The Simple Past Quiz

First let’s consider the past simple form: verb + ed (only for regular verbs) OR irregular verb past form.

COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS LIST

EXAMPLE:

• Affirmative: You called the police.
• Negative: You didn’t call the police.
• Interrogative: Did you call the police?

NOTE: the form of the simple past is the same for all persons (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they).

AFFIRMATIVE

subject + verb + ed OR irregular past form (if the verb is irregular)

• I worked.
• You worked.
• He worked.
• She worked.
• It worked.
• We worked.
• You worked.
• They worked.

NEGATIVE

subject + did + not + base form of the verb.

• I did not work.
• You did not work.
• He did not work.
• She did not work.
• It did not work.
• We did not work.
• You did not work.
• They did not work.

INTERROGATIVE

(question word) + did + subject + base form of the verb

• Did I work?
• Did you work?
• Did he work?
• Did she work?
• Did it work?
• Did we work?
• Did you work?
• Did they work?

CONTRACTION: did not = didn’t

• I didn’t work yesterday.
• We didn’t go to school this morning.

When do we use the simple past?

We use the simple past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specfic time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

EXAMPLES:

• I saw a movie yesterday.
• Last year, I traveled to the city of Ifrane.
• He didn’t wash his car.

We use the simple past to list a series of completed actions in the past. The actions happened one following the other; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on.

EXAMPLE:

• I got up at six o’clock in the morning, took a shower, performed my prayer, had breakfast, and drove to work.

NOTE: the simple past can also be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. The duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.

EXAMPLES:

• We talked on the phone for two hours.
• They sat at the beach all day.

The simple past can also be used 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.

EXAMPLES:

• When I was a kid, I studied at a private school.
• He played the guitar.
• He never went to school. He always skipped classes.

The simple past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true.

EXAMPLES:

• Zeynep was very shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
• I didn’t like garlic before.
• People paid much more to afford cell phones in the past.

The simple past is also often used in unreal if-clauses in the present.

EXAMPLE:

If Tom had one billion dollars, he would quit his job in the blink of an eye.

The Simple Past Quiz

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Quiz source: englishclub