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