Simple Past
The simple past tense is used to describe completed past actions, actions in the simple past do not indicate action duration. This tense requires students to know the simple past form of regular verbs and irregular verbs. The simple past form of regular verbs is formed by adding -ed or -d (if the regular verb ends in an -e) to their infinitive form, the simple past form and past participle form of all regular verbs end in -ed. The simple past form and the past participle form of irregular verbs must be memorized as there are no general rules that apply for how they are formed.
This tense is used:
1) To describe actions that started and finished in the past.
2) To describe routines, habits, and repeated actions in the past.
3) To describe past states.
4) To describe actions that happened at specific moments in time.
Time Expressions
The simple past tense is often used with past time expressions. However, it is not necessary to always mention a past time expression when using a past tense if the context of the past was already established by a previous statement or question in a conversation.
Formation - Affirmative Statements & Questions
Affirmative statements in the simple past are formed by conjugating a main verb to its simple past tense. Affirmative questions in the simple past begin with the auxiliary verb -do in the simple past tense (-did), followed by the subject and a main verb in the infinitive form (regular or irregular). Questions with the verb -be and modal verbs in the simple past tense are not formed with the verb -do in the simple past tense (-did), they have their own question forms.
Structure used to form affirmative statements in the simple past
Subject + main verb in the simple past tense
Structure used to form affirmative questions in the simple past
Did + subject + main verb in the infinitive form?
Examples
Ex: I met someone new at school earlier today.
Ex: Did you watch the game last Tuesday?
Ex: They reserved tickets for the show.
Ex: Mark closed the door before he left.
Regular verbs
Look (infinitive form) - Looked (simple past form)
Ex: I looked out of my window when I heard a noise.
Watch (infinitive form) - Watched (simple past form)
Ex: My friend watched the latest Superman movie.
Open (infinitive form) - Opened (simple past form)
Ex: The new restaurant opened recently.
Irregular verbs
See (infinitive form) - Saw (simple past form)
Ex: I saw a bird catch a mouse an hour ago.
Read (infinitive form) - Read (simple past form, pronounced red in the simple past)
Ex: He read the latest Harry Potter book.
Take (infinitive form) - Took (simple past form)
Ex: Mark took a cab to work this morning instead of a train.
Formation - Negative Statements & Questions
Negative statements are formed in the simple past with the auxiliary verb -do in the simple past tense (-did) followed by the adverb -not and a main verb in the infinitive form (regular or irregular). Negative questions in the simple past begin with the auxiliary verb -do in the simple past tense (-did), followed by the subject, the adverb -not, and a main verb in the infinitive form (regular or irregular). Negative statements and questions in the simple past tense with the verb -be and modal verbs are not formed with the verb -do in the simple past tense (-did), they have their own question and statement forms. Negative questions are meant to express surprise, confirm information, or encourage agreement.
Structure used to form negative statements in the simple past:
Subject + did not + main verb in the infinitive form
Structure used to form negative questions in the simple past
Did + subject + not + main verb in the infinitive form?
.
Examples
Ex: Did you not go to the gym yesterday?
Ex: I did not know he was the director.
Ex: Jason didn't sleep well last night.
Ex: Didn't he move to another country?
Simple Past uses
To describe actions that started and finished in the past
Examples
Ex: Mathew answered the phone.
Ex: She bought a new dress.
Ex: Did Mark talk to you about it?
Ex: He didn't finish his homework.
Ex: Didn't the mailman drop off the package?
Ex: The local government raised the speed limit on the highway.
Ex: I did not cook dinner.
Ex: Did you take out the trash?
To describe routines, habits, and repeated actions in the past
Note: To describe routines we frequently use time expressions related to frequency, however it is not always necessary.
Examples
Ex: I often rode my bike to school
Ex: John ran 4 miles every day in his youth.
Ex: Kelly went to college for 4 years.
Ex: Did you play video games when you were younger?
Ex: We exercised regularly when we were in our twenties
Ex: She didn't drive a lot until she started working for Amazon.
Ex: Didn't Mark play soccer every week until he injured his knee?
Ex: I woke up every morning at 8.
To describe past states
Note: This is context is expressed using stative verbs in the simple past tense such as like, know, belong, realize, suppose, contain, want, consist, need, understand, seem, prefer, believe, depend, agree, remember, own, sound, taste, etc.
Examples
Ex: My family owned a home in Brazil.
Ex: They were married for 20 years.
Ex: Did you depend on your parents after you graduated?
Ex: Didn't you agree to help them?
Ex: I didn't remember where to go.
Ex: He understood the rules.
Ex: Did the cake taste good?
Ex: She didn't need any help.
To describe actions that happened at specific moments in time
Note: This context is expressed using past time expressions.
Examples
Ex: I left when the party ended.
Ex: The Roman empire existed a long time ago.
Ex: The deliveryman didn't come yesterday morning.
Ex: Didn't John move out in February?
Ex: Did we pay the phone bill 2 weeks ago?
Ex: They paid us last Tuesday.
Ex: Did she go to Greece last summer?
Ex: I drank too much last night.
Note: Negative questions are usually asked with contractions especially in spoken English.
Note: This is not a complete list of all past time expressions, however it includes many of the most common expressions.