Drank is the simple past tense of drink, while drunk is the past participle. Use drank for a completed action in the past: “I drank coffee yesterday.”
Use drunk with have, has, or had: “I have drunk enough coffee.” Drunk can also be an adjective meaning intoxicated.
Key Takeaways
- Drink = present or base form.
- Drank = simple past.
- Drunk = past participle.
- Use drunk after have, has, or had when forming perfect tenses.
- Drunk can also be an adjective: “He was drunk.”
- The easiest pattern is drink → drank → drunk.
What Is the Difference Between Drank & Drunk?
Drank and drunk are two different forms of the irregular verb drink.
The basic difference is simple:
Drank = simple past
Drunk = past participle
For example:
I drank water yesterday.
But:
I have drunk enough water.
Both sentences talk about drinking, but they use different verb forms.
Drank can stand alone as the main verb in a simple past sentence. Drunk, when used as a past participle, normally works with a helping verb such as have, has, or had.
There is also another use of drunk.
It can work as an adjective:
He was drunk.
Here, drunk describes a person’s condition rather than acting as the past participle in a perfect tense.
Drink, Drank & Drunk: The Three Forms
The easiest way to understand this topic is to learn all three forms together.
| Form | Word | Example |
| Base form | drink | I drink water every day. |
| Simple past | drank | I drank water yesterday. |
| Past participle | drunk | I have drunk enough water. |
Drink is an irregular verb, so its past forms do not follow the regular -ed pattern. You do not normally change drink to drinked. The standard forms are drink, drank, drunk.
You can remember the pattern like this:
Drink → Drank → Drunk
This is similar to other irregular verbs:
- sing → sang → sung
- ring → rang → rung
- swim → swam → swum
Learning the complete pattern makes it easier to choose the correct word when writing.
When to Use Drank
Use drank when you are talking about an action that happened in the past.
It is the simple past form of drink.
Examples of Drank
- I drank coffee this morning.
- She drank a glass of water.
- We drank tea after dinner.
- He drank all the juice.
- They drank soda at the party.
- I drank too much coffee yesterday.
You will often use drank with a clear past-time expression:
- yesterday
- last night
- last week
- two hours ago
- earlier this morning
- when I was younger
For example:
I drank coffee two hours ago.
The action happened in the past, so drank is the correct form.
Another example:
Sarah drank tea after lunch.
The sentence describes a completed past action, so drank works naturally.
When to Use Drunk
Use drunk as the past participle of drink.
A past participle is commonly used with helping verbs to form perfect tenses.
With drink, the common pattern is:
have + drunk
has + drunk
had + drunk
For example:
I have drunk enough water.
She has drunk all the milk.
They had drunk their coffee before the meeting started.
The important thing to notice is the helping verb.
You would not normally write:
❌ I drunk enough water.
Instead:
✅ I have drunk enough water.
Likewise:
❌ She has drank all the milk.
✅ She has drunk all the milk.
The standard grammar pattern is have/has/had + drunk.
Drank vs Drunk: Quick Comparison
| Drank | Drunk |
| Simple past | Past participle |
| Can stand as the main verb | Usually needs a helping verb when used as a participle |
| I drank water. | I have drunk water. |
| She drank coffee. | She has drunk coffee. |
| They drank juice. | They had drunk juice. |
A quick rule can help:
Past action by itself → drank
I drank tea yesterday.
Have, has, or had + verb form → drunk
I have drunk tea today.
This is the core distinction you need to remember.
Is It “I Drank” or “I Drunk”?
If you are describing a simple action in the past, use:
I drank.
Not:
❌ I drunk.
Examples:
✅ I drank coffee this morning.
❌ I drunk coffee this morning.
✅ I drank some water after my workout.
❌ I drunk some water after my workout.
✅ She drank the whole bottle.
❌ She drunk the whole bottle.
However, drunk is correct when it is the past participle:
I have drunk enough water.
So drank is not simply the “correct version” of drunk. They have different grammatical jobs.
Is It “I Have Drank” or “I Have Drunk”?
In standard English, use:
I have drunk
rather than:
❌ I have drank
Why?
Because have is being used to form a perfect tense, and the verb that follows it should be the past participle.
The pattern is:
have + drunk
Examples:
- I have drunk enough water.
- She has drunk all her coffee.
- We have drunk plenty of water today.
- He has drunk three glasses of juice.
- They had drunk their drinks before dinner.
The same pattern works with different subjects:
I have drunk.
You have drunk.
She has drunk.
They have drunk.
We had drunk.
Current grammar references consistently identify drunk as the standard past participle of drink.
Drunk as an Adjective
There is one important detail that makes this word slightly confusing.
Drunk can also be an adjective.
When used this way, it describes someone who is intoxicated from alcohol.
For example:
He was drunk.
She looked drunk.
The man became drunk after the party.
Compare:
She has drunk some wine.
Here, drunk is the past participle of drink.
But:
She is drunk.
Here, drunk is an adjective describing her condition.
The word looks the same, but its grammatical role is different.
Drunk vs Drunken
Drunk and drunken are related, but they are not interchangeable in every sentence.
Drunk is commonly used after linking verbs:
He was drunk.
She became drunk.
It can also appear before a noun:
a drunk driver
Drunken is generally used as an adjective before a noun:
drunken behavior
a drunken sailor
a drunken argument
Most importantly, drunken is not another past-tense form of drink.
The verb forms remain:
drink → drank → drunk
Not:
❌ drink → drank → drunken
So you would say:
✅ I drank water yesterday.
Not:
❌ I drunken water yesterday.
Common Mistakes With Drank & Drunk
Mistake 1: I drunk water yesterday.
Incorrect in standard English.
Use:
I drank water yesterday.
Because the sentence uses the simple past, drank is needed.
Mistake 2: I have drank enough water.
Use:
I have drunk enough water.
The word have requires the past participle here.
Mistake 3: She has drunked the juice.
The correct form is:
She has drunk the juice.
Drink is irregular, so drunked is not the standard past participle.
Mistake 4: I drinked coffee yesterday.
Use:
I drank coffee yesterday.
The simple past of drink is drank, not drinked.
Mistake 5: I had drank before dinner.
Use:
I had drunk before dinner.
Here, had is followed by the past participle drunk.
What About “Did You Drank”?
This is another common mistake worth remembering.
After did, use the base form of the verb.
So:
✅ Did you drink the coffee?
Not:
❌ Did you drank the coffee?
And not:
❌ Did you drunk the coffee?
Why?
Because did already marks the sentence as past tense. The main verb returns to its base form.
The pattern is:
Did + drink
For example:
Did you drink water?
Did she drink coffee?
Did they drink the juice?
This gives you another useful rule:
- Simple past statement → drank
- Question with did → drink
- Perfect tense with have/has/had → drunk
How to Remember Drank vs Drunk
You can remember the difference with three simple patterns.
1. Simple past = Drank
I drank coffee.
2. Have, has, or had = Drunk
I have drunk coffee.
3. Did = Drink
Did you drink coffee?
So the complete memory trick is:
Drink → present/base
Drank → simple past
Drunk → past participle
Did + drink → past-tense question
Once you remember these patterns, most drank vs drunk questions become easy.
FAQs:
What is the past tense of drink?
The simple past tense of drink is drank.
Example:
I drank water yesterday.
The past participle is drunk:
I have drunk enough water.
Drink is an irregular verb, so its past forms do not follow the regular -ed pattern.
What is the past participle of drink?
The past participle of drink is drunk.
For example:
I have drunk enough water.
She has drunk her coffee.
They had drunk all the juice.
The three main forms are drink, drank, drunk.
Is “I drunk” grammatically correct?
Not when drunk is being used as the simple past of drink. In standard English, say I drank.
However, drunk is correct after a helping verb:
I have drunk enough water.
It can also be an adjective:
I am drunk.
Is “I have drank” correct?
For standard English, use I have drunk, not I have drank.
The pattern is:
have/has/had + drunk
For example:
I have drunk enough water.
She has drunk her coffee.
They had drunk all the juice.
Is “drinked” a word?
Drinked is not the standard past form of drink.
The correct forms are:
drink → drank → drunk
So say:
I drank water.
Not:
I drinked water.
What are the three forms of drink?
The three main forms are:
- Drink base form
- Drank simple past
- Drunk past participle
Examples:
I drink water every day.
I drank water yesterday.
I have drunk enough water.
Conclusion
The difference between drank vs drunk is mainly about how the verb is used in a sentence.
Use drank for the simple past:
I drank coffee yesterday.
Use drunk as the past participle:
I have drunk coffee today.
And remember that drunk can also be an adjective:
He was drunk.
For an easy memory trick, keep this pattern in mind:
drink → drank → drunk
If you also remember did + drink, you can avoid another common mistake:
Did you drink?
I drank.
I have drunk.
That small pattern covers most everyday uses of drink, drank, and drunk.
Harry Jack is a content writer at ReplyGenius.com who specializes in practical, natural sounding replies for texts, social media, relationships, and everyday conversations.
