Simple Past

The simple past (also called past simple, past indefinite or preterite) is a verb
tense which is used to show that a completed action took place at a specific time in
the past. The simple past is also frequently used to talk about past habits and
generalizations. Read on for detailed descriptions, examples, and simple past
exercises.

Regular verbs:
The verbs "lived, started, died" are regular past forms. The rule is the following:

Verb + ed
Examples:

The infinitive The simple past

live lived

start started

die died

visit visited

play played

watch watched

phone phoned

marry married

Irregular verbs:
The verbs "was, wrote" are irregular past forms. "Was" is the simple past of "to be";
"wrote" is the simple past of "write".

There is no rule for these verbs. You should learn them by heart.

The infinitive The simple past

be was/were

write wrote

come came

do did
 meet met

speak spoke
As you can see we can not predict the simple past forms of these verbs. They are irregular.
You should learn them by heart.

The forms of the simple past:

The Affirmative form of the simple past:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they played.

wrote

did.
Examples:

▪ I played tennis with my friends yesterday.

▪ I finished lunch and I did my homework.

The interrogative form of the simple past:

Did I, you, he, she, it, we, they play?

write

do?
Examples:

▪ Did you play basketball yesterday?

▪ Did you watch television?
▪ Did you do the homework?

The negative form of the simple past:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they did not/didn't play

write

do

▪ I didn't like the food served in the wedding party last Saturday.
▪ I didn't eat it.
 Simple Past Uses
USE 1 Completed Action in the Past

Use the simple past to express the idea that an action started and
finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not
actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in
mind.

Examples:
• I saw a movie yesterday.
• I didn't see a play yesterday.
• Last year, I traveled to Japan.
• Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
• Did you have dinner last night?
• She washed her car.
• He didn't wash his car.

USE 2 A Series of Completed Actions

We use the simple past to list a series of completed actions in the past.
These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.

Examples:
• I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
• He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00,
and met the others at 10:00.
• Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?

USE 3 Duration in the Past

The simple past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the
past. A duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as:
for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.
Examples:
• I lived in Brazil for two years.
• Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
• They sat at the beach all day.
• They did not stay at the party the entire time.
• We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
• A: How long did you wait for them?
B: We waited for one hour.

USE 4 Habits in the Past

The simple past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in
the past. It can have the same meaning as "used to." To make it clear
that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as:
always, often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was younger,
etc.

Examples:
• I studied French when I was a child.
• He played the violin.
• He didn't play the piano.
• Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
• She worked at the movie theater after school.
• They never went to school, they always skipped class.

USE 5 Past Facts or Generalizations

The simple past can also be used to describe past facts or

generalizations which are no longer true. As in USE 4 above, this use of
the simple past is quite similar to the expression "used to."

Examples:
• She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
• He didn't like tomatoes before.
• Did you live in Texas when you were a kid?
• People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.
Simple Past Tips
IMPORTANT When-Clauses Happen First

Clauses are groups of words which have meaning but are often not
complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as
"when I dropped my pen..." or "when class began..." These clauses are
called when-clauses, and they are very important. The examples below
contain when-clauses.

Examples:

• When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.

• She answered my question when I paid her one dollar.
When-clauses are important because they always happen first when both
clauses are in the simple past. Both of the examples above mean the
same thing: first, I paid her one dollar, and then, she answered my
question. It is not important whether "when I paid her one dollar" is at the
beginning of the sentence or at the end of the sentence. However, the
example below has a different meaning. First, she answered my question,
and then, I paid her one dollar.

Example:

• I paid her one dollar when she answered my question.

ADVERB PLACEMENT
The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as:
always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

Examples:
• You just called Debbie.
• Did you just call Debbie?
 Spelling of the -ed forms
The spelling of the simple past form (-ed forms)
You will learn the spelling of the simple past form (-ed form.) But
before you continue the lesson study the following examples and try
to see how the verbs are spelled.

Verbs ending in a...

3. consonant
1. silent e 2. vowel + y 4. other forms
+y
 close = closed marry = married visit = visited
die = died play = played carry = carried miss = missed
phone = destroy = study = studied watch =
phoned destroyed watched
show = showed finish = finished
fix = fixed
buzz = buzzed

The rules of the simple past tense forms:

Here are the rules:

1. Regular verbs ending in a silent e take /-d/ in the simple past and
past participle:
Example:
close=closed
2. Regular verbs ending in a vowel + y take /-ed/ in the simple past
and past participle:
Example:
play=played
3. Regular verbs ending in a consonant + y take /-ied/ in the simple
past and past participle (the ' y' becomes an ' i' followed by /-ed/)
Example:
marry=married
4. All the other regular verbs take /-ed/ in the simple past and past
participle.
Example:
visit=visited

Special cases of the -ed forms:

Follow these rules when there is a consonant after a vowel (stop, ban,
open, offer...)

▪ If there is a consonant after a stressed vowel at the end of the word,

double the consonant
stop – stopped
 ban - banned
swap - swapped
▪ If the vowel is not stressed, we do not double it:
open - opened (Here the stress is on'o', not the 'e'.)
offer - offered ( Here the stress is on 'o', not the 'e'.)

In British English we double the last 'l' of words like travel, cancel and level
even though the last vowel is not stressed. Here are some examples:

▪ travel - travelled
▪ cancel - cancelled
▪ level - levelled
▪ marvel - marvelled