Past Simple Tense

Past Simple Tense

TO BE in past: WAS / WERE

I was a student.
He/she/it was a student.
We/you/they were students.

WAS NOT = WASN‘T

WERE NOT = WEREN‘T

I wasn‘t a student.
He/she/it wasn‘t a student.
We/you/they weren‘t students.
 Past Simple Tense

Yes/No questions with be

Was I a student?
Was he/she/it a student?
Were we/you/they students?

Wh-questions with be
When was I at work?
When was he/she/it at work?
When were we/you/they at work?
 Past Simple Tense
FORM:
 Affirmative: Two types of verbs:
 Regular verbs add –d or –ed to the infinitive: call – called;
walk – walked; want – wanted; work – worked

- Irregular verbs we use 2nd column in the table of irregular

verbs: buy – bought – bought; come – came – come; drive –
drove - driven

I/He/She/It/We/You/They walked to the shop yesterday.

I/He/She/It/We/You/They slept late last Saturday.
 Past Simple Tense
FORM:

 Negative: Past form of DO (DID) + NOT + the infinitive of the

main verb

 Note: DID NOT = DIDN‘T

I/He/She/It/We/You/They didn‘t walk to the shop yesterday.

I/He/She/It/We/You/They didn‘t sleep late last Saturday.
 Past Simple Tense

FORM:

 Yes/No questions: use inversion

Did I/He/She/It/We/You/they walk to the shop yesterday?

Short answer(s): Yes, I did. / No, I didn‘t.

Did I/He/She/It/We/You/They sleep late last Saturday?

Short answer(s): Yes, he did. / No, he didn‘t.
 Past Simple Tense

FORM:

 Wh-questions: start with wh-word+did+subject+the infinitive

of the main verb

When did I/He/She/It/We/You/they sell the house?

Why did I/He/She/It/We/You/They help Mike move his things?

How long did the train journey take?

When did Saly buy that sweater?

 Past Simple Tense

SPELLING RULES FOR –D OR -ED:

a) Add -ed to most verbs: talk > talked , employ > employed
b) If a short verb ends with a consonant-vowel-consonant, double the
last letter and then add –ed: stop > stopped, top > topped
 However, do not double the last letter if the verb ends in w, x or y:
play > played, mix > mixed.
c) In longer words, if the last syllable of the verb ends with a
consonant-vowel-consonant and that syllable is stressed, double the
last consonant and then add –ed: prefer > preferred
 However, do not double the last letter if the first syllable is
stressed: enter > entered
d) If the verb ends in -e, just add –d: create > created , live > lived
e) If the verb ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i and add –ed:
try > tried
 Past Simple Tense

The most common irregular verbs in English:

Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle

Bewas/were been
begin began begun
break broke broken
bringbroughtbrought
buy bought bought
build built built
choose chose chosen
come came come
cost cost cost
cut cut cut
dodid done
draw drew drawn
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
feel felt felt
find found found
get got got (gotten AmEngl)
 Past Simple Tense

Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle

Give gave given
gowent gone
have had had
hear heard heard
hold held held
keep kept kept
know knewknown
leaveleft left
lead led led
letletlet
lie lay lain
lose lost lost
make made made
mean meant meant
meetmet met
pay paid paid
put put put
run ran run
say said said
sell sold sold
send sent sent
set set set
 Past Simple Tense

Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle

sit sat sat
speak spoke spoken
spend spent spent
stand stood stood
take took taken
teach taught taught
tell told told
think thoughtthought
understand understood understood
wear worn worn
win won won
write wrote written
 Past Simple Tense

USE:
1) Completed actions or events in the past, with no
connection to the present, 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 specifi time, but they do have one in
mind

Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.

The Vikings invaded Britain.
I saw a movie yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
 Past Simple Tense

USE:
2) A Series of Completed Actions, to list a series of actions
in the past, and also for stories:

He went to a café, sat down and lit a cigarette.

Yesterday I went to the library, met a friend for lunch, and
played tennis.
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?
 Past Simple Tense

USE:
3) Duration in Past – 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.

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.
 Past Simple Tense

USE:
3) Habits in the Past – 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.

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.
 Past Simple Tense

USE:
4) As part of the second conditional:

If I won the lottery, I would buy a house in

Chelsea.

If she knew his number, she would call him.

 Past Simple Tense

Adverbs of time
 You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is
associated with certain past time expressions
 frequency: often, sometimes, always
I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
I often brought my lunch to school.
 a definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
We saw a good film last week.
Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
She finished her work at seven o'clock.
I went to the theatre last night.
 an indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago
People lived in caves a long time ago.
She played the piano when she was a child.

 Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is
placed after the period of time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.
 Practice

Put the verbs in the correct form:

 read
I _______ a great book last week. (read)
 _______
Did Adam ______ left at the
find the jacket that he _______
party? (find / leave)
 didn’t you__________
Why _______ wait for me at the bar yesterday
evening? (not wait)
 waited showed
I _________ for over an hour, but you never __________ up!
(wait / show)
 flew
My friends _________ to New Delhi via Mumbai a week ago.
(fly)
 Practice

Put the verbs in the correct form:

 didn’t catch the last train. (not/catch)

Teresa ___________
 The sunset _________ was beautiful last night. (be)
Did
 _______ meet
they _________ the client’s deadline
yesterday? (meet)
 When _____ did he ___________
graduate from med school?
(graduate)
tried
 Ella ___________ to get a hold of you, but you
weren’t home. (try/not be)
________
 Practice

Read the sentences and use the correct verbs in each one:
 1. He __________out
took paid
his wallet and ___________the
bill.
went
2. When she___________ to the interview, she
wore
__________ her best outfit.
left
3. They ___________ the motorway and
drove
____________ for an hour on quiet country roads.
4. I _____________I
thought understood this theory but
______________
now I'm not so sure.
saw
5. As soon as I____________her, knew
I ____________ she
was the woman I was going to marry.
 Practice

Put the sentences into simple past.

 We move to a new house. → We moved to a new house.

 They bring a sandwich. → They brought a sandwich.

 He doesn't do the homework. → He didn’t do the homework.

 They sell cars. → They sold cars.

 Does he visit his friends? → Did he visit his friends?