Simple Past Tense – English Grammar

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)

[table]

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

[/table]

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.

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)

USING OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE:

1. Simple Past Tense expresses completed actions in the past.

2. Simple Past Tense expresses a series of completed actions in the past .

3. Past Tense expresses single period with time expressions such as for 1 hour, for five years,” all day, a whole weekend, etc.

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.)

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.

However there are some exceptions to the rule. These are stated below.

1. If the verb ends with ‘-e ‘, we add ‘ –d ‘.

2. If the verb ends with consonant + vowel + consonant, we double the final consonant and add ‘ –ed ‘.

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’.

4. If the verb ends with two vowels + a consonant, we do not double the final consonant and add ‘–ed’.

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’.

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.

7. If the verb ends with two consonants, we do not double the final consonant add ‘-ed’.

8)If the verb ends with a consonant + ‘-y’ , we throw the final ‘ –y‘ and add ‘-ied’ at the end of the verb.

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’.

IRREGULAR VERBS:

As you can guess from the name of irregular verbs, it does not depend on any rules.