Simple Past Tense

Jessica Alvarado, and Mayelin Godinez

Year: 2020

American University


Hello guys! 

 This blog is about how to use  the simple past tense. we  use it to talk about things that happened in the past. 

How to Formulate the Simple Past

For regular verbs, add -ed to the base form of the verb (or just -d if the base form already ends in an e).

Example:

 play, played

 type, typed

 listen, listened

 push, pushed

 love, loved
Taken from: grammarly.com/blog/simple-past/

Regular verbs
Base form	Simple past
ask	asked
believe	Believed
cry	Cried
dance	danced
finish	finished
help	Helped
happen	happened
hire	Hired
increase	Increased
knock	Knocked
like	Liked
play	played
try	tried

The simple past tense of some irregular verbs looks exactly like the base form

Example 

Put, put

 Cut, cut

For other irregular verbs, including the verb to be, the simple past forms change.

Examples 

See, saw

 Build, built

 Go, went

 Do, did

 Rise, rose 

Am/is/are, was/were
Taken from: grammarly.com/blog/simple-past/

Irregular verbs
Base form	Simple past
be	Was/were
begin	Began
bring	Brought
build	Built
cost	Cost
Feel	Felt
Do	Did
go	went
make	made
have	had
say	said
take	took

The simple past of the verb "be" are: "was" and "were".

"Was" is used with: he, she, and it.
"Were" is used with: I, you, we, they.

The simple past of the verb "do" is "did".

the simple past of the verb "have" is "had".


How to form sentences in simple past

First you need to use the subject +  verb in simple past + complement.

Examples

I walked a lot yesterday

You walked a lot yesterday

He walked a lot yesterday.
She walked a lot yesterday.
It happened yesterday.
We walked a lot yesterday.
You walked a lot yesterday

I gave him a gift.
You gave him a gift.
He gave him a gift.
She gave him a gift.
It began last week.
We gave him a gift.
You gave him a gift.
They gave him a gift.

How to form negative sentences in simple past

First you need to use the subject + didn't (did not) + the verb in its base form + complement. You can also use the contraction didn’t instead of did not. 

Examples 

I didn't walk yesterday.
You didn't walk yesterday.
He didn't walk yesterday.
She didn't walk yesterday.
It didn't happen yesterday.
We didn't walk yesterday.
You didn't walk yesterday.
They didn't walk yesterday.

I didn't give him a gift.
You didn't give him a gift.
He didn't give him a gift.
She didn't give him a gift.
It didn't begin last week.
We didn't give him a gift.
You didn't give him a gift.
They didn't give him a gift



How to ask a Question 

To formulate a question in the simple past tense you need to use "did" + the subject + a verb in the base form + complement.

Examples

Did I see that?
Did you see that?
Did he see that?
Did she see that?
Did it happen yesterday?
Did we see that?
Did you see that?
Did they see that?





How to Forme negative questions .

To formulate a negative question in the simple past you need to use ( did not + the subject + a verb in the base form + complement.

Examples:

Didn't I see that?
Didn't you see that?
Didn't he see that?
Didn't she buy that?
Didn't it happen yesterday?
Didn't we arrive late?
Didn't you see that?
Didn't they see that?

For the verb( to be) you do not need the auxiliary did . When the subject of the sentence is singular, use was not or wasn’t. When the subject is plural, use were not or weren’t.

if you want to make a question with verb  "be" you have to start with the question + was/were + the subject + the complement.

Practice

1. Complete the following sentences and questions with the corresponding verb or auxiliary in past.

- Jessica (bring) ________ lots of fish yesterday.
- They (build) _________ the house the last year, in only 5 months.
-The company (hire) __________ a lot of people during the last month.
-He (help)__________ her to do her homework.
-Where ______ you go yesterday?
-_____ you play basketball the last week?
-How_____ she feel yesterday?
-_______ you get sick yesterday?
-______ she like the gift?

Simple Past – Exercise 01

Change the verb into the correct form, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if you don't know. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints!

Change the verb into the correct form:
1. Dan  (leave) very early today.
2. Sam and Sue  (buy) a new house last month.
3. I  (visit) Germany the previous week.
4. You  (play) very well.
5. They  (find) this book on their trip to Italy.
6. I  (bake) this cake by myself.
7. We  (open) the store in 1987.
8. The rain finally  (stop), and we  (go) home.
9. She  (plan) to come, but she  (have) some problems.
10. Kate  (have) a big house, but she  (sell) it.
11. Rose  (be) very thin.
12. You  (be) at work yesterday morning.
13. We  (think) New York was in England!
14. They  (bring) this from their trip.
15. She always  (dance) in the summer.

 

Taken from: https://www.really-learn-english.com/simple-past-exercises.html

Other sources
https://www.curso-ingles.com/aprender/cursos/nivel-intermedio/verb-tenses-past/past-simple
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple.html
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past
https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_past_mix.htm
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple-exercise-8.html