LoginPast Simple
This comprehensive lesson dives into the Past Simple Tense in English, featuring detailed examples and a quiz to test your knowledge.
What Is Past Simple Tense?
The past simple (also called simple past, past indefinite, or the preterite) is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now. It shows that an action or state started and finished in the past.
Past Simple: Structure
In English, verbs can be categorized into two groups based on how they form the past simple tense: regular verbs and irregular verbs.
Regular Verbs
Regular verbs in English create the past simple and past participle forms by adding -ed to the base form. However, there might be some spelling changes when adding -ed to certain verbs. In English, the simple past of regular verbs has the same form for all persons.
| Past Form | |
|---|---|
| walk |
walk |
| arrive |
arriv |
| call |
call |
| push |
push |
For example:
I
He
Irregular Verbs
A verb that does not follow the standard pattern for forming the past simple tense is called an irregular verb. In English, verbs such as 'walk,' 'enter,' and 'love' are regular because they follow a fixed pattern in the past tense. However, verbs such as 'eat,' 'put,' and 'have' are irregular because they do not follow the same pattern.
| Past Form | |
|---|---|
| be | was/were |
| have | had |
| fall | fell |
| buy | bought |
| go | went |
| choose | chose |
| come | came |
Here are some examples:
Phyllis and Oscar
We
'We' and 'Jamie' are our subjects and they are both followed by the past tense of two irregular verbs, 'go' and 'buy.'
Tip!
In the past simple tense, all subjects are followed by the same verb form and the verb does not change based on the subject. Pay attention to this example:
I/You/He/She/It/We/They drank some water this morning.
Past Simple: Negation
Just like present simple tense, the negative form and questions in past simple tense need an auxiliary verb: 'did.' It is the past simple form of 'do.' To make negative sentences in the past simple tense, 'did not' or its contracted form, 'didn't,' is used before the main verb in the base form.
I
As you can see, the verb after 'didn't' is the base form of the verb.
Julie
'Do' is the main verb and its simple form is used after 'didn't.'
However, if the main verb of the sentence is 'to be,' it does not need the auxiliary 'did' and can be negated by directly taking 'not.'
I
They
Past Simple: Questions
Just like the negation process, formation of questions in the past simple tense requires the auxiliary 'did.' Both yes/no and wh- questions in the past simple require addition of 'did.' To form a yes/no question in the past simple, simply use 'did' at the beginning of the sentence, followed by the subject and the base form of the main verb. Take a look at the examples:
Jim
They
In order to make wh-questions, an interrogative word such as what, when, where, who, how, or why is used at the beginning, followed by 'did,' and the subject. The main verb comes after, and it is always in its base form. Take a look at the following examples:
Peter
Anna
Tip!
'Did' can both be the main verb and the auxiliary verb. Auxiliary 'did' is only used in negative sentences and questions in the past simple tense. Look at these examples:
I
Here, 'did' is a main verb indicating that an action was performed.
'Did' here is an auxiliary verb and its simple form, 'do', is the main verb.
Using Past Simple to Talk about Past Events
Past Simple: Uses
We use the past simple tense to talk about:
- Single or Repeated Actions Completed in the Past
- Actions or States That were True For Some Time in the Past
- Story-telling and Narration
Single or Repeated Actions Completed in the Past
The past simple tense is used to describe an action that took place once in the past and is now finished. This tense refers to actions that started and ended in the past. In other words, it describes a completed action in the past. Here are some examples:
I
I
The past simple tense is usually used with adverbs of time like 'yesterday,' 'last week/month/year,' 'the other day,' 'when I was young' or '*a long time ago,' etc. They all refer to a point of time in the past. Look at these examples:
I
Napoleon
The past simple tense can also be used to talk about something that happened repeatedly in the past, often indicating that an action was done regularly and habitually. For example:
I often
They always
Tip!
The past simple tense is also used to refer back to finished actions, states, or habits that have already been introduced with the present perfect or another tense.
I've seen Sally recently. I
I've traveled a lot. I
Actions or States That were True For Some Time in the Past
We use past simple to talk about something that was true for some time in the past. Take a look at some examples:
I
She
Story-telling and Narration
We can use the past simple to narrate stories or a series of events, by showing the sequence of events or actions in the past. For example:
Sid
Clause Types that Require Past Simple Verbs
The Second Conditional
The past simple tense can be used in the condition clause of second conditionals to refer to hypothetical situations in the present or future. This structure describes what would happen in the present or future if something else had happened in the past. Look at the examples:
If I
Subjunctives
The past simple tense can also be used after words like 'wish' to indicate a desire for something that is not currently true, or to express regret about something in the past. This usage conveys a hope for something that may be attainable in the future or a longing for something that is not currently possible. For example:
I wish I
With Subordinate Clauses
The past simple tense is used in conjunction with the past continuous tense to show that a completed action interrupted an action that was in progress in the past. This usage typically involves a subordinate clause with the conjunction 'while' or 'when' in the sentence. Look at the examples:
We were watching TV when Jessica
While she was washing the dishes, he
Review
Past simple tense is used to talk about actions or states that started and finished in the past. English verbs are categorized into two groups based on how they form the past simple tense:
- Regular Verbs (take -ed or -d at the end to form the past simple tense): For example, played/didn't play
- Irregular Verbs (do not follow a fixed pattern in forming the past simple tense): For example, ate/didn't eat
Quiz:
| Statement | Negative |
|---|---|
I ran. | I did not . |
She walked. | She did not . |
I was happy. | I happy. |
I called him. | I him. |
| Statement | Question |
|---|---|
I ran. | you ? |
She walked. | she ? |
I was happy. | you happy? |
I called him. | you him? |
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