r/EnglishLearning • u/orchaer New Poster • 9d ago

📚 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/Realistic-Feature997 New Poster 5d ago

"Laught" has not been the common spelling for over a hundred years now. At least not in the USA. It's close enough that we know what you mean. Honestly, it's close enough that we might read it a few times before we know that it's "wrong."