Past Simple Tense
Although there are several tenses and forms we can use, the past simple tense is the one we use most often to discuss the past.
How Do We Make The Past Simple Tense?
To use the past simple tense, we use the following guidelines:
| auxiliary | + | base verb form or past verb form |
| did |
Below are some examples of base forms and the past forms for the verbs:
|
V1 base |
V2 past |
V3 past participle |
||
|
regular verb |
play hike call |
played hiked called |
played hiked called |
All regular verbs in past form use “-ed”. |
|
irregular verb |
begin be swim |
began was/were swam |
begun been swum |
The past forms of irregular verbs must be memorized because they are all different. |
| Note: You do not need the past participle form to make the past simple tense. It is displayed here to show you all forms of the verbs given as examples. |
To create a positive sentence in the simple past tense, use the following structure:
| subject | + | main verb |
| past |
For negative simple past tense sentence construction use this structure:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb | + | not | + | main verb |
| did | base |
To construct a question using the simple past tense use the following structure:
| auxiliary verb | + | subject | + | main verb |
| did | base |
We do not conjugate the auxiliary verb did, which means that it is the same for all subjects. (she did, you did, it did, they did, etc.) The base form and past form also remain the same. For example:
| subject | auxiliary verb | main verb | |||
| + | She | went | home. | ||
| I | felt | sick. | |||
| – | She | did | not | look | at Tim. |
| They | did | not | help | her. |
For questions:
| auxiliary verb | subject | main verb | |||
| ? | Did | you | work | today? | |
| Did | Billy | try | at all? |
The verb to be is an exception to the rules above. It must be conjugated for different subjects such as we were, I was and you were. We also do not use auxiliary verbs for negative sentences or questions. To ask a question, we switch the place of the subject and verb. For example:
| subject | verb | |||
| + | He | was | happy. | |
| They | were | home. | ||
| – | I | was | not | late. |
| You | were | not | at the movies. | |
| ? | Were(verb) | you(subject) | sad? | |
| Was(verb) | he(subject) | at work? |
How Do We Use The Past Simple Tense?
Both long and short actions and situations that took place in the past are discussed using the past simple tense. Here are some examples of short actions in the past simple tense:
| The dog was hit by a car last night.I answered his email this morning.Did you see the movie?Why was she late? | ||
| past | present |
future |
| ___________________ | ||
| The action is in the past. |
Below are some examples of past simple tense used for long actions:
| Dave lived at home for three years.The girl cried for days.Matt talked to his mom for an hour.Did you know Dana moved? | ||
| past | present |
future |
| ___________________ | ||
| The action is in the past. |
Regardless of how long ago an event took place, and no matter how long the event lasted, we use the past simple tense as long as the following statements are true:
- The event happened in the past and is completely finished.
- The time and/or place of the event is said or understood.
Here are some more examples:
- Her dog died yesterday.
- I was there for the program.
- When did you call Jim?
- He called here last night.
- Kim went to visit him last week.
- He visited her last month.
- She went to school early.
- Why were you not at school?
- Was Jim absent too?