Past Simple
Verbs
The past simple is the tense used to express situations, events and actions that happened in the past.
Affirmative
The past simple is used, in the affirmative form, to confirm situations that occurred in the past and have now concluded.
The structure of regular verbs is: Subject + [past form of the verb] + …
For example:
— Regular verbs: “You ask.” ⇒ “You asked.” = We just add -ed.
The past simple tense of regular verbs is formed differently depending on the base form of the verb used.
For example:
— Suffix -y: “I try.” ⇒ “I tried.” = We change –y to i and add -ed.
— Suffix -e: “I dance.” ⇒ “I danced.” = We just add -d.
— Suffix with stressed vowel + consonant (except -w and -y): “I plan.” ⇒ “I planned.” = We double the consonant and add -ed.
Negative
The past simple, in its negative form, is used to deny situations that occurred in the past and have now concluded.
The structure is: Subject + did + not + verb + …
For example:
— “You didn’t ask.” = We use the past simple to express a past event that didn’t occur.
Interrogative
The past simple, in its interrogative form, is used to ask about situations that occurred in the past and have now concluded.
The structure is: Did + subject + verb + …?
For example:
— “Did you ask?” = We use the past simple to ask questions about a past event.
Past Simple of Irregular Verbs
Many verbs have irregular past simple forms.
The most commonly used are: become ⇒ became, break ⇒ broke, bring ⇒ brought, buy ⇒ bought, do ⇒ did, draw ⇒ drew, drink ⇒ drank, eat ⇒ ate, feel ⇒ felt, find ⇒ found, go ⇒ went, have ⇒ had, hear ⇒ heard, keep ⇒ kept, read ⇒read, run ⇒ ran, say ⇒ said, see ⇒ saw, teach ⇒ taught, write ⇒ wrote.
For example:
— Correct: “I left my blanket under the tree.” / Incorrect: “I leaved my blanket under the tree.” = The verb leave changes to left, because it is an irregular verb.
