We use the past simple to talk about:
Finished actions in the past
- I walked five miles yesterday.
- I studied for six hours last weekend.
A series of completed actions
- I woke up, got dressed and drove to work.
- She went home, took a shower and went to bed.
Specific times in the past
- I graduated from high school in 2012.
- Mozart died in 1791.
There are regular past simple verbs and irregular past simple verbs. First, let’s take a look at regular verbs.
Regular verbs
We form the past simple by adding +ed in regular verbs.
- work = worked
- play = played
- cook = cooked
Irregular verbs
We do not add –ed to the ending of irregular verbs. The past tense is formed in various ways. You will have to memorize them! Here are a few examples below.
| go = went | We went to the theatre last night. |
| think = thought | I thought you were in class. |
| see = saw | I saw a great movie yesterday. |
Click here to get a list of common irregular verbs in the past tense.
Time Markers
Time markers tell us when to use the past simple.
| Time Markers | Example Sentences |
|---|---|
| yesterday | Yesterday, I went to the supermarket. |
| last week | Last week, I had lunch with a friend. |
| last month | Last month, it snowed every weekend. |
| last year | Last year, we went to Puerto Rico. |
| ago | I saw John five minutes ago. |
Past Simple Negative
We use “did not + infinitive” or the contracted form “didn’t + infinitive” to make a sentence negative in the past simple.
Examples:
I didn’t hear what you said.
She did not work last weekend.
We didn’t have school yesterday.
Past Simple Questions
We use “did” to make questions in the past simple.
Question form
| Did | I you he/she/it we they |
walk to school? |
Short answer
| Yes, he did. |
| No, he didn’t. |
Click here for past tense quiz.