PAST SIMPLE TENSE

L.I. ANTONIO ROSAS

OVERVIEW

• REGULAR VERBS
• IRREGULAR VERBS
Look at these sentences:

I walked to school yesterday.

I went to the movies last week.

They are both in the past simple tense.

How to form a past simple

Regular verbs
 verb + ed

▪ I opened the window.

▪ You closed the door.
▪ He wiped the table.
▪ She cooked dinner.
▪ It rained yesterday.
 We walked to school
 You watched the TV.
 They marked the tests.
Verbs ending in an –e
(live, close, wipe, etc)

 Verb + d
▪ I lived here in 2012.
▪ He closed the window.
▪ She wiped the table.
 Verbs ending in a –y preceded by a consonant.

(spy, envy, study, etc)

▪ He spied on his neighbours.

▪ We envied her jeans.
▪ They studied a lot.
Irregular verbs
 Unique past simple form.

▪ I built that shed last year. (to build)

▪ She taught English in the 1990s. (to teach)
▪ We ran the marathon in 2012. (to run)
Past simple in questions

For all verbs (regular and irregular)

Auxiliar (do) in past simple form =

 Did + verb

▪ Did she talk to her mother?

▪ Did you ride your bike yesterday?
▪ Did he eat his lunch?
Past simple in negative sentences

For all verbs (regular and irregular)

Auxiliar (do) in past simple form =

 Did + not (didn’t) + verb

▪ I didn’t want to come over last night.

▪ We didn’t walk to school this morning.
▪ They didn’t listen to the radio yesterday.
Past simple in use

For things that happened at a specific time in the past:

Yesterday, this morning, in 2009, etc.

▪ He left for New York yesterday.

▪ We ate our breakfast this morning.
▪ They got married in 2009.
In questions after ‘When’.

▪ When did you buy that t-shirt?

▪ Whe did she graduate from high school?
Thank you for your attention.