Regular verbs in English, the past tense of Talk: Talk - Talked - Talked

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Talk is a common verb in English. In this article, let’s explore the concept, present and past tense of Talk, along with related exercises!

I. What is Talk?
II. What are the V0, V2, and V3 forms of Talk? The past tense of Talk in English
III. How to conjugate the verb Talk
1. 1. In the tenses
2. 2. In special sentence structures
IV. Phrasal verbs with Talk in English
V. Idioms with Talk in English
VI. Exercises on applying past tense of Talk with answers
1. 1. Exercise: Conjugate the verb Talk in parentheses:
2. 2. Answer key

I. What is Talk?

Before we dive into the past tense of Talk, let’s understand the definition of Talk!

Talk is pronounced /tɑːk/, serves as a verb, and means: to converse, to discuss. For example:

We need to talk about the project.
They talked for hours about their plans.

II. What are the V0, V2, and V3 forms of Talk? The past tense of Talk in English

What is the past tense of Talk? V0, V2, and V3 are abbreviations for the base form, the past simple form, and the past participle form. Let's take a closer look at the V0, V2, and V3 forms of Talk in the table below!

Verb form		Example
V0	Talk /tɑːk/	I often talk to my mom every night.
V2	Talked /tɔːkt/	I talked to my mom last night.
V3	Talked /tɔːkt/	I have talked to my mom since 9pm.

Talk past tense and past participle are: past simple of Talk is Talked and Talk past participle is Talked.

III. How to conjugate the verb Talk

How is the verb Talk conjugated in the 12 tenses of English and special structures? Let's explore it together with PREP right below!

1. In the tenses

12 tenses in English	I	He/She/It	We/You/They
Present simple tense	talk	talks	talk
	I talk to my friends every day. He talks about his experiences often. They talk loudly during the meeting.
Present progressive tense	am talking	is talking	are talking
	I am talking on the phone right now. He is talking to the teacher about his grades. They are talking about their plans for the weekend.
Present perfect tense	have talked	has talked	have talked
	I have talked to her about the issue. He has talked to his boss regarding the promotion. They have talked to several candidates for the position.
Present perfect progressive tense	have been talking	has been talking	have been talking
	I have been talking to my parents all evening about my studies. He has been talking to his friends for hours. They have been talking about the project since yesterday.
Past simple tense	talked	talked	talked
	I talked to him yesterday. He talked about his trip last week. They talked about the movie after watching it.
Past progressive tense	was talking	was talking	were talking
	I was talking to her when you called. He was talking to his friend at the party at 9 PM yesterday. They were talking about their vacation plans on Thursday last week.
Past perfect tense	had talked	had talked	had talked
	I had talked to her before the meeting started. He had talked to the client prior to the presentation. They had talked about the issue before it escalated.
Past perfect progressive tense	had been talking	had been talking	had been talking
	I had been talking to him for a while before he left. He had been talking to his colleagues when I arrived. They had been talking about the project for months.
Future simple tense	will talk	will talk	will talk
	I will talk to her later. He will talk to his parents this weekend. They will talk to the manager about their concerns.
Future progressive tense	will be talking	will be talking	will be talking
	I will be talking to my friends at the event. He will be talking to the audience during his speech. They will be talking about the project next week.
Future perfect tense	will have talked	will have talked	will have talked
	I will have talked to her by the end of the day. He will have talked to everyone involved by tomorrow. They will have talked to the team before making a decision.
Future perfect progressive tense	will have been talking	will have been talking	will have been talking
	I will have been talking to him for an hour by then. He will have been talking for over an hour when he finishes. They will have been talking about the issue for days by that time.

2. In special sentence structures

Special Structure	I	He/She/It	We/You/They
Conditional Sentences
Second conditional - Main Clause	would talk	would talk	would talk
Second conditional - Main Clause	If I had more time, I would talk to you every day. If she were here, she would talk to us about her plans. If we lived closer, we would talk more often.
Third conditional - Main Clause	would have talked	would have talked	would have talked
Third conditional - Main Clause	If I had known about the meeting, I would have talked to her earlier. If she had prepared better, she would have talked confidently. If we had discussed it sooner, we would have talked about the issues at hand.
Subjunctive
Subjunctive expressing present situation	talk	talk	talk
Subjunctive expressing present situation contrary to fact	talked	talked	talked
Subjunctive expressing past situation contrary to fact	had talked	had talked	had talked
Example	I talk to my friends regularly. She wishes she talked less and listened more. If we had talked about our plans earlier, we could have made better arrangements.

IV. Phrasal verbs with Talk in English

In addition to the knowledge about the past form of Talk, let's quickly note the list of phrasal verbs with Talk in English together with PREP!

Idioms with Talk	Meaning	Example
talk back	to reply to someone in a rude or disrespectful way	The student got in trouble for talking back to the teacher.
talk down to someone	to speak to someone in a condescending or belittling manner	She hates it when her boss talks down to her like she's a child.
talk someone/yourself into something	to persuade someone to do something or to convince yourself to do something	He talked his friends into going on a road trip this weekend.
talk out something	to discuss an issue thoroughly in order to resolve it	We need to talk out the problem before making a final decision.
talk over something	to discuss a matter, especially in order to reach a decision	They talked over the proposal during lunch.
talk up something/someone	to promote something or someone by speaking positively or praising them	The manager talked up the new project to get everyone excited about it.

V. Idioms with Talk in English

After exploring the past tense of Talk, let’s look into the list of Idioms with Talk in English together with PREP!

Idioms with Talk	Meaning	Example
talk about something	to discuss or speak on a specific topic	We need to talk about our plans for the weekend.
talk some sense into someone	to reason with someone in order to persuade them to think more rationally	I tried to talk some sense into him, but he wouldn’t listen.
talk tough	to threaten, reprimand, criticize, or blame someone, or to assert strongly what you want	The politician talked tough about crime during his speech.
talk dirty	to use obscene or suggestive language	Some people enjoy talking dirty in private conversations.
talk sense	to speak in a reasonable or logical manner	He finally started to talk sense after the argument.

VI. Exercises on applying past tense of Talk with answers

To better understand the past tense of Talk in English, let’s complete the exercises below with PREP!

1. Exercise: Conjugate the verb Talk in parentheses:

Anna (talk) ___________ to her friends every day.
I (talk) __________ to my leader right now.
We (talk) __________ to the manager already.
They (talk) ____________ for two hours when you arrived.
Jackson (talk) ___________ to the teacher yesterday.
By this time tomorrow, I (talk) __________ to my teacher.
I wish I (talk) _________ to Xavia before she left.
If we had more time, we (talk) ________ longer.
Linda (talk) ____________ to her friends when I called.
They (talk) ____________ to John next week.

2. Answer key

talks
am talking
have talked
had been talking
talked

will have talked
had talked
would talk
was talking
will talk

In this article, PREP has shared all the knowledge related to the past tense of Talk along with a practice exercise that includes answers. Be sure to follow PREP regularly to stay updated with more useful English knowledge!

Master Tu Pham

Founder/CEO at Prep

Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.