THE PAST TENSE SIMPLE / INDEFINITE

The Past Tense Simple/ Indefinite is a past tense, the most important tense used in
narratives. It is used in the following cases:
1. to express an action happening at a definite moment in the past or over a
completed period of time:
NOW

NOW

He came in the nick of time at the meeting.

They studied psychology last year.
It is used with certain time expressions: yesterday, the day before yesterday, the
other day, last week/month/year/Sunday/July, in May, in 1998, last night, yesterday
morning/afternoon, at 6, on the 11th, on December 15, (on) that day, then, back then, in the
past, formerly, previously, [period of time]+ago, long ago, a long time ago, a while ago,
once, once upon a time, at that time, at the time, in those days, at that hour, in the 19 th
century, etc.
2. to express a sequence of past events (whenever we have or infer: first/ at first/
first of all..., next/ then/ afterwards..., finally/ in the end/ last/ last of all...)
NOW

First he listened to his answering machine, then he went to the kitchen and
made himself a sandwich, next he sat down at the computer.
3. in Reported Speech, after a reporting verb in the past (except when the statement
is a general/ scientific truth):
He said he had no money.
I replied that they knew better than that.
but: The teacher explained that the Earth revolves round its axis.
The past tense simple can be translated into Romanian by three structures:
PERFECT SIMPLU, which expresses in Romanian an action happening at a
definite moment in the past:
He entered the room and saw her huddled in a corner.
(Intr n camer i o vzu ghemuit ntr-un col.)
PERFECT COMPUS, which is the most frequent means of rendering simple
past:
I asked him about the homework.
(L-am ntrebat de teme.)
IMPERFECT, more rarely:
We knew each other well.
(Ne cunoteam bine.)

The past tense simple is the second out of the three basic forms of the English verb
(Infinitive, Past Tense, Past Participle). According to the way they form the past tense and
the past participle, verbs are of two types:
Regular Verbs, which form the past tense and the past participle by adding
the suffix -ed;
Irregular Verbs, which do not comply with this rule.
I. Regular Verbs
Regular verbs form the past tense and the past participle by inflection: they add the
suffix -ed to the base (infinitive). They do this according to a series of rules:
1. Most verbs add -ed, which is pronounced [d], [t] or [id], if the verb ends in d or t:
to rain rained [d]
to ask asked [t]
to start started [id]
2. The verbs ending in e drop the e and add -ed, pronounced [d], [t] or [id] if the last
sound is [d] or [t]:
to dine dined [d]
to like liked [t]
to state stated [id]
3. The verbs ending in ee and ie add -d, pronounced [d]:
to free freed [d]
to lie
lied [d]
4. The verbs ending in i add -ed [d]:
to ski skied [d]
5. The verbs ending in oo add -ed [d]
to woo
wooed [d]
6. The verbs ending y preceded by a vowel add -ed, pronounced [d]:
to stay
stayed [d]
7. The verbs ending in y preceded by a consonant change y into i:
to carry
carried [d]
to reply
replied [d]
8. The verbs ending in c preceded by a vowel change c into ck:
to mimic mimicked [t]
9. The short verbs (one-syllable words) ending in a consonant preceded by a short
vowel double the final consonant before -ed:
to stab stabbed
to lag
lagged
to hum hummed
to grin
grinned
to stop stopped
to stir
stirred
to fit
fitted
but: to boil [b i l] boiled
to need [n i: d] needed
10. The long verbs ending in l preceded by a short vowel double the l (only in British
English):
to travel travelled

to compel compelled
to repel
repelled
but: to conceal [k n s i: l] concealed
to derail [d i r ei l] derailed
11. The long verbs (words of more than one syllable) ending in a consonant preceded
by a short vowel double the final consonant if the last syllable is under stress and only in
British English:
to omit

omitted
to commit
committed
to remit

remitted
to submit
submitted
to refer

referred
to prefer

preferred
to abhor

abhorred
but: to maintain [m ei n t ei n] maintained
to visit [v i s i t]
visited
to limit [l i m i t]
limited
to offer [ f ]
offered
to enter [e n t ]

entered
II. Irregular Verbs
The irregular verbs do not comply with the -ed inflection for the past tense and the
past participle.
There are five possible patterns:
1 = 2 = 3
(to cut, cut, cut)
1 = 2
3
(to beat, beat, beaten)
1 = 3
2
(to run, ran, run)
1 2 = 3
(to keep, kept, kept)
1 2
3
(to give, gave, given)
There is a tendency in modern English, especially in American English, to use some
irregular verbs regularly, so we have double forms, one irregular (especially in BrE), and
one regular (in AmE):
to bet bet bet
betted betted
to burn burnt burnt
burned burned
to chide chid chid / chidden
chided chided
to dream dreamt dreamt
dreamed dreamed
to lean leant leant
leaned leaned
to leap leapt leapt
leaped leaped
to learn learnt learnt
learned learned
to smell smelt smelt

smelled smelled
to spell spelt spelt
spelled spelled
to spill spilt spilt
spilled spilled
to spoil spoilt spoilt
spoiled spoiled
to thrive throve thriven
thrived thrived
to wake woke woken
waked waked
Sometimes the regular verb and the irregular one (homonymous only in the
infinitive) have different meanings:
to lie lay lain (a sta ntins, a se ntinde, a zcea)
to lie lied lied (a mini)
to hang hung hung (a sta atrnat; a atrna)
to hang hanged hanged (a spnzura pe cineva)
to light lit lit (a aprinde, a lumina)
to light lighted lighted (a se opri din zbor)
to shine shone shone (a strluci)
to shine shined shined (a face s strluceasc, a lustrui)
to knit knit knit (a mpreuna)
to knit knitted knitted (a tricota, a mpleti, a croeta)
to work worked worked (a munci, a lucra)
to work wrought wrought (a prelucra metalul)
Some verbs have the appearance of regular verbs, because of the -ed inflection in
the past tense (in AmE these verbs are regular):
to show showed shown
to mow mowed mown (a cosi)
to sew sewed sewn (a coase)
to sow sowed sown (a semna ceva)
to saw sawed sawn (a tia cu ferstrul)
to hew hewed hewn (a ciopli)
to swell swelled swollen (a se umfla)
Homonymy may also occur between the infinitive of one verb and the past tense
and/or the past participle of a completely different verb. These verbs are easily confused:
to see saw seen (a vedea)
to saw sawed sawn (a tia cu ferstrul)
to find found found (a gsi)
to found founded founded (a fonda, a ntemeia)

to grind ground ground (a rni, a mcina)

to ground grounded grounded (a aduce la sol, a pedepsi s stea n cas)
to bear bore born (to be born = a se nate)
borne (a purta, a cra; a suporta)
to bore (1) bored bored (a plictisi)
to bore (2) bored bored (a guri, a fora)
to lay laid laid (a ntinde, a aeza)
to lie lay lain (a sta culcat/ntins, a zcea, a se ntinde)
to fall fell fallen (a cdea)
to fell felled felled (a dobor)
to bind bound bound (a lega)
to bound bounded bounded (a sri)
to rend rent rent (a sfia)
to rent rented rented (a lua cu chirie)
A certain pattern can be misleading:
to ring rang rung
to sing sang sung
to drink drank drunk
to sink sank sunk
to shrink shrank shrunk
to spring sprang sprung
to stink stank stunk
but: to fling flung flung
to dig dug dug
to cling clung clung
to sting stung stung
to sling slung slung
to string strung strung
Usually the verbs derived from irregular verbs are irregular too:
to set set set
to upset upset upset
to hold held held
to behold beheld beheld
to stand stood stood
to understand understood understood
to withstand withstood withstood
to rise rose risen
to arise arose arisen
to cast cast cast

to broadcast broadcast broadcast

to forecast forecast forecast
to lay laid laid
to waylay waylaid waylaid
to bid bade bidden
to forbid forbade forbidden
to take took taken
to mistake mistook mistaken
to overtake overtook overtaken
to write wrote written
to rewrite rewrote rewritten
Exceptions:
to come came come
but: to welcome welcomed welcomed
to get got got (BrE)
gotten (AmE)
but: to forget forgot forgotten (BrE)
forgot (AmE)
DIFFICULT VERBS
to rise rose risen (irregular and intransitive)
The sun rises in the east.
Prices rise every day.
The tide rose fast.
to arise arose arisen (also intransitive)
A lot of problems arise every day.
to raise (regular and transitive)
Shopkeepers raise their prices.
He raised his hand.
to rouse (regular)
The noise roused him from his sleep.
to arouse (regular)
Her words aroused a lot of interest.
to lie lay lain (irregular and intransitive)
He lay in bed all day yesterday.
to lie (regular)
She lied to me on several occasions.
to lay laid laid (irregular and transitive)
The hen laid a brown egg.
She laid the table on the terrace.
They lay emphasis on the importance of self-study.
This lays the foundations of a new era.
to pay paid paid and to lay laid laid are irregular, while to play and to stay
are regular (their morphological status is often mistaken)

He paid by credit card.

She laid down her plans.
They played chess every day.
He stayed at a hotel.
to bear has two past participles: born (only in the structure to be born, rarely used
other than in the past tense) and borne, with a different meaning:
I was born in January.
He was borne shoulder-high by the crowd.
to break broke broken is often confused with the regular verb to brake (a
frna), because of their homophony:
I break things when I am nervous.
You have to brake if you see an animal.
to flow (a curge), a regular verb, is confused with the irregular verb to fly flew
flown (a zbura):
The water flowed down the stairs.
The bird flew high in the sky.
to fall fell fallen (a cdea) is often confused in the past tense with the verb to
feel felt felt (a simi), especially in expressions, because of first language
associations:
He fell in love with her at first sight.
She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
I fell ill and spent a month in bed.
I felt so ill that I had to go home.
to strike struck struck (a lovi, a izbi), is very often used mistakenly in the
past tense as stroke (but: to stroke = a mngia) and in the past participle as
stricken, which comes from to strike (originally it was a past participle, but lost
its verbal functions) but is an adjective in modern English and cannot be used in
a verbal structure:
He struck his wife mercilessly.
I stroked the fur of the cat.
She had a stricken look in her eyes.

PAST TENSE PATTERNS

Affirmative
In the affirmative, we use the second form of the verb, without any inflection:
I paid
we paid
you paid
you paid
he paid
they paid
Exception: to be, which has two forms, was / were
I was
we were
you were
you were
he was
they were
Negative
In the negative all the verbs (except to be and the modal verbs) use the auxiliary to
do and the negation not. The verb is in the infinitive, not in the past tense, without
inflection.

SUBJECT +

Aux. DO + NOT + VERB

(Past Tense)
(Infinitive)
I did not spend
I didnt spend
you did not spend
you didnt spend
he did not spend
he didnt spend
we did not spend
we didnt spend
you did not spend
you didnt spend
they did not spend
they didnt spend
to be
I was not

I wasnt
you were not
you werent
he was not

he wasnt
we were not
we werent
you were not
you werent
they were not
they werent
Interrogative
The interrogative is formed with the auxiliary to do in the past tense and it also uses
inversion. There are no short forms.
Aux. DO + SUBJECT + VERB ?
(Past Tense)
(Infinitive)
did I lose?
did we lose?
did you lose?
did you lose?
did he lose?
did they lose?
to be
was I?
were we?
were you?
were you?
was he?
were they?
Interrogative-negative
The interrogative-negative uses the auxiliary to do in the past tense, the negation not
and inversion. In the short form, the word order is different.
Aux. DO + SUBJECT + NOT + VERB ?
(Past Tense)
(Infinitive)
Aux. DO + NOT + SUBJECT + VERB ?
(Past Tense)
(Infinitive)
did I not live?

didnt I live?
did you not live?

didnt you live?

did he not live?

didnt he live?
did we not live?

didnt we live?
did you not live?

didnt you live?

did they not live?
didnt they live?
to be
was I not?

wasnt I?
were you not?
werent you?

was he not?

were we not?

were you not?

were they not?

wasnt he?
werent we?
werent you?
werent they?

PAST TENSE CONTINUOUS / PROGRESSIVE

The Past Tense Continuous is a past tense, which expresses an action happening at
the same time as another past action.
Past
NOW


When I saw her, she was hurrying to catch the bus.
At 12, I was still waiting to hear from her.
The past continuous is translated by the Romanian tense IMPERFECT:
At that moment they were taking the exam.
(n acel moment ddeau examen.)
* Not any Romanian IMPERFECT can be translated into English by a Past
Continuous. There are other situations as well:
a) Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous
l tia de doi ani.
(She had known him for two years.)
Pe la 6 nva deja de cinci ore.
(By 6 he had been already learning for five hours.)
b) Used to and would to express past habit
Pe vremuri venea pe la noi n fiecare sear.
(He used to come / would come to our place every night.)
c) Past Tense Simple, especially with non-durative verbs
nelegea tot ce-i spuneam.
(He understood everything I told him.)
d) Past Conditional and Past Subjunctive in If-Clauses type 3
Dac tiam, l ajutam.
(If I had known I would have helped him.)
PAST CONTINUOUS PATTERNS
Affirmative
In the affirmative the Past Continuous is formed with the auxiliary to be in the past
tense and the Present Participle (ING-form).
SUBJECT + Aux. BE +
VERB
(Past Tense)
(Present Participle)
I was joking
we were joking
you were joking
you were joking
he was joking
they were joking

Negative
The negative is formed by inserting the negation not between the auxiliary to be in
the Past Tense and the verb in the Present Participle.
SUBJECT + Aux. BE + NOT +
VERB
(Past Tense)
(Present Participle)
I was not listening

I wasnt listening
you were not listening
you werent listening
he was not listening

he wasnt listening
we were not listening

we werent listening
you were not listening
you werent listening
they were not listening
they werent listening
Interrogative
The interrogative uses inversion: the subject and the auxiliary to be in the Past
Tense change places.
Aux. BE + SUBJECT +
VERB
?
(Past Tense)
(Present Participle)
was I standing?
were we standing?
were you standing?
were you standing?
was he standing?
were they standing?
Interrogative-negative
The interrogative-negative inserts the negation between the subject and the Present
Participle in the long form. In the short form, the negation is conjunct with the auxiliary.
Aux. BE + SUBJECT + NOT + VERB
?
(Past Tense)
(Present Participle)
Aux. BE + NOT + SUBJECT + VERB
?
(Past Tense)
(Present Participle)
was I not carrying?

wasnt I carrying?
were you not carrying?
werent you carrying?
was he not carrying?

wasnt he carrying?
were we not carrying?
werent we carrying?
were you not carrying?
werent you carrying?
were they not carrying?
werent they carrying?

EXPRESSING PAST HABIT

Past habit (an action that happened on a regular basis in the past but is no longer
valid) can be expressed in two ways, which are interchangeable up to a point:
1. USED TO (DO) is considered by some a modal verb but it is rather a
replacement for a modal (in the same way as to have to is a replacement for must), in that it
occurs in the negative and interrogative with the auxiliary to do:
He used to read his grandchildren bedtime stories.
(i.e. he no longer does that)
They used to visit us very often when they lived in the neighbourhood.

(i.e. they no longer visit us or they no longer live in the neighbourhood)

She used to be a beautiful woman.
(i.e. she is no longer beautiful)
He didnt use to be so mean.
(i.e. he is mean now)
We can never use this structure in the present, to express present habit. In this case
we use to be in the habit of (doing) or to be used to (doing), the latter having a slightly
different meaning.
2. WOULD (DO), called Frequentative WOULD, is a modal verb. It can occur in
all the contexts that imply past habit, provided that the action is concrete, physical,
expressed by a dynamic verb:
He would read his grandchildren bedtime stories.
They would visit us very often when they lived in the neighbourhood.
But we cannot say:
* She would be a beautiful woman.
* He wouldnt be so mean.
Both structures can be translated into Romanian by:
IMPERFECT
He used to complain / would complain a lot about his job when he worked there.
(Se plngea mult de slujb pe cnd lucra acolo.)
A OBINUI S / A AVEA OBICEIUL S (only for physical, concrete actions)
She used to go / would go jogging every morning.
(Obinuia s / Avea obiceiul s fac jogging n fiecare diminea.)
She used to be a beautiful woman.
(* Obinuia s fie o femeie frumoas.)