Simple Past

FORM Simple Past

[VERB+ed]

EXAMPLES:

I visited my friends.

I often visited my friends.

USE 1 Completed Action in the Past    

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific 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.

I didn't see a movie yesterday.

Last year, I traveled to Japan.

Last year, I didn't travel to Japan.

She washed her car.

She didn't wash her car.

USE 2 A Series of Completed Actions    

We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th...

EXAMPLES:

I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.

He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00.
USE 3 Single Duration    

The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a
long action often used with expressions like "for two years," "for five minutes," "all day" or "all
year."

EXAMPLES:

I lived in Brazil for two years.

Shauna studied Japanese for five years.

They sat at the beach all day.

We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.

How long did you wait for them?

We waited for one hour.

USE 4 Habit in the Past    

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 use
expressions such as "always," "often," "usually," "never," "...when I was a child" or "...when I was
younger" in the sentence.

EXAMPLES:

I studied French when I was a child.

He played the violin.

She worked at the movie theater after school.

They never went to school, they always skipped.

IMPORTANT "When clauses" happen first

Clauses are groups of words which have meaning but are not complete sentences. Some clauses
begin with the word when such as "When I dropped my pen..." or "When class began..." These
clauses are called "when clauses" and they are very important. The examples below contain
"when clauses."

EXAMPLES:
When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.

She answered my question, when I paid her one dollar.

"When clauses" are important because they always happen first when both clauses are in the
Simple Past. Both of the examples above mean the same thing. First, I paid her one dollar, and
then, she answered my question. However, the example below has a different meaning. First, she
answered my question, and then, I paid her a dollar.

EXAMPLE:

I paid her a dollar, when she answered my question.

ACTIVE / PASSIVE Simple Past

EXAMPLES:

Tom repaired the car. ACTIVE

The car was repaired by Tom. PASSIVE

http://www.lingolex.com/simplepast/index.htm

CINDERELLA

Cinderella lived in a small village in the north of England. She had two
sisters; they were very ugly. She got up every morning at six o'clock,
then she made breakfast for her sisters, and afterwards she cleaned
the house. She worked all day. Her two ugly sisters were very lazy;
they never did any work because Cinderella did everything. Cinderella
was very unhappy.

One day, the postman came to the house. He gave Cinderella's sister
an envelope . In the envelope there were three invitations to a party at
the Prince's house. She said to her sisters, "Fantastic! There is a party
at the Prince's house. I can wear my new red dress and Esmerelda can
wear her new blue dress, but Cinderella can't go because her dress is
old and dirty and she hasn't got any shoes."

On Saturday at 8 o'clock, the ugly sisters went to the party. Cinderella

sat in the kitchen. She was very sad. There was a ring at the door.
Cinderella opened the door. There was a woman. She said, "Hello! I
am your Fairy Godmother. Why are you sad?" Cinderella said, "I want
to go to the party but I haven't got any beautiful clothes." The Fairy
Godmother said, "No problem, here is a new dress and some glass
shoes. There is a golden bicycle in the street. Now you can go to the
party, but you must return before 12 o'clock." Cinderella said, "Thank
you." She put on the glass shoes and the red dress. She looked very
pretty. Then she went to the party by bicycle.

The party was very good. At first, Cinderella was very shy but after an
hour, the Prince asked Cinderella to dance. They danced for a long
time. The Prince said to Cinderella, "I like your dress and you are very
pretty." Cinderella was very happy. She forgot what time it was.
Suddenly the clock rang. Cinderella said, "Oh no! I must go. It is 12
o'clock." She ran home, at the door of the Prince's house she lost her
shoe.

The next day, the Prince was very sad because he was in love with
Cinderella but he didn't know where she lived. He went to all the
houses in the village and said, "Do you know whose shoe this is?"
Finally, he went to Cinderella's house. Cinderella opened the door. The
Prince said, "I love you. Do you want to marry me?" Cinderella said,
"Yes." The wedding was the week after. Cinderella and the Prince were
never unhappy again.

THE END

Can you answer these questions?

Where did she live?

When did she get up?

How did she go to the party?

Why was the prince sad?

Simple Past (Past Simple)

Exercises on Simple Past
 The simple past expresses an action in the past taking place once, never, several times. It can also be used
for actions taking place one after another or in the middle of another action.

Form of Simple Past

  Positive Negative Question

no differences I spoke. I did not speak. Did I speak?

For irregular verbs, use the past form (see list of irregular verbs, 2nd column). For regular verbs, just add
“ed”.

Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ‘ed’

Exceptions in spelling when adding ed Example

after a final e only add d love – loved

final consonant after a short, stressed vowel admit – admitted

or l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled travel – travelled

final y after a consonant becomes i hurry – hurried

Use of Simple Past

 action in the past taking place once, never or several times

Example: He visited his parents every weekend.

 actions in the past taking place one after the other

Example: He came in, took off his coat and sat down.

 action in the past taking place in the middle of another action

Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang.

 if sentences type II (If I talked, …)

Example: If I had a lot of money, I would share it with you.

Signal Words of Simple Past

 yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday
 If-Satz Typ II (If I talked, …)
 Exercise on Simple Past
Exercise on positive sentences

Write positive sentences in simple past.

1. he / the question / answer

2. you / a question / ask

3. the dog / bark

4. they / us / call

5. we / a mountain / climb

6. John / stamps / collect

7. we / in London / live

8. I / hungry / be

9. they / a hamster / have

10. he / to school / go