Spell is an irregular verb. Its past tense form (spelt) must be memorized as it does not follow standard conjugation rules.
Verbs that follow a similar irregular pattern to spell:
| Base | Past Tense | Pattern |
|---|
Spell is irregular. Its past tense (spelt) must be memorized.
Use past time markers: "Yesterday, she spelt to the store."
No. Use "did not spell" (not "did not spelt").
The verb spell is an irregular verb in English. Unlike regular verbs that simply add -ed, spell changes to spelt in the past tense. This irregular form must be memorized as it does not follow the standard conjugation rules.
Irregular verbs like spell/spelt trace back to Old English strong verbs, where vowel changes (ablaut) indicated tense shifts. Over centuries, most verbs regularized to the -ed pattern, but the most frequently used verbs retained their irregular forms because they were too common to change. This is why go/went, see/saw, and break/broke remain irregular today.
When using spelt in writing, remember that it functions as a past tense verb and typically appears with time markers like yesterday, last week, or ago. For example: "Yesterday, she spelt to the store." The past tense form does not change based on the subject — I spelt, you spelt, he/she spelt, we spelt, they spelt.