wrote

wrote — verb

1. the past tense of the verb 'write'. You use it when you want to say that someone

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveA2
Definition

the past tense of the verb 'write'. You use it when you want to say that someone created words on paper or a screen, or sent a message in writing, at a time before now.

Example

Jabari wrote a short story for the school magazine last month.

wrote + noun phrase (direct object)

Renata wrote an email to her professor after the conference.

wrote + noun phrase + to + person

Common collocations
  • wrote a letter/note/email/essay/report/poem
  • wrote to someone
  • wrote about something
  • wrote back
  • wrote that ...
  • wrote in a diary/journal

Grammar Patterns

wrote + noun phrase (letter/note/essay)

wrote + to + person

wrote + about + topic

wrote + that-clause

wrote + back

Usage Note

Frequently paired with time expressions that point to a finished time — yesterday, last week, in 2020, a few minutes ago. Never follows an auxiliary verb such as 'have', 'has', 'had', or 'be'; for those structures, use the past participle 'written' instead.

Common Mistakes

I have wrote a long report for my boss.
I wrote a long report for my boss.' or ✅ 'I have written a long report for my boss.
'wrote' is the past simple form and cannot follow 'have'. Use 'written' as the past participle.

Word family

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • wrote carefully
  • wrote quickly
  • wrote neatly

Phrases

  • wrote back
  • wrote down
  • wrote off

Prepositions

  • wrote to
  • wrote about
  • wrote in
  • wrote on
  • wrote for

Etymology

Old EnglishOld NorseEnglish

'Wrote' is the irregular past tense form of 'write'. The verb 'write' comes from Old English 'writan', meaning 'to score, outline, draw the figure of', which is related to Old Norse 'rita' ('to write, scratch, outline'). Over time the meaning shifted from scratching marks on a surface to expressing ideas in written words.