SIMPLE PAST

Structure:

Subject + Verb ending with -ed

I played tennis yesterday

You ate at the restaurant last night
He slept at my house
She gave me flowers for my birthday
It bit me on the arm
We cooked dinner last night
They played rugby last week

We Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a
specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the
specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

RULES:

1. 70% of the verbs end with ‘ed’ in the simple past.

2. Some verbs change in pronunciation when you add ‘ed’

Also some also change in spelling.

E.g. when you have a vowel before the last letter, the letter is again doubled:

Stop = stopped

Except the letters X, Y, W are never doubled

3. When you have a verb ending with ‘Y’ you kick the ‘Y’ out the window and
add ‘ied’.

E.g. Cry = Cried

E.g I played football yesterday.

She cried at the concert. Simple Past Key Words
NEGATIVE -Yesterday
-Ago
Subject + did not (didn’t) + Infinitive -Last week
-Last night
Positive: I played volleyball yesterday -Last year
Negative: I didn’t play volleyball yesterday

QUESTION

Did + Subject + infinitive?

Did you play volleyball yesterday?

In both the negative and the question the verb goes back to its normal state
(infinitive)