Simple Past Tense Rules

Affirmative Sentences
In affirmative sentences you use the verb and the time expression in the past tense.

Examples using Regular Verbs:

(study) 1. Sandra studied French last year.

(enjoy) 2. We enjoyed our vacation on a cruise last summer.
(wash) 3. Felipe washed the windows and screens yesterday.
(watch) 4. I watched TV until late last night.
(smile) 5. The children smiled when they saw the candy.
Past Tense Spelling Rules
Regular Verbs

-ed Spelling Rules

___________________________________________________________
1. Add -ed to most verbs. walk-walked
___________________________________________________________
2. Add -d to verbs that end in e. dance-danced
___________________________________________________________
3. When a verb has one syllable and stop-stopped
ends in CVC, double the consonant
and add -ed.

But: When a one syllable verb ends in fax-faxed

w, x, or y don’t double the last
consonant, just add -ed.
Past Tense Spelling Rules
4. When a verb ends in a consonant + study-studied
y change the y to i and add -ed..

But: When a verb ends in a vowel + play-played

y keep the y and add -ed.

Remember: C= Consonant
V= Vowel
CVC= Consonant + Vowel + Consonant
Examples of Irregular Verbs
Examples of Irregular Verbs:
Present Past
buy bought
do/does did
drink drank
eat ate
fall fell
give gave
go went
make made
see saw
understand understood
wear wore
write wrote
etc…
Simple Past Tense Time Expressions
Past Tense Time Expressions
Past Tense Time Expressions are words or phrases in sentences that indicate when the action occurred.

Examples:
yesterday 10 minutes ago
yesterday morning 5 days ago
yesterday afternoon 3 weeks ago
yesterday evening 2 Saturdays ago
last night 4 months ago
last Friday 7 years ago
last week 2 semesters ago
Simple Past Tense Time Expressions
Examples Continuation:

last weekend 2 winters ago

last month in 1912
last semester in the 70’s
last year in the 90’s
last summer in the year 1994
last Christmas on December 25th, 2005
etc…
Simple Past Tense Rules
Negative Sentences
There are two patterns you should consider for Negative sentences:

Pattern #1: For Regular and Irregular Verbs use:

Subject + didn’t + Verb (basic form)…

Examples of Regular Verbs:

(study) 1. Sandra didn’t study French last year.
(wash) 2. Felipe didn’t wash the windows and screens yesterday.

Examples of Irregular Verbs:

(make) 1. My mother didn’t make lasagna last Saturday.
(take) 2. The children didn’t take a nap after lunch.
Simple Past Tense Rules
Direct Questions and Yes/No Answers

Study the following patterns and rules to learn how to

make direct questions and give short answers in the
past tense.

Pattern #1:
Direct Questions (Regular & Irregular Verbs):

Did + Subject + Verb (basic form) … ?

Short Answers:

Yes, ___ did.

No, ___ didn’t.
 Subject + verb to be + complement
I was tired
You were tired
He/she/it was happy
We were in the university
They were in the university
Subject + verb to be +not + complement
I was not tired
You were not tired
He/she/it was not happy
We were not in the university
They were not in the university

Verb to be + subject + complement?

was I tired? (Yes, I was // No, I wasn't)
were you tired? (Yes, I were // No, I weren't)
was he/she/it happy? (Yes, he was// No, he wasn't)
were we in the university? (Yes, we were// No, we weren’t)
Were they in the university? (Yes, they were // No, they weren’t)
 Affirmative
◦We form the past continuous tense
with the helping verb was/were +
present participle (V1 + -ing).
 J Was/Were V1+Ing
◦I was going we were going
You were going you were going
He was going they were going
She was going
It was going
Introgative
◦We form questions by using the helping
verb was/were + subject + present
participle
(V1 + -ing).
Was/Were J V1+Ing
Was I going? Were we going?
Were you going? Were you going?
Was he going? Were they going?
Was she going?
Was it going?
Negative
◦We form the negative with the
helping verb was/were + not +
present participle (V1 + -ing).
J Was/Were Not V1+Ing
I was not going we were not going
You were not going you were not going
He was not going they were not going
She was not going
It was not going