SIMPLE PAST TENSE
The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed in the
past (action started and completed in the past and has no relevance to the present time at all).
Wolfgang entered a singing contest.
I saw a ghost last Friday.
It can be used with adverbs to describe a time already in the past, series of completed actions
in the past, habits on the past or discussing a specific point in time
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
When I was young, I watched lots of television every day after school.
I studied today
It shows that you are talking about something that has already happened. Unlike the past
continuous tense, which is used to talk about past events that happened over a period of time,
the simple past tense indicates that the action occurred at a certain time and then was
completed.
You can also use the simple past to talk about a past state of being (stative verbs – don’t
express na action, but a state of min dor being), such as the way someone felt about
something. What their emotional condition was, at a point in the past. This is often expressed
with the simple past tense of the verb to be and an adjective, noun, or prepositional phrase.
Wolfgang was proud of his hula hoop victory.
The contest was the highlight of his week.
He was at his best the whole time.
HOW TO FORM THE SIMPLE PAST
For regular verbs, add –ed to the root form of the verb (or just –d if the root form ends in an
e):
Play→Played
Type→Typed
Listen→Listened
Push→Pushed
Love→Loved
For irregular verbs, things get more complicated. The simple past tense of some irregular
verbs looks exactly like the root form:
Put→Put
Cut→Cut
Set→Set
Cost→Cost
Hit→Hit
For other irregular verbs, including to be, the simple past forms are more erratic:
See→Saw
Build→Built
Go→Went
Do→Did
Rise→Rose
Am/Is/Are→Was/Were
The good news is that verbs in the simple past tense (except for to be) don’t need to agree in
number with their subjects.
Wolfgang polished his medal. The other winners polished their medals too.
HOW TO MAKE THE SIMPLE PAST POSITIVE
Other verbs: add “-ed” to the base form (infinitive)
S + V-ed
She worked yesterday
Verb to be:
I/She/He/It + was
We/You/They + were
They were friends
I was cold
HOW TO MAKE THE SIMPLE PAST NEGATIVE
The formula it’s the same for both regular and irregular verbs (except for the verb to be).
did not (didn’t) + [root form of verb]
She didn’t work yesterday
Wolfgang’s girlfriend didn’t see the contest.
For the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. When the subject of the sentence is
singular, use was not or wasn’t. When the subject is plural, use were not or weren’t. (just add
“not”)
Singular: S + was not (wasn’t) + [root form of verb]
Plural: S + Were not (weren’t) + [root form of verb]
They weren’t friends
The third-place winner was not as happy as Wolfgang.
The onlookers were not ready to leave after the contest ended.
Negative with 'be' Negative Short Form
I was not sleepy I wasn't sleepy
you were not on the bus you weren't on the bus
he was not at school he wasn't at school
she was not beautiful she wasn't beautiful
it was not cold it wasn't cold
we were not at work we weren't at work
they were not tired they weren't tired
HOW TO ASK A QUESTION
Most verbs: Just put “did” before the subject and the infinitive after it
did + [subject] + [root form of verb]+ …?
Did she work yesterday?
Did Wolfgang win the gold medal or the silver medal?
'Yes / No' Questions
did I walk?
did you play?
did he cook?
did she listen?
did it rain?
did we eat?
did they drink?
'Wh' Questions (information): put the question word at the beginning of the sentence
where did I go?
what did you play?
what did he cook?
why did she listen?
when did it rain?
where did we eat?
how did they travel?
When asking a question with the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did:
was/were + [subject] + …?
Were they friends?
Was she kind?
Were people taking lots of pictures?
'Wh' Questions with 'Be'
And the 'wh' questions (information questions) with 'be' (the question word just goes at the
beginning, everything else is the same):
why was I sleepy?
where were you?
when was he at the cinema?
how was she?
how was it?
why were we hungry?
when were they at work?
Time Expressions with Past Simple Tense
Yesterday
Ago
Last month
Last week
Last year
In 2003
In 2007
…
