sought

sought — verb

1. the form of the verb 'seek' that shows an action happened in the past, or is use

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveA2
Definition

the form of the verb 'seek' that shows an action happened in the past, or is used with 'have' to connect past actions to the present, or with 'be' to form the passive voice.

Example

When her business struggled, Élise sought advice from an older shop owner in town.

sought + noun (advice / help / shelter)

During the earthquake, hundreds of families sought shelter in school buildings and sports halls.

sought + noun for physical search

Common collocations
  • sought advice
  • sought help
  • sought shelter
  • sought permission
  • sought refuge
  • sought to + verb

Grammar Patterns

sought + noun phrase

sought + to-infinitive

had/have/has sought

Usage Note

Irregular past form — not 'seeked'. Common collocations include 'sought advice', 'sought help', 'sought shelter', 'sought permission'. The form with 'to-infinitive' (e.g. 'sought to improve') indicates an attempted action, which may or may not have succeeded.

Common Mistakes

She seeked advice from a lawyer.
She sought advice from a lawyer.
'seek' is an irregular verb; its past form is 'sought', not 'seeked'.
I have seeked the answer everywhere.
I have sought the answer everywhere.
the past participle is also 'sought', not 'seeked'.

Word family

  • seek
    verbA2
  • seeking
    verbA2
  • seeker
    nounB1
  • sought-after
    adjectiveB2

Common collocations

Nouns

  • sought advice
  • sought shelter
  • sought help
  • sought permission
  • sought refuge
  • sought answers
  • sought solutions

Adverbs

  • eagerly sought
  • actively sought
  • carefully sought
  • widely sought

Phrases

  • sought to + infinitive
  • much sought after
  • had sought

Prepositions

  • sought after
  • sought from
  • sought for

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

From Old English 'sōhte', the past tense form of the verb 'sēcan' (modern 'seek'). The spelling changed from Old English 'sohte' to Middle English 'soghte' and then to modern 'sought'. Like many common English verbs, 'seek' keeps an old pattern of vowel change to show past time — a pattern that dates back over a thousand years.