The verb to wake · Conjugation
Past Simple of wake
The answer: woke
A2
A finished action at a definite time in the past.
Quick answer
The Past Simple of the verb to wake is woke.
Example: I woke up at 6 a.m.
Full conjugation in the Past Simple
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| I | woke |
| You | woke |
| He / She / It | woke |
| We | woke |
| You (pl.) | woke |
| They | woke |
Common mistakes to avoid
1. I have woke up ❌
I woke up early. ✓ I have just woken up. ✓ After have or has, always use woken.
2. Wake up me ❌
Wake alone is rare: in everyday English, say wake up. With a word like me or him, put it in the middle: Wake me up, never Wake up me.
3. I woke up = I got out of bed ❌
Wake up = to open your eyes. Get up = to get out of bed. They are two different steps of your morning.
Practice quiz
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Frequently asked questions
What is the past tense of wake?+
The Past Simple of wake is woke. The past participle is woken. Wake → woke → woken.
Is it wake or wake up?+
In practice, people almost always say wake up (a phrasal verb): I woke up at 7. Wake alone exists, but it sounds literary, like in books or poems.
Is it woke or waked?+
Say woke. Wake is an irregular verb, and its Past Simple is woke. Waked exists in American English, but it is rare: learn woke.
What is the difference between woke up and got up?+
Wake up = to open your eyes. Get up = to get out of bed. I woke up at 7, but I got up at 7.30.
How do you use wake up with a person?+
Put the person between wake and up: Wake me up at 7, please. Here wake up has an object. For yourself, there is no object: I wake up at 7.
Related pages: wake Past Simple
Pages on a similar topic or with a similar use, so you can keep exploring.
Updated on 12 November 2026 by the Big Challenge teaching team. Every year, more than 500,000 students across Europe take part in our English contest, created in 1999. Our teaching approach →
The Big Challenge · Updated on 12 November 2026 · Source: www.thebigchallenge.com/bl/academy/learn-english/verbs/wake/past-simple
© The Big Challenge. Copying allowed for classroom use. Every year, more than 500,000 students across Europe take part in our English contest, created in 1999.
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More forms of the verb to wake are coming soon.