Simple Past Tense

 

The Past Simple Tense is used to refer to actions that were completed in a time period before the present time

Using the Simple Past Tense

•        The Simple Past is used for actions that started and finished at a specific time in the past. It’s also possible to use the simple past in a sentence without specifying a time, but it must have previously been made clear that the speaker is referring to a finished period. 

ü  I saw a movie last week.

•        The Simple Past is used to describe several actions that were completed in the past.

ü  I finished work, walked to the beach and met my friends.

•        The Simple Past is used to describe a process that started and finished in the past. In this case, the process of the action is long and is used by specifying time periods such as ‘the whole year’ or ‘all day’.

ü  I lived in Italy for five years.

•        The Simple Past can also be used in sentences that describe past habits. These sentences have the same purpose as the expression ‘used to’. It should be clear in this kind of sentence that the action referred to is a habit. Time expressions like always, often, usually and never can be used to underline this.

ü  I often played football when I was a young man.

Affirmative

Subject + past simple + object

For example:

 I played football yesterday.

He saw his family last week.

I was in France in June.

 Negative

Subject + did not + base form of verb + object

 For example:

 I didn’t play football yesterday.

They didn’t go to the theater last month.

She didn’t arrive on time this morning.

Questions

Did + subject + base form of verb + object?

 For example:

 Did you play football yesterday?

Did they lose the match?

Did he clean his home last weekend?

 

Regular verb examples

•             place – placed

•             dance – danced

•             plan – planned

•             stop – stopped

•             fix – fixed

•             snow – snowed

•             rain – rained

•             need – needed

•             help – helped

•             add – added

•             worry – worried

•             play – played

 

Irregular verb examples

•             be – was/were

•             buy – bought

•             come – came

•             do – did

•             eat – ate

•             find – found

•             go – went

•             have – had

•             leave – left

•             make – made

•             pay – paid

•             see – saw

•             take – took

•             tell – told

•             write – wrote

Past Simple with main verb be

subject      +        was, were

Look at these examples with the main verb be:

	Subject	main verb be
+	I, he/she/it	was	here.
	You, we, they	were	in London.
-	I, he/she/it	Was  not	there.
	You, we, they	Were not	happy.
?	Was	I, he/she/it	right?
	Were	you, we, they	late?

 

EXERCISE

Fill in the blank with the verb in the simple past tense (20 questions)

         1.          I can’t believe she ________ (go) to his place even after he cheated on her.

         2.          Did you know that Marc __________ (pay) over $5000 for that?

         3.          Allen’s clothes are dirty. He _________ (play) football yesterday.

         4.          I’ve _________ (work) on that project before you took over, so if you have any questions just ask.

         5.          As the team leader, I’ve __________ (have) to make some hard decisions over the past weeks.

         6.          The problem is that the cables ___________ (are not) wired properly to begin with.

         7.          Alice __________ (move) out of that apartment two weeks ago.

         8.          I ____________ (think) they had a dog, not a cat.

         9.          She can’t keep a secret. I __________ (tell) her something in confidence some time ago, and she blew it.

     10.          It can’t be _________ (help), we’re going to have to switch out the motherboards.

     11.          My mother is sick, so we ___________(drive) out to her place last weekend.

     12.          I think he __________ (know) about the gas leak before the explosion.

     13.          Can you tell me what you __________ (think) would happen?

     14.          My dad __________ (order) a new set of lawn chairs last month, and they still aren’t here.

     15.          They have the funds and have ___________ (buy) the company outright just last year.

     16.          Max _____________ (doesn’t) care if he lost all his money in the poker match.

     17.          Even though she’s scared, she still ____________ (fly) out to see her boyfriend two days ago.

     18.          Yes, I __________ (try) that type of sushi when I was in Japan.

     19.          They still haven’t ___________ (agree) on how to proceed.

     20.          They ____________ (find) the victim in the park.