The simple past tense of forbid is forbade. The past participle is forbidden, so the three principal parts are forbid, forbade, forbidden. For example, “The school forbade students to use phones” describes a completed past action, while “The school has forbidden phones” uses the past participle after has.
Key Facts
Forbid is the base form and means “command someone not to do something.”
Forbade is the standard simple past form.
Forbidden is the past participle used with has, have, had, and in passive constructions.
Forbidded is not the standard past form.
Forbad is a historical or literary spelling that appears far less often than forbade.
The usual patterns are forbid someone to do something and forbid someone from doing something.
What Does Forbid Mean?
Forbid means to order a person not to do something, officially prohibit an action, or prevent something because circumstances make it impossible. The verb can describe authority, rules, personal instructions, or conditions that prevent an event.
A parent can forbid a child from using a device. A regulation can forbid smoking inside a building. Circumstances can also forbid a response: “The injury forbade further competition,” although prevented or made impossible is more natural in most modern prose.
The object of forbid is often a person, an action, or both. These examples show the main meanings:
- “The guard forbade visitors to enter.”
- “Company policy forbids employees from sharing passwords.”
- “The storm forbade safe travel.”
The first two examples express prohibition. The third expresses practical prevention and has a more formal or literary tone.
What Are the Three Forms of Forbid?
The three principal parts are forbid, forbade, forbidden. English changes the internal vowel rather than adding the regular past-tense ending -ed, which makes forbid an irregular verb.
| Grammatical form | Word | Typical construction | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base form | forbid | do, does, will, can, to | “Rules forbid outside food.” |
| Simple past | forbade | completed past action | “The judge forbade contact.” |
| Past participle | forbidden | has, have, had, be | “The court had forbidden contact.” |
| Present participle | forbidding | am, is, are, was, were | “The sign is forbidding entry.” |
The present participle forbidding is not another past form. It can function in a progressive tense, as in “The rule is forbidding access,” although that sentence is less natural than “The rule is preventing access.” It can also be an adjective meaning threatening or unwelcoming, as in “a forbidding landscape.”
Why Is Forbid Irregular?
Forbid is irregular because its past forms preserve an older Germanic vowel-change pattern. English verbs such as sing, sang, sung and give, gave, given show the same broad historical process, although each verb has its own modern forms.
The related verb bid has the traditional forms bid, bade, bidden in some meanings, which helps explain the older pattern behind forbid. Modern speakers should memorize the complete sequence rather than generate the past form by analogy with regular verbs.
A useful learner sequence is:
forbid → forbade → forbidden
The middle form refers to a completed past event. The final form normally requires an auxiliary verb or functions as a participial adjective.
When Should You Use Forbade?
Use forbade for a completed action or decision in the past. The simple past stands alone without has, have, or had.
Examples include:
- “The principal forbade phones during the examination.”
- “The treaty forbade either country to build a new base.”
- “My physician forbade strenuous exercise after surgery.”
- “The museum forbade visitors from touching the exhibits.”
- “Her parents forbade her to travel alone.”
The time reference may be explicit, as in “yesterday” or “in 1998,” or understood from context. In narrative writing, forbade commonly reports a past command: “The king forbade the soldiers to leave the fortress.”
What Sentence Patterns Follow Forbade?
The two established patterns are forbade someone to do something and forbade someone from doing something. Both are widely used, but the infinitive pattern is especially traditional in edited formal prose.
| Pattern | Example | Register and note |
|---|---|---|
| forbade + person + to + verb | “The law forbade drivers to park there.” | Concise and traditionally preferred |
| forbade + person + from + gerund | “The law forbade drivers from parking there.” | Common and fully established |
| forbade + noun | “The rule forbade alcohol.” | Focuses on the prohibited thing |
| forbade + passive infinitive | “The order forbade the bridge to be crossed.” | Formal and less common |
| was forbidden to + verb | “She was forbidden to leave.” | Passive form centered on the person |
Avoid adding did to a simple past statement. The correct sentence is “The official forbade entry,” not “The official did forbade entry.” After did, the verb returns to its base form: “The official did forbid entry.”
Is Forbidden the Past Tense of Forbid?
Forbidden is the past participle, not the ordinary simple past tense. Use forbidden after has, have, or had, and use it in passive constructions such as “Visitors were forbidden to enter.”
| Tense or construction | Correct form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple past | forbade | “The owner forbade access.” |
| Present perfect | has or have forbidden | “The owner has forbidden access.” |
| Past perfect | had forbidden | “The owner had forbidden access.” |
| Future perfect | will have forbidden | “The owner will have forbidden access.” |
| Present passive | is or are forbidden | “Visitors are forbidden to enter.” |
| Past passive | was or were forbidden | “Visitors were forbidden to enter.” |
| Modal perfect | may or must have forbidden | “The rule must have forbidden access.” |
The auxiliary verb identifies the construction. “They forbade entry” uses the simple past. “They had forbidden entry” uses the past participle because had carries the past tense.
A practical substitution test helps: if has, have, or had appears immediately before the blank, choose forbidden, not forbade.
Can Forbidden Be an Adjective?
Forbidden can function as an adjective when it describes something prohibited, restricted, or taboo. In “the forbidden archive,” the word modifies archive rather than forming a perfect or passive verb phrase.
Common examples include:
- forbidden fruit
- forbidden knowledge
- a forbidden area
- forbidden substances
- a forbidden relationship
The adjective can retain a literal rule-based meaning or acquire a cultural and emotional meaning. Forbidden fruit, for example, often describes something attractive because access is restricted, not merely an item covered by a written regulation.
Is Forbidded Correct?
Forbidded is not the standard past tense or past participle of forbid. Standard English uses forbade for the simple past and forbidden after has, have, or had.
| Incorrect form | Correct form | Why |
|---|---|---|
| “She forbidded entry.” | “She forbade entry.” | Simple past requires the irregular form |
| “They had forbade entry.” | “They had forbidden entry.” | Had requires a past participle |
| “He has forbade it.” | “He has forbidden it.” | Has requires a past participle |
| “The rule did forbade smoking.” | “The rule did forbid smoking.” | Did requires the base form |
| “They were forbade to enter.” | “They were forbidden to enter.” | Passive voice requires the participle |
The error occurs because learners often apply the regular -ed rule to an irregular verb. Children may produce forbidded during language development, and second-language learners may form it by analogy with allowed or prohibited. It does not belong in edited standard English.
How Do You Pronounce Forbade?
Forbade has two established pronunciations in modern English. The first rhymes with mad, while the second rhymes with made; dictionaries may list both, with regional and individual variation.
| Pronunciation type | IPA | Rhyme | Example comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short-a pronunciation | /fərˈbæd/ | mad | “The law forbade it” with bad |
| Long-a pronunciation | /fərˈbeɪd/ | made | “The law forbade it” with fade |
| Base-form pronunciation | /fərˈbɪd/ | bid | “The law forbids it” differs in vowel |
| Past-participle pronunciation | /fərˈbɪdən/ | hidden, approximately | “The law has forbidden it” |
The first syllable is usually weak, and the stress falls on the second syllable: for-BADE. Forbidden is pronounced with three syllables in careful speech: for-BID-en.
Spelling and pronunciation do not always move together in English. A speaker using /fərˈbeɪd/ is not necessarily using an archaic form, and a speaker using /fərˈbæd/ is not necessarily making a regional error.
Is Forbad Still Correct?
Forbad is a historical, archaic, or literary variant of forbade, but forbade is the safer choice in contemporary general English. Older religious, historical, and literary texts may use forbad, and the spelling can appear when an author deliberately imitates an earlier style.
Examples from modern writing should normally use:
- “The regulation forbade public demonstrations.”
- “Her doctor forbade heavy lifting.”
- “The commander forbade the troops to advance.”
Use forbad only when preserving a quotation, interpreting an older text, or intentionally creating an archaic voice. It may distract readers in an email, school assignment, report, or ordinary business document.
The distinction is one of register, not basic meaning. Forbad does not represent a different tense.
What Is the Difference Between Forbade and Prohibited?
Forbade and prohibited both express a past restriction, but prohibited sounds more institutional and precise. Forbade works naturally for people, authorities, rules, and narrative events, while prohibited is especially common in laws, policies, signs, and compliance documents.
| Verb | Past form | Typical subject | Example | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| forbid | forbade | person, rule, authority | “The nurse forbade visitors to enter.” | General to formal |
| prohibit | prohibited | law, policy, regulation | “The policy prohibited outside software.” | Formal and administrative |
| ban | banned | government, platform, organization | “The platform banned the account.” | Direct and modern |
| bar | barred | institution, rule, physical access | “The order barred him from entering.” | Formal and legal |
| disallow | disallowed | system, referee, administrator | “The referee disallowed the goal.” | Technical or procedural |
The verbs are not interchangeable in every context. A doctor can forbid a patient to lift weight, but prohibit may sound impersonal. A statute may prohibit conduct, while ban emphasizes a decisive public or institutional restriction.
Should Legal Writers Use Forbade?
Legal writers can use forbade, but prohibited, barred, or restricted may communicate the rule more precisely in current legal and compliance documents. The best choice depends on whether the sentence reports a past decision or states an operative rule.
Compare these sentences:
- “The 2019 regulation forbade the disposal of chemicals.”
- “Section 8 prohibits the disposal of chemicals.”
- “The injunction barred the defendant from contacting the witness.”
- “The facility restricted access to authorized personnel.”
Forbade is grammatically correct in the first sentence. The alternatives may be preferable when the document must define a continuing legal effect, identify a specific scope, or avoid an elevated literary tone.
Plain drafting favors a verb that states the exact mechanism. Prohibited identifies an official rule, barred identifies exclusion from an action or place, and restricted allows partial permission rather than an absolute ban.
How Do You Use Forbid in Questions and Negative Sentences?
Questions and negative sentences use auxiliary verbs, so the main verb returns to the base form forbid. Use did forbid, not did forbade, when asking about or emphasizing a completed past prohibition.
Examples:
- “Did the policy forbid visitors to enter?”
- “The rule did not forbid photography.”
- “Why did the court forbid publication?”
- “The contract does not forbid subcontracting.”
- “The new law will forbid certain imports.”
A negative sentence changes meaning depending on the scope of not. “The rule did not forbid photography” means photography remained allowed under that rule. “The rule forbade visitors not to photograph” is grammatically possible but confusing because the prohibition targets the act of not photographing.
For clear drafting, replace complicated double negatives with a positive statement. Write “The policy required staff to remain silent” instead of “The policy forbade staff not to remain silent.”
Can Forbid Be Used in the Passive Voice?
Forbid forms the passive with be + forbidden, not be + forbade. The person or thing affected by the restriction becomes the grammatical subject.
Active and passive versions include:
- Active: “The manager forbade employees to use the room.”
- Passive: “Employees were forbidden to use the room.”
- Active: “The regulation forbade access after midnight.”
- Passive: “Access was forbidden after midnight.”
- Active: “The doctor forbade him from driving.”
- Passive: “He was forbidden from driving.”
The passive is useful when the rule matters more than the person who issued it. It is also common on signs and notices: “Photography is forbidden.” In contemporary everyday English, “Photography is not allowed” may sound less formal and more natural.
A subtle point matters in legal and technical text: forbidden can describe a current state even when the original decision occurred in the past. “Visitors are forbidden to enter” reports a present restriction, not necessarily the moment when someone created it.
When Should You Choose Forbid, Ban, or Prohibit?
Choose forbid for a natural general-purpose statement, ban for a concise modern restriction, and prohibit for formal rules or regulations. Choose bar when the central idea is exclusion from access or participation rather than a general command.
| Situation | Recommended verb | Example | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent gives a direct instruction | forbid | “Her father forbade her to drive.” | Personal authority fits naturally |
| Government creates a formal rule | prohibit | “The statute prohibited dumping.” | Legal and precise register |
| Platform removes an account | ban | “The service banned the account.” | Modern institutional usage |
| Person loses access | bar | “The court barred him from practice.” | Emphasizes exclusion |
| Sports official rejects an action | disallow | “The referee disallowed the goal.” | Procedural and technical meaning |
| Historical narrative | forbid | “The ruler forbade dissent.” | Strong narrative authority |
Forbid is not ideal for every formal document. It can sound old-fashioned when repeated in policy language, and it sometimes leaves the scope of the restriction less explicit than a carefully drafted clause.
What Are the Most Common Forbid Errors?
The most common errors involve regularizing the verb, confusing the simple past with the participle, and choosing an unclear complement. The corrections are mechanical once the sentence’s auxiliary verb and time reference are identified.
- Using forbidded: Write “The teacher forbade talking,” not “The teacher forbidded talking.”
- Using forbade after had: Write “They had forbidden entry,” not “They had forbade entry.”
- Using forbade after did: Write “The rule did forbid it,” not “The rule did forbade it.”
- Using forbidden as a standalone simple past: Write “The judge forbade contact,” not “The judge forbidden contact.”
- Creating an unclear double negative: Write “The notice forbade entry,” not “The notice forbade people not to enter.”
- Treating forbad as the default modern form: Use forbade unless an older style is intentional.
A reliable editing routine takes under a minute: locate the auxiliary, identify whether the action is completed or perfect, then select forbid, forbade, or forbidden.
How Can You Memorize Forbid, Forbade, Forbidden?
Memorize forbid, forbade, forbidden as one three-part unit rather than learning only the middle form. Attach each form to a grammatical cue: base form after to, do, or a modal; simple past without an auxiliary; past participle after have or be.
Use this compact drill:
- Today: “Rules forbid smoking.”
- Yesterday: “The rule forbade smoking.”
- By then: “The rule had forbidden smoking.”
- Now, passive: “Smoking is forbidden.”
The sequence also prevents the common mistake of treating forbidden as the simple past. Reading the examples aloud reinforces the vowel changes: for-BID, for-BADE, for-BID-den.
A practitioner rule of thumb is to inspect the word immediately before the blank. Did takes forbid; had takes forbidden; no auxiliary in a completed past statement takes forbade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is “forbade” an irregular verb?
Forbade is the irregular simple past form of forbid. The verb does not form its past by adding -ed. Its principal parts are forbid, forbade, forbidden, and the internal vowel changes distinguish the base, past, and participle forms.
What is the past participle of “forbid”?
The past participle of forbid is forbidden. Use it after has, have, or had, as in “The council has forbidden parking” and “The council had forbidden parking before construction began.”
Is “forbade” formal or old-fashioned?
Forbade is standard modern English, although it can sound more formal or literary than banned or did not allow. It is appropriate in academic writing, journalism, narrative prose, and ordinary speech when describing a completed prohibition.
Is “forbad” acceptable in modern English?
Forbad is an accepted historical or literary variant, but forbade is the normal contemporary spelling. Use forbad mainly when preserving an older quotation or creating an intentionally archaic voice.
Do you say “forbid someone to” or “forbid someone from”?
Both constructions are standard: forbid someone to do something and forbid someone from doing something. The infinitive pattern is traditionally preferred by some stylists, while the from + gerund pattern is extremely common in current English.
Can “forbid” mean “make impossible”?
Yes. Forbid can describe circumstances that prevent an action, as in “Poor visibility forbade a safe landing.” In modern plain English, prevented, ruled out, or made impossible will often be clearer than this formal or literary use.
The Bottom Line
The answer to what is the past tense of forbid forbid forbade forbidden is forbade. Use forbid as the base form, forbade for a completed past action, and forbidden as the past participle after has, have, had, or be. The correct sequence is forbid, forbade, forbidden, never forbidded in standard English.
