What is the Past Simple?
We use the Past Simple to talk about finished actions or situations that happened at a specific time in the past.
Time Expressions
These words usually signal that the action is completely finished:
- Yesterday (I watched a film yesterday.)
- Last... (last night, last week, last summer)
- ...Ago (two days ago, a week ago)
- In + past year (They got married in 2010.)
Regular Verbs
Regular verbs form the past tense by adding -ed.
- Most verbs: add -ed (play → played)
- Ending in -e: add -d (like → liked)
- Consonant + y: change y to i and add -ed (study → studied)
- CVC Pattern: double the last letter + -ed (stop → stopped)
Sentence Structure
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (+) Affirmative | Subject + past verb | She visited her grandmother. |
| (-) Negative | Subject + didn't + base verb | She didn't visit her grandmother. |
| (?) Question | Did + Subject + base verb? | Did she visit her grandmother? |
Important: In negative sentences and questions, the main verb stays in the base form (infinitive) because "did" already shows the past tense!
Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs do NOT follow the -ed rule. You must memorize their past tense forms.
| Base Form | Past Simple | Base Form | Past Simple |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was/were | go | went |
| become | became | have | had |
| begin | began | hear | heard |
| break | broke | leave | left |
| bring | brought | make | made |
| buy | bought | read | read (/red/) |
| choose | chose | run | ran |
| come | came | say | said |
| do | did | see | saw |
| drink | drank | sit | sat |
| eat | ate | speak | spoke |
| find | found | take | took |
| get | got | tell | told |
| give | gave | think | thought |
A. Fill in the blanks
Type the correct past tense form of the verb in brackets.
1. I (play) football yesterday.
2. She (go) to school by bus.
3. They (study) English last night.
4. We (eat) couscous on Friday.
5. My father (buy) a new phone.
B. Negative Form
Rewrite the sentences in the negative form.
He visited his uncle.
He his uncle.
They saw the movie.
They the movie.
We cooked lunch.
We lunch.
C. Make Questions
Rewrite the sentences as questions.
She travelled to Paris.
she to Paris?
They met their friends.
they their friends?
D. Writing Task
Write a short paragraph (4-6 sentences) about what you did during your last holiday. Try to use at least 2 regular and 2 irregular verbs!