Past simple tense in English
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Sign up for freeThis chapter will discuss the past simple tense in English. This tense is used for describing a completed action that took place in the past.
Lesson outline
Hide- 1.How to form the past simple tense
- 1.1.Affirmatives
- 1.1.1.Examples:
- 1.2.Negatives
- 1.2.1.Examples:
- 1.3.Interrogatives
- 1.3.1.Examples:
- 2.Usage of the past simple tense
- 3.Conjugation of the simple past
- 3.1.Regular verbs in past simple
- 3.2.Irregular verbs in past simple
- 4.Exercises
- 4.1.Practice the English past simple (regular verbs)
- 4.2.Practice the English past simple (irregular verbs)
- 4.3.Fill in the correct form of the English past simple
- 4.4.Conjugate the English verbs in the past simple tense
How to form the past simple tense
How the past simple tense is formed, depends on whether the sentence is:
- Affirmative: expresses the truth of a certain assertion.
- Negative: expresses the falsity of a certain assertion.
- Interrogative: expresses a question.
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Keith D. 
1. Affirmatives
Structure: subject + conjugated verb + rest of the sentence
Examples:
- He visited his grandmother.
- We played soccer last week.
- They saw the movie yesterday.
2. Negatives
Structure: subject + negative auxiliary (did not) + infinitive verb + rest of the sentence.
The table below shows how the negative auxiliary is formed for every subject.
| Subject | Negative auxiliary |
|---|---|
| I | did not |
| You (singular) | did not |
| He / she / it | did not |
| We | did not |
| You (plural) | did not |
| They | did not |
Examples:
- He did not visit his grandmother.
- We did not play soccer last week.
- They did not see the movie yesterday.
3. Interrogatives
Structure: Did + subject + infinitive verb + rest of the sentence + question mark
Examples:
- Did he visit his grandmother?
- Did we play soccer last week?
- Did they see the movie yesterday?
Usage of the past simple tense
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Temporary frequency |
|
| Definite point in time |
|
| Indefinite point in time |
|
You can recognize the use of the past simple tense when the sentence contains words as:
- Often
- Sometimes
- Always
- Last week
- Yesterday
- Last month
- The other day
- Ages ago
- A long time ago
- in 2000 / 2001 / 2002
Conjugation of the simple past
The English verbs can be split up into regular and irregular verbs. These are both conjugated differently.
Regular verbs in past simple
The simple past of the English regular verbs are formed by adding '-ed' to the infinitive of the verb.
Rule: infinitive verb + ed
| Subject | to watch | to walk |
|---|---|---|
| I | watched | walked |
| You (singular) | watched | walked |
| He / she / it | watched | walked |
| We | watched | walked |
| You (plural) | watched | walked |
| They | watched | walked |
Irregular verbs in past simple
The table below shows the conjugation of the past simple of irregular verbs 'to swim', 'to feel', 'to have' and 'to be'.
| Subject | to swim | to feel | to have | to be |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | swam | felt | had | was |
| You | swam | felt | had | were |
| He / she / it | swam | felt | had | was |
| We | swam | felt | had | were |
| You | swam | felt | had | were |
| They | swam | felt | had | were |
Train your skills by doing the exercises below.
Exercises
- Practice the English past simple (regular verbs)
- Practice the English past simple (irregular verbs)
- Fill in the correct form of the English past simple
- Conjugate the English verbs in the past simple tense
Practice the English past simple (regular verbs)
Practice the English past simple (irregular verbs)
Fill in the correct form of the English past simple
Conjugate the English verbs in the past simple tense
Exercises
- Practice the English past simple (regular verbs)
- Practice the English past simple (irregular verbs)
- Fill in the correct form of the English past simple
- Conjugate the English verbs in the past simple tense