What is the Past Simple Tense?

The simple past tense shows that an action started and completed in the past and has no relevance to the
present time at all. It can also be used to describe how someone felt, what their emotional condition was, at a
point in the past. There are no forms of the verb to be’ or to have’ with this tense as there are with others
(e.g. walked).
The simple past can be used with adverbs to describe a time already in the past (e.g. I walked to the market
last Saturday) or discussing a specific point in time (e.g. I studied today).
Simple Past Tense Structure
Simple Past Tense with “TO BE” (was/were)
I/She/He/It + was
We/You/They + were
Was not = Wasn’t
Were not = Weren’t
Positive Sentence:
S + was/were + …
They were friends.
Negative Sentence:
S + was not/were not + …
They weren’t friends.
Question form:
Was/Were + S + …?
Were they friends?
Simple Past Tense with Regular Verbs
Regular English verbs form the simple past in –ed; however, there are a few hundred irregular verbs with
different forms.
Positive Sentence:
S + verb-ed + …
She worked yesterday.
Negative Sentence:
S + did not/didn’t + verb (in base form) + …
She didn’t work yesterday.
Question form:
Did + S + verb (in base form)?
Did she work yesterday?
Past Simple Tense with Irregular Verbs
There are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms.
Positive Sentence:
S + irregular verb + …
They went to Spain for their holidays.
Negative Sentence:
S + did not/didn’t + verb (in base form) + …
They didn’t go to Spain for their holidays?
Question Form:
Did + S + (verb in base form)?
Did they go to Spain for their holidays?
The Simple Past Tense Usage
The Simple Past is used:
 To express completed action in the past
I saw a ghost last Friday.
 To describe a series of completed actions in the past
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
 To express habits in the past
When I was young, I watched lots of television every day after school.
 For stative verbs, which are verbs that do not express an action, but a state of mind or being  E.g.
have (own), be, think (believe), know, dislike, need, owe, understand, wish
He had a small cottage in the woods.
Time Expressions with Past Simple Tense
 Yesterday
 Ago
 Last month
 Last week
 Last year
 In 2003
 In 2007
 …