  • “Yes, she did.”
  • “No, he didn’t.”

4.6. Passive Voice with “Granted”

Structure: Subject + was/were + granted + (by agent)

Examples:

  • “Permission was granted by the manager.”
  • “The patent was granted last year.”
  • “The request was granted after review.”
  • “The license was granted yesterday.”

4.7. Summary Table: Sentence Structures

Sentence Type Structure Example
Affirmative Subject + granted + object The university granted him admission.
Negative Subject + did not grant + object She did not grant access.
Question Did + subject + grant + object? Did the council grant approval?
Passive Object + was/were granted (+ by agent) The visa was granted yesterday.

5. Types or Categories

5.1. Simple Past Tense (Focus of Article)

Describes actions completed at a specific time in the past.

  • “The city council granted the permit yesterday.”
  • “She granted me an interview last week.”

5.2. Past Continuous (Was/Were Granting)

Describes ongoing or interrupted actions in the past.

  • “They were granting scholarships when I applied.”
  • “She was granting access all morning.”

5.3. Past Perfect (Had Granted)

Describes an action completed before another past action.

  • “She had granted permission before the meeting started.”
  • “They had granted the license by the time we arrived.”

5.4. Past Perfect Continuous (Had Been Granting)

Describes a continuous action up to a past moment.

  • “He had been granting interviews all day.”
  • “They had been granting approvals for several months.”

5.5. Irregular Forms?

Grant is a regular verb. Its past simple and past participle are both granted.

Contrast with irregular verbs:

Verb Base Past Simple Past Participle
Give give gave given
Take take took taken
Go go went gone
Grant grant granted granted

6. Examples Section

6.1. Basic Examples (Simple Past)

  1. “The city council granted the permit yesterday.”
  2. “They granted me access to the archives.”
  3. “The judge granted bail to the defendant.”
  4. “The foundation granted a scholarship to her.”
  5. “He granted his son permission to drive.”
  6. “The committee granted the proposal after discussion.”
  7. “The embassy granted him a visa.”
  8. “She granted an interview to the reporter.”
  9. “The company granted her request for leave.”
  10. “They granted free entry to all students.”
  11. “The university granted honorary degrees last year.”
  12. “The government granted asylum to the refugees.”

6.2. Negative Sentences

  • “The company didn’t grant his request for leave.”
  • “The council did not grant the license.”
  • “She didn’t grant us an extension.”
  • “They did not grant approval.”
  • “The teacher didn’t grant extra credit.”
  • “The embassy did not grant him a visa.”
  • “The board didn’t grant additional funding.”
  • “He did not grant permission for the event.”

6.3. Questions

  • “Did the teacher grant your extension?”
  • “Did the council grant the permit?”
  • “Did she grant you access?”
  • “Did they grant the scholarship?”
  • “Did the judge grant bail?”
  • “Did your supervisor grant your leave request?”
  • “Did the embassy grant the visa?”
  • “Did the company grant your request?”

6.4. Passive Voice Examples

  • “The award was granted to her last month.”
  • “The permit was granted after inspection.”
  • “The license was granted yesterday.”
  • “Permission was granted by the principal.”
  • “The contract was granted to the lowest bidder.”
  • “The visa was granted within two weeks.”
  • “The scholarship was granted to the top student.”
  • “The patent was granted last year.”

6.5. Complex Sentences with Clauses

  • “Although they granted his visa, he decided not to travel.”
  • “After the court granted the injunction, the project was paused.”
  • “Because the board granted funding, the research could continue.”
  • “Once the embassy granted the visa, she booked her flight.”
  • “If they had granted permission earlier, we could have started sooner.”
  • “While the judge granted bail, he imposed strict conditions.”

6.6. Examples in Formal Contexts

  • “The patent was granted on July 1st.”
  • “Funding was granted following a thorough review.”
  • “The license was granted under government regulation.”
  • “Permission was granted for the construction project.”
  • “The court granted the motion to dismiss.”
  • “A visa was granted to the applicant.”
  • “The appeal was granted due to new evidence.”

6.7. Examples in Informal Contexts

  • “My parents finally granted me permission to go.”
  • “She granted me an interview yesterday.”
  • “They granted us access to the club.”
  • “He granted me a second chance.”
  • “The coach granted him extra practice time.”

6.8. Comparative Examples Table

Incorrect Correct
“They granted not my request.” “They did not grant my request.”
“Did she granted you access?” “Did she grant you access?”
“She didn’t granted leave.” “She didn’t grant leave.”
“Was granted the patent last year.” “The patent was granted last year.”
“They didn’t granted him permission.” “They didn’t grant him permission.”

7. Usage Rules

7.1. When to Use “Granted” (Simple Past)

  • For actions completed in the past.
  • When the permission or approval happened at a definite time.
  • Events which do not continue into the present.

Examples:

  • “The council granted the permit last week.”
  • “She granted him access yesterday.”

7.2. Choosing Between Present and Past

Use grant for ongoing, habitual, or current actions, and granted for completed past actions.

Present (Current/Ongoing) Past (Completed)
“The embassy grants visas daily.” “The embassy granted his visa last month.”
“She grants interviews every week.” “She granted an interview yesterday.”

7.3. Passive Construction Rules

Use the passive voice to:

  • Emphasize the recipient of the action
  • When the doer is unknown or unimportant
  • In formal writing or official documents

Examples:

  • “The award was granted to her.”
  • “The permit was granted yesterday.”

7.4. Common Collocations with “Granted”

Collocation Example Sentence
grant permission “The teacher granted permission to leave early.”
grant access “They granted us access to the archives.”
grant leave “The manager granted her leave for two weeks.”
grant a request “The committee granted my request for funding.”
grant a license “The council granted a license to operate.”
grant approval “The board granted approval for the merger.”
grant a visa “The embassy granted him a visa.”

7.5. Tense Agreement in Complex Sentences

When combining granted with other past tenses, ensure logical sequence:

  • “After the city had granted approval, construction began.”
  • “Once the court had granted bail, the defendant was released.”
  • “Because the university granted him a scholarship, he enrolled.”

7.6. Exceptions and Special Cases

Expression: “Take for granted”

This is an idiom meaning to assume something will always be available or not appreciate it fully.

Examples:

  • “I took her help for granted.”
  • “Don’t take your health for granted.”

Note: This idiom uses the verb take, not grant, and is unrelated to the past tense of grant.

8. Common Mistakes

8.1. Using “Granted” Instead of “Grant” in Questions

Incorrect: “Did they granted you access?”

Correct: “Did they grant you access?”

8.2. Incorrect Negative Forms

Incorrect: “They granted not permission.”

Correct: “They did not grant permission.”

8.3. Confusing Passive and Active Voice

Incorrect: “She was granted the permission the teacher.”

Correct: “She was granted permission by the teacher.”

8.4. Spelling Errors

Avoid common mistakes like:

  • Incorrect: grantted
  • Incorrect: granteded
  • Correct: granted

8.5. Misuse of “Granted” in Idioms

Confusing the literal verb granted with the idiom take for granted.

  • Incorrect: “I granted her help.”
  • Correct: “I took her help for granted.”

8.6. Summary Table: Mistakes and Corrections

Common Error Correct Form
“Did you granted him leave?” “Did you grant him leave?”
“They didn’t granted approval.” “They didn’t grant approval.”
“They granted not permission.” “They did not grant permission.”
“Was granted the contract last month.” “The contract was granted last month.”
“She granteded the scholarship.” “She granted the scholarship.”

9. Practice Exercises

9.1. Fill-in-the-Blanks

  1. Last year, the university ____ him a scholarship. (granted)
  2. The judge ____ bail yesterday. (granted)
  3. They did not ____ the license. (grant)
  4. ____ the embassy grant the visa? (Did)
  5. Permission was ____ quickly. (granted)
  6. My manager ____ me leave last month. (granted)
  7. The company didn’t ____ her request. (grant)
  8. After the board ____ approval, work began. (granted)
  9. Did the council ____ your application? (grant)
  10. The patent was ____ last year. (granted)

9.2. Error Correction

  1. “Did the manager granted permission?” → “Did the manager grant permission?”
  2. “She didn’t granted leave.” → “She didn’t grant leave.”
  3. “They granted not access.” → “They did not grant access.”
  4. “Was granteded the award last week.” → “Was granted the award last week.”
  5. “They didn’t granted the visa.” → “They didn’t grant the visa.”
  6. “Did she granted you access?” → “Did she grant you access?”
  7. “She was granteded permission.” → “She was granted permission.”
  8. “They grantted the request.” → “They granted the request.”
  9. “The council granted not approval.” → “The council did not grant approval.”
  10. “Did the embassy granted the visa?” → “Did the embassy grant the visa?”

9.3. Multiple Choice

  1. Last week, the city council ____ the permit.
    • a) grant
    • b) granted
    • c) granting
  2. They didn’t ____ him access.
    • a) grant
    • b) granted
    • c) grants
  3. ____ she grant the extension?
    • a) Did
    • b) Was
    • c) Has
  4. The award ____ to the researcher last month.
    • a) grant
    • b) was granted
    • c) were granted
  5. He ____ the scholarship before the semester started.
    • a) grant
    • b) grants
    • c) had granted
  6. They ____ not grant approval.
    • a) was
    • b) did
    • c) have
  7. Permission ____ by the principal.
    • a) grant
    • b) was granted
    • c) granted
  8. Did he ____ a visa?
    • a) granted
    • b) grant
    • c) grants
  9. The embassy ____ visas daily.
    • a) grants
    • b) granted
    • c) granting
  10. They ____ her access yesterday.
    • a) grant
    • b) granted
    • c) granting

9.4. Sentence Construction

Create sentences using granted as specified:

  1. Affirmative: (The judge, bail) → “The judge granted bail.”
  2. Negative: (They, permission) → “They did not grant permission.”
  3. Question: (The embassy, the visa) → “Did the embassy grant the visa?”
  4. Passive: (The license, yesterday) → “The license was granted yesterday.”
  5. Affirmative: (The teacher, an extension) → “The teacher granted an extension.”
  6. Negative: (The council, approval) → “The council did not grant approval.”
  7. Question: (He, leave) → “Did he grant leave?”
  8. Passive: (Permission, by the principal) → “Permission was granted by the principal.”
  9. Affirmative: (She, me access) → “She granted me access.”
  10. Negative: (They, funding) → “They did not grant funding.”

9.5. Identify Active or Passive Voice

Decide if the sentence is active or passive.

  1. “The judge granted bail.” → Active
  2. “The license was granted yesterday.” → Passive
  3. “They did not grant permission.” → Active
  4. “The contract was granted to the company.” → Passive
  5. “She granted me access.” → Active
  6. “Funding was granted last year.” → Passive
  7. “The embassy granted the visa.” → Active
  8. “Permission was granted by the council.” → Passive
  9. “They granted asylum.” → Active
  10. “The award was granted to her.” → Passive

9.6. Advanced Practice

Rewrite or combine sentences using granted appropriately.

  1. “The embassy approved the documents. Later, they gave a visa.” → “The embassy granted a visa after approving the documents.”
  2. “The judge decided before the hearing started. He allowed bail.” → “The judge had granted bail before the hearing started.”
  3. “If the council had approved sooner, building could have begun.” → “If the council had granted approval sooner, construction could have started.”
  4. “Although he received permission, he chose not to attend.” → “Although permission was granted, he decided not to attend.”
  5. “Because the university gave her a scholarship, she enrolled immediately.” → “Because the university granted her a scholarship, she enrolled immediately.”

10. Advanced Topics

10.1. “Granted” in Conditional Sentences

Use granted in third conditional sentences to describe hypothetical past actions.

  • “If they had granted approval earlier, we would have finished by now.”
  • “Had the judge granted bail, he would have been released sooner.”

10.2. “Granted” as Participle in Perfect Tenses

Present Perfect: “She has granted interviews all day.”

Past Perfect: “They had granted funding before the deadline.”

Future Perfect: “By next week, the council will have granted approval.”

Tense Example
Present Perfect “The embassy has granted over 100 visas.”
Past Perfect “The university had granted scholarships before the semester.”
Future Perfect “They will have granted all permits by Friday.”

10.3. “Granted” in Reported Speech

Direct: “They said, ‘We grant you permission.'”

Reported: “They said they granted me permission.”

Reported speech often shifts the tense from present to past.

10.4. Idiomatic Expressions with “Granted”

“Take for granted” means to undervalue or assume something is always available.

  • “I took her kindness for granted.”
  • “Never take your freedom for granted.”

“Granted that…” means assuming that… or even though it is true that…

  • “Granted that the process is slow, it is still necessary.”
  • “Granted, he made mistakes, but he tried his best.”

10.5. Register and Formality

The verb grant is more formal than similar verbs like give or allow.

  • Formal: “The court granted an injunction.”
  • Informal: “My mom allowed me to stay out late.”

11. FAQ Section

  1. What is the past tense of grant?
    The past tense is granted.
  2. Is granted a regular or irregular verb form?
    It is a regular verb, formed by adding -ed.
  3. How do you form negative sentences with granted?
    Use did not + grant: e.g., “They did not grant permission.”
  4. Can granted be used in passive voice?
    Yes, e.g., “The visa was granted.”
  5. What is the difference between grant and granted?
    Grant is present tense; granted is past tense or past participle.
  6. How do you form questions with granted?
    Use Did + subject + grant: “Did they grant approval?”
  7. What are common collocations with granted?
    “Granted permission,” “granted access,” “granted leave,” “granted approval,” “granted a license.”
  8. Is granted used differently in British and American English?
    No significant differences.
  9. What does the idiom “take for granted” mean?
    To undervalue or fail to appreciate something.
  10. Can granted be used in perfect tenses?
    Yes, as the past participle: “has granted,” “had granted,” “will have granted.”
  11. What are some common mistakes with granted?
    Using “granted” after “did” (“Did you granted…?”), wrong spelling, or confusing idioms.
  12. How do you pronounce granted?
    As /ˈɡræn.tɪd/, with an /ɪd/ ending.

12. Conclusion

In this guide, you learned that grant is a regular verb whose simple past and past participle is granted. You now understand how to form affirmative, negative, interrogative, and passive sentences with it. You’ve seen over 50 examples, practiced with exercises, and explored advanced uses including idioms and perfect tenses.

Using the correct past tense form enhances clarity and professionalism in both speech and writing. Regular practice with sentence structures will help you internalize these patterns and avoid common errors.

Mastering verb tenses like granted builds a strong foundation for effective communication in English. Keep exploring related verb forms, idioms, and grammatical structures to deepen your language skills.

Happy learning!

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