leap
Base form
leap
/liːp/
Past simple
leapt / leaped
/lept/ /liːpt/
Past participle
leapt / leaped
/lept/ /liːpt/
MeaningC1
to jump high or a long way
look before you leap
In use
- After a modal verb · Form 1Can you leap over that stream without getting wet?
- Negative · Form 1Don’t leap off the rocks into such shallow water.
- Past simple · Form 2Last summer Leo leapt into the river from the old bridge.
- Past simple · Form 2When I heard the news yesterday, my heart leapt.
- Present perfect · Form 3Ticket prices have leapt by thirty per cent this year.
- Past perfect · Form 3The cat had leapt onto the table before we could stop it.
Watch out
Leapt /lept/ changes the vowel, like slept; leaped is also right, especially in American English. Lept is a spelling slip, and leapted is wrong.
Same pattern
A — B — BForms two and three are the same
Irregular VerbsLearn all three forms for good
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