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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 )
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Vry nice