Pengertian simple past tense

Simple past tense adalah bentuk tense yang menyatakan suatu tindakan yang selesai
dilakukan pada waktu tertentu di masa lalu. Dalam simple past tense, keterangan waktu
biasanya disebut atau dituliskan secara spesifik (contoh: yesterday, two days ago, last week,
dsb)

Good morning class!!! Mari kita bahas penjelasan lengkap simple past tense dibawah ini.

Hal yang harus diingat adalah kata kerja yang digunakan dalam simple past tense adalah
bentuk kata kerja past tense (biasa disebut verb 2). Bentuk kata kerja kedua ini dibedakan
menjadi 2, yakni bentuk beraturan (regular) dan bentuk tidak beraturan (irregular).

Bentuk verb 2 beraturan (regular); hanya ditambah akhiran –ed, -d, atau -ied), antara lain:

 walk→walked,
 call→called,
 talk→talked,
 used→used,
 study→studied, dll.

Sedangkan, bentuk verb 2 tidak beraturan (irregular), antara lain:

 teach→taught,
 eat→ate,
 get→got,
 bring→brought,
 give→gave,
 drink→drank, dll.

Rumus/Pola Simple past tense

Berikut adalah rumus/pola simple past tense:

Kalimat Positif

Pola: Pola:
Subject + verb 2 + object Subject + be (was/were) + adjective/adverb/noun

I taught English. I was at school.

You taught English. You were at school.

We taught English. We were at school.

They taught English. They were at school.

He taught English. He was at school.

She taught English. She was at school.

Untuk kata kerja be (was/were):

 Gunakan was untuk subject I, he, she dan it.

 Gunakan were untuk subject you, we, dan they.

Kalimat Negatif

Pola:
Subject + did + NOT + bare infinitive*
+ object
I did not teach English.
You didn't teach English.
We didn't teach English.
They didn't teach English.
He didn't teach English.
She didn't teach English.
Pola:
Subject + be (was/were) + NOT +
adjective/adverb/noun
I was not at school.
You were not at school.
We weren't at school.
They weren't at school.
He wasn't at school.
She wasn't at school.

 *bare infinitive adalah kerja bentuk dasar, seperti: teach, see, eat, drink, get, walk,
buy dan lain-lain.
 Gunakan did not (didn’t) untuk semua subject (I, you, we, they, he, she dan it)

Kalimat Tanya

Pola: Pola:
Did + subject + bare infinitive* + object? Was/were + subject + adjective/adverb/noun?
Did I teach English? Was I at school?
Did you teach English? Were you at school?
Did we teach English? Were we at school?
Did they teach English? Were they at school?
Did he teach English? Was he at school?
Did she teach English? Was she at school?

 *bare infinitive adalah kerja bentuk dasar, seperti: teach, eat, meet, study, play, give,
talk dan lain-lain.
 Gunakan did untuk semua subject (I, you, we, they, he, she dan it)

Kapan kita menggunakan simple past tense?

Pertama, untuk menyatakan tindakan yang selesai dilakukan di masa lalu pada waktu
tertentu; pasti dan spesifik (definite and specific time).

Contoh kalimat:
My family and I traveled to Lombok last week.
(Saya dan keluarga bepergian ke Lombok minggu lalu.)
She bought this bag two days ago.
(Dia membeli tas ini dua hari yang lalu.)
We didn't go anywhere last night. We just stayed at home and watched television.
(Kami tidak pergi kemana-mana tadi malam. Kami hanya tinggal di rumah dan menonton
televisi.)
I met him when I was at coffee shop.
(Saya bertemu dengannya ketika saya ada di kedai kopi.)
My parents sold their car when I was ten.
(Orang tua saya menjual mobil mereka ketika saya berumur sepuluh tahun.)
He called me five minutes ago but I didn't answer his call.
(Dia meneleponku lima menit yang lalu tapi saya tidak menjawab telponnya.)
Did you come to Rina's house yesterday?
(Apakah kamu datang ke rumah Rina kemarin?)

Contoh lain jika waktu tidak disebutkan, dimana kita tahu bahwa suatu tindakan terjadi di
waktu tertentu. Kita lihat contoh berikut:

 Konser Craig David disiarkan di salah satu stasiun TV tadi malam, maka:

A:
Did you watch Craig David's concert on TV?
(Apakah kamu menonton konser Craig David di TV?)

B:
Yes, I did. Of course I watched it. It was a great performance.
(Ya, tentu saja saya menontonnya. Itu adalah penampilan yang luar biasa.)

Kedua, untuk menyatakan kebiasaan di masa lalu (past habit) biasanya menggunakan used
to (mengindikasikan kebiasaan masa lalu).

Contoh kalimat:

He always played football.

(Dia dulu selalu bermain sepakbola.)
We never ate 'jengkol'.
(Kita dulu tidak pernah makan jengkol.)
You used to drive car so fast.
(Kamu dulu biasa mengendarai mobil begitu cepat.)
We used to make 'seblak' at home.
(Kita dulu biasa membuat seblak di rumah.)

Ketiga, digunakan dalam conditional sentence tipe 2.

Contoh kalimat:
If I met you, I would be happy.
(Jika saya bertemu denganmu, saya akan senang.)
We would travel to London if we were millionaires.
(Kita akan bepergian ke London jika kita adalah jutawan.)
If you got the first rank, you would easily get the scholarship.
(Jika kamu dapat peringkat pertama, kamu akan dengan mudah mendapatkan beasiswa.)

Penanda waktu dalam simple past tense

Beberapa penanda atau keterangan waktu (adverb of time) yang biasa digunakan dalam
simple past tense, antara lain: yesterday, last week, two days ago, ten minutes ago, last
month, one hour ago, when I was child, in 2002, on Sunday, the day before yesterday dll.

References:

 Thomson, A. J and A. V. Martinet. 1986. A Practical English Grammar fourth

Edition. Oxford University Press: New York.
 Wishon, George E and Julia M. Burks. 1980. Let’s Write English Revised Edition.
Litton Educational Publishing, Inc: New York.
 Simple past tense. https://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/simple-
past-tense/. Accessed on March 21, 2018.