What is the Simple Past Tense of “want”?

Answer: The simple past tense of “want” is “wanted.”

In English grammar, the simple past tense is used to describe actions or states that occurred and were completed in the past. When we say “wanted,” we’re referring to a desire or need that someone had in the past.

For example: “She wanted to go to Europe this past summer.” The word “wanted” denotes that the “want” occurred at some point last summer, but that need not mean it is still taking place, necessarily.

When we need to communicate a sense of past time and clearly refer to when it did happen or was true, we should use the simple past. In this case, it is important for us to be able to tell our present desires from the past when describing an event or state factually in our conversation or writing.

Our help is through knowing the forms of the simple past tense of the verb “want” to frame correct sentences that give the exact meaning of something that was done or remained for a specific period in the past.