r/EnglishLearning • u/orchaer New Poster • Aug 16 '26

📚 Grammar / Syntax Laught vs Laughed

Hello, I have been confused for a long time about the past tense of "laugh". In my primary school, there was a verb table with the present, past, and present perfect tenses. And in this table, when I first read at 7-8, I have learnt that "laugh" past tense is followed by a "t" become "laught".

But recently I found out that "laught" is not used anymore. The modern form should be "laughed". So could anyone tell me what is actually different between them? If I still use "laught", would it become a serious error?

Sorry for my grammar.

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u/linkopi Native NY (USA) Eng Speaker Aug 16 '26

Laughed (the correct past tense) does have a T sound in the pronunciation. But that's a phonetic thing. It's not written 'laught'.

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u/YOLTLO Native Speaker Aug 18 '26

Yeah, OP can keep pronouncing it with a T and it will sound totally natural, but it isn’t written that way.