# taught

/ˈtɔt/ (US) · /tˈɔːt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/taught
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. past tense of teach

verb · CEFR A2

the past form of 'teach', used to say that you helped someone learn a subject or skill.

For teachers: the past tense and past participle of 'teach', denoting the completed action of providing instruction or training.

- My father taught me how to ride a bike when I was six years old.
- The professor taught advanced linguistics for over thirty years before retiring to write his memoirs.

Usage: As a past participle, it can be used in passive structures or perfect tenses.

Teaching tip: Learners often confuse the spelling with 'thought' (past of think) or 'bought' (past of buy).

## Examples

- She taught me how to play the piano last year.
- The professor taught history at the university for over thirty years before retiring last spring.
- Having taught the introductory course for a decade, the lecturer possessed an intuitive understanding of the specific concepts that students typically found most challenging.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.