I panicked. vs I was panicked.
I feel like I need to say "I was panicked."
But many example sentences use "I panicked."

In the sentence, "I was panicked," panicked is an adjective as a past participle form, and in "I panicked" it is used as a verb. I know the grammatical difference, but I don't know there's a difference as to the meaning.

What do I need to use, and what is the difference between them?

Thank you!

Question

I panicked. vs I was panicked.
I feel like I need to say "I was panicked."
But many example sentences use "I panicked."

In the sentence, "I was panicked," panicked is an adjective as a past participle form, and in "I panicked" it is used as a verb. I know the grammatical difference, but I don't know there's a difference as to the meaning.

What do I need to use, and what is the difference between them?

Thank you!

Answer

Hi Phew,

"I panicked" is correct but "I was panicked" is not correct.

For example, if you say "John panicked" this means that John is the person who is doing the action (panicking).

However, imagine that John panicked because he read a news report with some scary information. You can say "the news report made him panic"

We don't use "panicked" as an adjective.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Jamie (www.italki.com/jamie.teacher)