The past simple

The past simple is used to talk about completed actions See also:
that happened at a fixed time in the past. It is the most Past simple negative 8 Past simple questions 9
Present perfect simple 11
commonly used past tense in English.

REGULAR VERBS IN THE PAST SIMPLE

To form a regular verb in the past simple,
“-ed” is added to the base form.

TUESDAY TODAY

The verb ends in "-ed.” Fixed point in the past.

HOW TO FORM
Most verbs in the past SUBJECT PAST VERB REST OF SENTENCE
simple do not change
with the subject.

The same form is

used for all subjects.

FURTHER EXAMPLES

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 SPELLING RULES FOR THE PAST SIMPLE
The past simple of all regular verbs ends in “-ed,” but for
some verbs, there are some spelling changes, too.
Last letters are a A stressed final syllable ending
Last letter is “-e.” consonant and a “-y.” consonant-vowel-consonant.

For many regular Just a “-d” The “-y” is removed The last consonant
verbs, “-ed” is added. and “-ied” is is doubled and
is added. added instead. “-ed” is added.

FURTHER EXAMPLES

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 IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PAST SIMPLE
Some verbs do not take “Went” is the past simple of “go.”
“-ed” to form the past
simple. There are no
specific rules about how
to form irregular verbs
in the past simple.

YESTERDAY TODAY

COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PAST SIMPLE

FURTHER EXAMPLES

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 “BE” IN THE PAST SIMPLE
The past simple of “be”
is completely irregular.
It is the only verb in
the past simple which
changes depending
on the subject.

PAST NOW

HOW TO FORM
The past simple
of “be” changes SUBJECT “BE” REST OF SENTENCE

with the subject.

FURTHER EXAMPLES

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 The past simple negative
The past simple negative is used to talk about things that See also:
did not happen in the past. It is always formed the same Past simple 7 Present simple negative 2
Types of verbs 49
way, unless the main verb is “be.”

THE PAST SIMPLE NEGATIVE

The past simple
negative uses “did
not” or “didn’t”
with the base form “played” is the To make the negative,
past simple. “didn’t” is used with
of the main verb. the base form.
The main verb is
not put into the
past simple.
LAST WEEK YESTERDAY TODAY

HOW TO FORM
SUBJECT “DID NOT / DIDN’T” BASE FORM OF VERB REST OF SENTENCE

“Didn’t” or “did not” are used The base form of the

to make the negative, no main verb is used in
matter what the subject is. the past simple negative.

FURTHER EXAMPLES

“Did not” is only used for

emphasis, or in formal situations.

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 COMMON MISTAKES BASE FORMS IN THE PAST SIMPLE NEGATIVE

When using the negative form of the past simple, “didn’t” plus the main
verb in the base form is used. The main verb is never in the past simple.

“Play” should be in The main verb should only go into the

the base form. past simple if it’s a positive statement.

THE PAST SIMPLE NEGATIVE OF “BE”

To form the past simple negative of “be,”
“not” is added after “was” or “were.”

HOW TO FORM

SUBJECT “WAS / WERE” “NOT” REST OF SENTENCE

FURTHER EXAMPLES

“Was not” is often “Were not” is often

shortened to “wasn’t.” shortened to “weren’t.”

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 Past simple questions
Questions in the past simple are formed using “did.” For See also:
past simple questions with “be,” the subject and the verb Past simple 7 Forming questions 34
Types of verbs 49
“was” or “were” are swapped around.

QUESTIONS IN THE PAST SIMPLE

Use “did” plus the base form of the verb
to ask a question in the past simple.

In the statement the main

verb is in the past simple.

“Did” goes before The main verb You can add question words
the subject. is in its base form. to ask open questions.

HOW TO FORM

“DID” SUBJECT BASE FORM OF VERB REST OF SENTENCE

FURTHER EXAMPLES

Add question words

to make open questions.

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 QUESTIONS IN THE PAST SIMPLE WITH “BE”
To make a question
using the verb “be” in In a statement, the subject
the past simple, swap comes before the verb.
the order of the subject
and “was” or “were.”

In a question, the verb and The subject comes after the verb.
the subject swap places.

HOW TO FORM

“WAS / WERE” SUBJECT REST OF SENTENCE

FURTHER EXAMPLES

Add question words

to make open questions.

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 The past continuous
The past continuous is used in English to talk about actions See also:
or events that were in progress at some time in the past. It is Past simple 7
Infinitives and participles 51
formed with “was” or “were” and a present participle.

THE PAST CONTINUOUS

Past simple shows the action
English uses the past happened once and is now finished.
continuous to talk about
ongoing actions that were
in progress at a certain
time in the past.

11:30AM 12:00PM 12:30PM

The past continuous
shows the action went
on for some time, but
is now finished.

Past continuous describes

a continuing action.

FURTHER EXAMPLES

HOW TO FORM
“Was” or “were” followed by the present participle form the past continuous.

SUBJECT “WAS / WERE” VERB + “-ING” REST OF SENTENCE

“Was” or “were” is used “-ing” is added

depending on the subject. to the main verb.

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 THE PAST CONTINUOUS FOR SCENE-SETTING
The past continuous is often used in storytelling
to set a scene or describe a situation.

THE PAST CONTINUOUS AND THE PAST SIMPLE

When English uses the past continuous and past simple together, the
past continuous describes a longer, background action, and the past
simple describes a shorter action that interrupts the background action.

CONTINUING BACKGROUND ACTION INTERRUPTING MAIN ACTION

FURTHER EXAMPLES

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 The present perfect simple
The present perfect simple is used to talk about events See also:
in the recent past that still have an effect on the present Past simple 7 Present perfect continuous 12
Infinitives and participles 51
moment. It is formed with “have” and a past participle.

PRESENT PERFECT
The present perfect can be used to talk about
the past in a number of different ways:

To give new information

or news.

To talk about a repeated

action that continues to
happen over a period of time.

To talk about an event that

started in the past and is still
happening now.

FURTHER EXAMPLES THE PRESENT PERFECT

HOW TO FORM
SUBJECT “HAVE / HAS” PAST PARTICIPLE REST OF SENTENCE

“Has” is used for

“he,” “she,” and “it.”

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 REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES
Regular past participles are formed English has a lot of irregular past participles, which
by adding “-ed” to the base form. sometimes look very different from the base form.

COMMON MISTAKES PAST SIMPLE FORMS AND PAST PARTICIPLES

It is important not
This is the past participle of “see.”
to mix up past
simple forms with
past participles.

This is the past simple form of “see,”

and shouldn’t be used in perfect tenses.

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 “GONE / BEEN”
“Be” and “go” are
both used in the
present perfect
to talk about
going somewhere,
but they have She is still in Florida.
different meanings.

She went to Florida, but

now she is back home.

FURTHER EXAMPLES

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 THE PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE AND THE PAST SIMPLE
The past simple is used to talk about something that happened at a definite
time. The present perfect is used when a particular time is not specified.

A specific date, 2010, is given, There’s no specific date, so

so the past simple is used. the present perfect is used.

2010 NOW 2003 2008 2010 2014 NOW

FURTHER EXAMPLES

PAST SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT

THE PRESENT PERFECT IN US ENGLISH

US English often uses the past simple when
UK English would use the present perfect.

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