Past Simple (Regular/Irregular Verbs)

A state or action which took place is the past may be expressed in English by:
1. The Past Tense (I asked)
2. The Past Progressive Tense (I was asking)
3. The Present Perfect Tense (I have asked)
4. The Present Perfect Progressive Tense (I have been asking)
5. The past Perfect Tense (I had asked)
6. The Past Perfect Progressive Tense (I had been asking)
7. Used to + Infinitive (I used to ask)
8. Would + Infinitive (I would ask)
9. The Past Participle (asked)
10. Having + Past Participle (having asked)
11. Being + Past Participle (being asked)
 The Past Tense
The Past Tense indicates an activity (state) which took place in definite past time, having no
connection with the present. An activity in The Past Tense is determined by an adverb or adverbial
phrase of Past Time (as in examples 1,5,7,13), by a definite point of time (as in examples 2,3,8) or period
of time (as in examples 7,10). Or if there is none in sentence, they are clearly indicated by the context or
situation (as in examples 4,6,11,12).

1. They arrived here two days ago.

2. He left at 3 o’clock.
3. The Second World War broke out in 1939.
4. I posted your letter on my way to the office.
5. He visited London several years ago.
6. When we were young we were good friends.
7. I saw her last night.
8. My son was born in 1936.
9. They didn’t live with us during the war.
10. Most of our monasteries were built during the Middle Ages.
11. The partisans fought bravely against the Fascist invaders.
12. I bought this dress in Zagreb.
13. What did you do yesterday?
The Past Tense may express a repeated or habitual activity (or state) usually with an adverbial phrase or
adverb clause to indicate the period.

 When I was at the seaside I lay in the sun every morning.

 During the summer we went swimming every day.
 She always invited me to dinner-aprties when I was there.
 When they were here, they took us out almost every evening.
 How to Formulate the Simple Past

For regular verbs, add-ed to the root form of the verb (or just –d if the root form already ends in an e):

Play-> Played Type-> Typed Listen-> Listened Push-> Pushed Love-> Loved

For irregular verbs, things get more complicated. The simple past tense of some irregular verbs looks
exactly like the root form:

Put-> Put Cut-> Cut Set-> Set Cost-> Cost Hit-> Hit

For other irregular verbs, including the verbs to be, the simple past forms are more erratic:

See-> Saw Build-> Built Go-> Went Do-> Did Rise-> Rose Am/Is/Are-> Was/Were
 How to Make the Simple Past Negative

Fortunately, there is a formula for making simple past verbs negative, and it’s the same for both
regular and irregular verbs (expect for the verb to be). The formula did not + [root form of verbs].
You can also use the contraction didn’t instead of did not.

Example:
Wolfgang did not brag too much about his hula hoop skills. Wolfgang’s girlfriend didn’t see the
contest.

For the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. When the subject of the sentence is singular, use
was not or wasn’t. When the subject is plural, use were not or weren’t.

Example:
The third-place winner was not as happy as Wolfgang. The fourth-place winner wasn’t happy at all.
The onlookers were not ready to leave after the contest ended. The contestants weren’t ready to leave
either.
 How to Ask a Question

The formula for asking a question in the simple past tense is did + [subject] + [root form of verb].

Example:
Did Wolfgang win the gold medal or the silver medal? Where did Wolfgang go to celebrate? Did
the judges decide fairly, in your opinion?

When asking a question with the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. The formula is
was/were + [subject].

Example:
Was Wolfgang in a good mood after the contest? Were people taking lots of pictures?
Common Regular Verbs in the Past Tense

Infinitive Past Tense Negative

to ask asked did not ask

to work worked did not work

to call called did not call

to use used did not use

Common Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense
Infinitive Past Tense Negative
to be was was not
were were not
to have had did not have

to do did did not do

to say said did not say

to get got did not get

to make made did not make

to go went did not go

to take took did not take

to see saw did not see

to come came did not come