planned

planned — verb

1. the form of the verb 'plan' that shows an arrangement or intention was made befo

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveA2
Definition

the form of the verb 'plan' that shows an arrangement or intention was made before now. It is used for both the past tense and the past participle.

Example

Adaeze planned a surprise birthday party for her best friend Rania.

planned + noun phrase: arranged an event

Quinn and Hari planned to meet at the station after work.

planned + to-infinitive: intended to do something

Common collocations
  • carefully planned
  • planned ahead
  • planned in advance
  • planned for the future
  • well planned
  • planned a trip
  • planned a wedding
  • planned an event
Synonyms
  • arranged

    focuses on putting things in order, not necessarily on detailed forethought

  • organized

    suggests coordinating people or resources step by step

  • scheduled

    specifically about setting a time and date for something

Grammar Patterns

planned + noun phrase

planned + to-infinitive

planned + that-clause

be + planned

have / has + planned

Usage Note

The word 'planned' is the same spelling for both the simple past (e.g. 'She planned the trip') and the past participle (e.g. 'The trip was planned'). It is an irregular-looking verb but follows the regular -ed pattern — the doubled 'n' comes from the stress pattern of 'plan' (one syllable ending in consonant-vowel-consonant).

Common Mistakes

She planed the party last week.
She planned the party last week.
'planed' is a different word (to smooth wood). Double the 'n' before adding -ed for 'plan'.
I have plan to visit Taipei.
I have planned to visit Taipei.
after 'have', use the past participle 'planned', not the base form 'plan'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe things that were set up ahead of time, but the emphasis shifts. 'Planned' is the broadest — it covers any deliberate forethought, from a simple trip to a complex project. 'Arranged' focuses on the practical putting-together of people or items ('She arranged the chairs in a circle'). 'Organized' suggests methodical step-by-step coordination, often with many moving parts ('He organized the entire conference schedule'). 'Scheduled' is narrower and more time-focused — it means a specific date or time slot was set ('The doctor's appointment was scheduled for Monday'). For everyday speech, 'planned' is the most natural choice. If you need to stress time slots, use 'scheduled'; if you want to highlight that someone brought order to a messy situation, 'organized' or 'arranged' work better.

planned ↗arrangedorganized ↗scheduled

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • planned ahead
  • planned in advance
  • as planned

Prepositions

  • planned for
  • planned around

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The verb 'plan' entered English in the 1700s from French 'plan' (a drawing or map), which came from Latin 'planum' meaning a flat surface. The past form 'planned' follows standard English -ed inflection, but the final consonant is doubled to preserve the short vowel sound — the same rule that applies to 'stopped', 'grabbed', and 'fitted'.