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past simple

Past Simple tense

Past Simple

The Past Simple is the first past tense that we learn when learning English. In this tense, we use verbs in the past tense form. We use the Past Simple to talk about past events. Similarly to the Present Simple, in the Past Simple, we have two sentence structures – with the verb to be and with other verbs.

English tenses

Past Simple with to be

The past form of to be is conjugated irregularly according to the subject of the sentence.

To be in the past form
I was we were
you were you were
he was they were
she was
it was

Affirmative sentences with to be in Past Simple

The structure of the sentence with to be in the Past Simple is very… simple ;). After the subject of the sentence, we place the verb to be in the appropriate form.

Subject + was/were + the rest of the sentence
I was sick last week.

We use to be with nouns, adjectives, and prepositional phrases.

I was a student. (noun)
I was sad. (adjective)
I was in Boston. (prepositional phrase)

Negative sentences with to be in Past Simple

We form negative sentences by adding not after to be.

Subject + was/were + not + the rest of the sentence
I was not sick last week.

To shorten the sentence use a contraction:

was not ⇒ wasn’t
were not ⇒ weren’t

Questions with to be in Past Simple

Questions with to be are formed by inversion of to be.

Was/Were + subject + the rest of the sentence
Were you sick last week?

English? No problem


Past Simple

Past Simple with other verbs

Just like with the verb to be, other verbs in Past Simple take on the past form.

Affirmative sentences in Past Simple

In affirmative sentences, we place verbs in the past form after the subject of the sentence.

Subject + verb in past tense form + the rest of the sentence
I ate dinner.

Negative sentences in Past Simple

In the Past Simple, we form negative sentences with verbs other than to be by adding the auxiliary verb did and the word not. When adding did, the main verb returns to the base form (the main verb is no longer in the past tense form).

Subject + did + not + verb in base form + the rest of the sentence
I did not eat dinner.

Did not contracts to didn’t.

Questions in Past Simple

We use did to form questions in the Past Simple with verbs other than to be. The questions are formed by inversion of did. Like in negative sentences, the main verb is in the base form.

Did + subject + verb in base form + the rest of the sentence
Did you eat dinner?
The Usage of Past Simple

We use the Past Simple to talk about:

+ finished events and activities from the past
I met with my childhood friend yesterday.
Adam bought a new car last month.
+ a series of completed actions in the past
I ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, and got dressed in 20 minutes.
Today, she went to work at 8 a.m., ate lunch at 12 p.m., and finished work at 4 p.m.
+ a longer activity that started and ended in the past
I worked at that factory for over 10 years.
Adam slept for a very long time today.
+ past habits (similar meaning to used to)
I played the guitar in elementary school.
Adam studied Greek as a child.
+ things that probably won’t happen (the second conditional)
If I was determined enough, I would become a doctor.
If my team won the finals, we would be champions.

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