For detailed expressions about simple past tense;
The tenses simply show the time of an action.
Simple Past Tense indicates an action which is completed at a definite time in the past.
POSITIVE FORM (+): Subject + V2 ( Second Form of Verb )
NEGATIVE FORM (-): Subject + did not + V1 ( First Form of Verb )
QUESTION FORM (?): Did + Subject + V1 ( First Form of Verb )
NEGATIVE QUESTION FORM (?): Did not / Didn’t + Subject + V1 ( First Form of Verb )
SHORT ANSWER FORMS ( + / – ) : YES / NO + Subject + did / did not (didn’t)
POSITIVE(+) | NEGATIVE(-) | POSITIVE QUESTION (?) | NEGATIVE QUESTION (?) |
---|---|---|---|
He listened | He did not (didn’t) listen | Did he listen | Didn’t he listen |
She listened | She did not (didn’t) listen | Did she listen | Didn’t she listen |
It listened | It did not (didn’t) listen | Did it listen | Didn’t it listen |
I listened | I did not (didn’t) listen | Did I listen | Didn’t I listen |
You listened | You did not (didn’t) listen | Did you listen | Didn’t you listen |
We listened | We did not (didn’t) listen | Did we listen | Didn’t we listen |
They listened | They did not (didn’t) listen | Did they listen | Didn’t they listen |
ATTENTION! Any auxiliary verbs aren’t used in positive sentences and the second form of the verb is used. ‘ Did or did not’ is used as a auxiliary verb in negative and question sentences and the verb remains simple.
Common tense markers:
Ago / Yesterday / Last week, night, year, summer / Two days, four years ago/ In the past / The day / before yesterday / in 2000 / in September, etc.
Examples:
- Did you watch the news last night?
- Didn’t they go to the party yesterday?
- She didn’t read the book.
- He drew beautiful pictures last week.
- I learnt Spanish last summer.
- Did you give the present to your friend? Yes, I did.
- We didn’t buy a new car.
- There were some problems.
- You were angry.
- The child was so hungry.
Notes:
We also use a question word (Who, What, Why etc.) in past tense.
Question Words (who, what, why, etc.) + did + subject pronoun ( he, she, it, I, you, we, they) + V1 ( First Form of Verb )
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Question Words (who, what, why, etc.) + V2 ( Second Form of Verb )+ object pronouns ( me, you, him, her,it, us, them)
Examples:
- Where did you stay last night?
- When did she go to the school?
- Why did she cry?
- Who gave you this gift ?
- What made you angry?
USING OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE:
1. Simple Past Tense expresses completed actions in the past.
Examples:
- They walked on the beach yesterday.
- I met him when she was in London.
- He went to Paris two days ago.
- We saw him Last Sunday.
- I heard a terrible explosion last night.
- When she arrived the home, your son was reading a book.
- Lisa watched a romantic movie yesterday.
- Did you visit your grnad father?
- Didn’t she study very hard for the exam?
- We didn’t enjoy the trip.
- Michael wrote her a letter last week.
- They didn’t forget to turn off the light.
- Paul answered the question correctly.
2. Simple Past Tense expresses a series of completed actions in the past .
Examples:
- I visited my granmother, stayed for 1 or 2 hour, chatted with her and went to my home.
- My brother woke up, washed my face, got dressed and left home.
- He arrived at the airport at 9:30 am, took her from the airport and came home at 14:00 pm.
3. Past Tense expresses single period with time expressions such as for 1 hour, for five years,” all day, a whole weekend, etc.
Examples:
- I didn’t see him for 2 days.
- He had a girlfriend for 3 years.
- The students didn’t answer their teacher’s question for 10 minutes.
- She chose to stay with her mother all day.
- My father talked on the phone for 5 minutes.
4. Simple Past Tense expresses the habit in the past if it is used adverbs of frequency like always, often, usually, etc. ( to express the habits in the past, we can use ‘used to’ at the same time.)
Examples:
- I always did my homework on time when I was a student.
- My Father often read me tales before I went to bed.
- When I was a young, I walked 10 miles to workplace everyday.
- He usually played football in this garden when he was a child.
- They sometimes drank milk after they got up.
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PAST TENSE:
Using Regular Verbs in The Past Tense:
To change regular verbs into its past tense form, we add -d, -ed, or -ied at the end of the verbs according to their last syllable.
General Rule: Regular verbs become the second form, taking most commonly ‘–ed’ at the end of the verbs.
Present | Past |
---|---|
answer | answered |
accept | accepted |
boil | boiled |
stay | stayed |
play | played |
add | added |
rain | rained |
need | needed |
However there are some exceptions to the rule. These are stated below.
1. If the verb ends with ‘-e ‘, we add ‘ –d ‘.
Present | Past |
---|---|
move | moved |
dance | danced |
use | used |
2. If the verb ends with consonant + vowel + consonant, we double the final consonant and add ‘ –ed ‘.
Present | Past |
---|---|
plan | planned |
stop | stopped |
prefer | preferred |
3. If the verb ends with W, X or when the final syllable is not emphasized, We do not double the final consonant and add ‘–ed’.
Present | Past |
---|---|
show | showed |
fix | fixed |
allow | allowed |
4. If the verb ends with two vowels + a consonant, we do not double the final consonant and add ‘–ed’.
Present | Past |
---|---|
rain | rained |
need | needed |
wait | waited |
5. If a two-syllable verb ends with consonant + vowel + consonant, we do not double the final consonant when the stress is on the first syllable and add ‘–ed’.
Present | Past |
---|---|
suffer | suffered |
offer | offered |
happen | happened |
6. If the verb ends with consonant + vowel + ‘-l’ , we normally double the final ‘ –l ‘ and add ‘-ed’.
However, in the United States (US) they do not double the ‘-l’ when the accent is on the first syllable.
Present | Past (UK) | Past (US) |
---|---|---|
travel | travelled ( UK ) | traveled ( US ) |
marvel | marvelled ( UK ) | marveled ( US ) |
7. If the verb ends with two consonants, we do not double the final consonant add ‘-ed’.
Present | Past |
---|---|
help | helped |
add | added |
warn | warned |
8)If the verb ends with a consonant + ‘-y’ , we throw the final ‘ –y‘ and add ‘-ied’ at the end of the verb.
Present | Past |
---|---|
apply | applied |
reply | replied |
carry | carried |
9. If the verb ends with a vowel + ‘-y’ , we throw the final ‘ –y‘ and add ‘-ed’ at the end of the verb, not ‘ied’.
Present | Past |
---|---|
enjoy | enjoyed |
annoy | annoyed |
play | played |
IRREGULAR VERBS:
As you can guess from the name of irregular verbs, it does not depend on any rules.
Present | Past |
---|---|
become | became |
begin | began |
do | did |
come | came |
take | took |
eat | ate |
find | found |
give | gave |
Vry nice