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Simple Past
FORM Simple Past
[VERB+ed]
EXAMPLES:
I visited my friends.
I often visited my friends.
NOTE: When you are using a verb tense with only one part such as Simple Past (visited), adverbs usually come before the verb (often visited). Please remember this is different from verbs with more than one part such as Present Continuous.
USE 1 Completed Action in the Past
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.
EXAMPLES:
I saw a movie yesterday.
I didn't see a movie yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Last year, I didn't travel to Japan.
She washed her car.
She didn't wash her car.
USE 2 A Series of Completed Actions
We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th...
EXAMPLES:
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00.
USE 3 Single Duration
The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a long action often used with expressions like "for two years," "for five minutes," "all day" or "all year."
EXAMPLES:
I lived in Brazil for two years.
Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
They sat at the beach all day.
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
How long did you wait for them?We waited for one hour.
USE 4 Habit in the Past
The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as "used to". To make it clear that we are talking about
a habit we often use expressions such as "always," "often," "usually," "never," "...when I was a child" or "...when I was younger" in the sentence.
EXAMPLES:
I studied French when I was a child.
He played the violin.
She worked at the movie theater after school.
They never went to school, they always skipped.
1. What did they think about the lecture yesterday?
They ____________________ it was interesting.
2. Where did you buy that bracelet?
I __________________ it at Nordstrom's.
3. What did he say?
He just ____________________ "Hi."
4. Where did you read that article?
I __________________ it in the newspaper.
5. How many gifts did she choose?
She _____________________ 10 gifts
6. How high did the water rise during the 1962 floods?
It _____________________ about 10 feet.
7. How long did the soldier stand at attention?
He _______________________ at attention for an hour.
8. How did he break that lamp?
He _________________ it by accidentally knocking it over with his elbow.
9. How did they send the letter?
They __________ it by airmail.
10. What did you know about Japan before you went there?
I __________________ that the language would be hard for me to learn.
11. What did the diplomat mean when she said "We had a frank discussion.?"
She _________________ that they shouted at each other.
12. How many paragraphs did you write for your essay?
I ___________________ eight paragraphs.
13. How late did your brother sleep yesterday morning?
He ___________________ until 10:30 AM.
14. How many library books did she take last week?
She __________________ five books.
15. When did the lake freeze?
It __________________ last week when the temperature went down to 0
degrees.
Simple Past Tense
Explanation
1. The simple past tense is expressed with the past form of the verb and nothing
else.
My grandfather died last year.
My grandfather was died last year.
My grandfather has died last year.
(Correct)
(Incorrect)
(Incorrect)
2. The simple past tense refers to
a. action which occurred at a specific time in the past
b. completed action
c. past status
Examples
Specific past action
I ate lunch at noon today.
He drove to work yesterday.
Completed action
She finally mailed the letter.
Jan finished her report on time.
Past status
John was still single in1995.
Jane was a movie star.
Note the usage of the past tense in the following story.
Yesterday Mrs. Hubbard had a very rough day. In the morning, she
went to the kitchen and looked in the cupboard for some food for her
dog, but the cupboard was empty. Her poor dog stared up at her with
its hungry eyes, and she knew she had to do something quickly. She
hurried to the grocery store to buy some dog food, but unfortunately
the store was out of her dog's favorite brand, so she had to catch a bus
downtown. After buying the food, she waited for a half hour in the rain
to get a taxi. When she finally got home, her dog was sound asleep on
the living room sofa.
Common problems with the past tense
1. Using the present tense when the past tense is required.
Last week, Tonya fix her neighbor's car.
Last week, Tonya fixed her neighbor's car.
(Incorrect)
(Correct)
2. Using "was" with verbs in the past tense.
It was happened one night in September.
It happened one night in September.
(Incorrect)
(Correct)
Exercises Change the verbs in the following sentence into past tense. 1. Yesterday, I go to the restaurant with a client.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. We drive around the parking lot for 20 minutes in order to find a parking space.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. When we arrive at the restaurant, the place is full.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. The waitress asks us if we have reservations.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. I say, "No, my secretary forgets to make them."
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. The waitress tells us to come back in two hours.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. My client and I slowly walk back to the car.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. Then we see a small grocery store.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. We stop in the grocery store and buy some sandwiches.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. That is better than waiting for two hours.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Correct the mistakes in the following sentences:
1. Last night, Samantha have pizza for supper.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. My pet lizard was died last month.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Yesterday I spend two hours cleaning my living room.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. This morning before coming to class, Jack eats two bowls of cereal.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. What was happened to your leg?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Simple Past gap-fill exercise
Fill in all the gaps, with the right form of the verb in brackets.
William Shakespeare ………….. (be) born in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1564.
He ……………. (go) to the local Stratford Grammar School, where he …………..
(be) …………….. (teach) by Master Walter Roche. Lessons began at six o'clock in
the morning in the summer in order to make the most of daylight.
His father …………… (be) …………… (call) John Shakespeare a Stratford upon
Avon glove-maker. He …………… (send) William to the local grammar school in
1571, but when William ………… (be) only 14 years old his fortunes fell so low that
William …………. (have) to leave school. Some historians say he ……………(work)
in his father’s shop.
At the age of 19 William …………… (to marry) Anne Hathaway the daughter of a
rich farmer near Stratford. Three years later Shakespeare …………… (go) to
London. How he ……………(live) there we do not know.
In about 1587 he …………… (become) a member of one of the few theatrical
companies which …………… (exist) in those days. Around 1590 he ……………
(begin) to try his hand at writing plays. There ……………(be) no female actors in
those days, all the female parts ……………(be) ……………(play) by boys. It is
thought that he ……………(write) his first major play, Henry VI., Part One, in 1592.
His most famous play, Hamlet, ……………(be) probably first seen in 1601 at the
Globe Theatre. Shakespeare ……………(continue) to write about 2 plays a year.
He ……………(return) to Stratford in 1612, where he ……………(live) the life of a
country gentleman. He …………… (die) of a fever on his birthday in 1616.
How do we make the Simple Past Tense?To make the simple past tense, we use:
past form onlyor
auxiliary did + base form
Here you can see examples of the past form and base form for irregular verbs and regular verbs:
V1base
V2past
V3past participle
regular verb
workexplodelike
workedexplodedliked
Workedexplodedliked
The past form for all regular verbs ends in -ed.
irregular verb
goseesing
wentsawsang
Goneseensung
The past form for irregular verbs is variable. You need to learn it by heart.
You do not need the past participle form to make the simple past tense. It is shown here for completeness only.
The structure for positive sentences in the simple past tense is:
subject + main verbpast
The structure for negative sentences in the simple past tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verbdid base
The structure for question sentences in the simple past tense is:
auxiliary verb + subject + main verbdid base
The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he did etc). And the base form and past form do not change. Look at these examples with the main verbs go and work:
subject auxiliary verb main verb
+I Went to school.
You Worked very hard.
-She did not Go with me.
We did not Work yesterday.
?Did you Go to London?
Did they Work at home?
Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and question sentences. To make a question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these examples:
subject main verb
+I, he/she/it was Here.
You, we, they were in London.
-I, he/she/it was not there.
You, we, they were not happy.
?Was I, he/she/it right?
Were you, we, they Late?
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_past_s.htm
How do we use the Simple Past Tense?We use the simple past tense to talk about an action or a situation—an event—in the past. The event can be short or long.
Here are some short events with the simple past tense:
The car exploded at 9.30am yesterday.She went to the door.
We did not hear the telephone.Did you see that car?
past present Future
The action is in the past.
Here are some long events with the simple past tense:
I lived in Bangkok for 10 years.The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years.
We did not sing at the concert.Did you watch TV last night?
past present Future
The action is in the past.
Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can be a few minutes or seconds in the past, or millions of years in the past. Also it does not matter how long the event is. It can be a few milliseconds (car explosion) or millions of years (Jurassic period). We use the simple past tense when:
the event is in the past the event is completely finished we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event
Here are some more examples:
I lived in that house when I was young. He didn't like the movie. What did you eat for dinner? John drove to London on Monday. Mary did not go to work yesterday. Did you play tennis last week? I was at work yesterday. We were not late (for the train). Were you angry?
Note that when we tell a story, we usually use the simple past tense. We may use the past continuous tense to "set the scene", but we almost always use the simple past tense for the action. Look at this example of the beginning of a story:
"The wind was howling around the hotel and the rain was pouring down. It was cold. The door opened and James Bond entered. He took off his coat, which was very wet, and ordered a drink at the bar. He sat down in the corner of the lounge and quietly drank his..."
Irregular VerbsInstructions: Print a copy of this list of irregular verbs. Fill in the forms of the simple past tense for each irregular verb. Compare your list to the complete list at Susan Jones' Complete List of Irregular Verbs. Then, make a list of the words that you need to learn. Of course, you also need to learn the meanings of the words. You can look them up in the online Newbury House Dictionary
#1 Base Form #2 Simple Past #3 Past Participle
In general, if we say the time or place of the event, we must use the simple past tense; we cannot use the present perfect.
awake awoken
be been
bear born
beat beaten
become become
begin begun
bend bent
bet bet
bid bid
bind bound
bite bitten
bleed bled
blow blown
break broken
breed bred
bring brought
broadcast broadcast
build built
burn burned/burnt
burst burst
buy bought
cast cast
catch caught
choose chosen
cling clung
come come
cost cost
creep crept
cut cut
deal dealt
dig dug
dive dived
do done
draw drawn
dream dreamed/dreamt
drive driven
drink drunk
eat eaten
fall fallen
feed fed
feel felt
fight fought
find found
fit fit
flee fled
fling flung
fly flown
forbid forbidden
forget forgotten
forgive forgiven
forsake forsaken
freeze frozen
get gotten
give given
go gone
grind ground
grow grown
hang hung
have had
hear heard
hide hidden
hit hit
hold held
hurt hurt
keep kept
kneel knelt
knit knit
know known
lay laid
lead led
leap leaped/leapt
learn learned/learnt
leave left
lend lent
let let
lie lain
light lighted
lose lost
make made
mean meant
meet met
misspell misspelled/misspelt
mistake mistaken
mow mowed/mown
owe owed
pay paid
prove proved/proven
put put
quit quit
read read
rid rid
ride ridden
ring rung
rise risen
run run
saw sawed/sawn
say said
see seen
seek sought
sell sold
send sent
set set
sew sewed/sewn
shake shaken
shave shaved/shaven
shear sheared/shorn
shed shed
shine shone
shoot shot
show showed/shown
shrink shrunk
shut shut
sing sung
sink sunk
sit sat
sleep slept
slide slid
sling slung
slit slit
sow sowed/sown
speak spoken
speed sped
spend spent
spill spilled/spilt
spin spun
spit spit
split split
spread spread
spring sprung
stand stood
steal stolen
stick stuck
sting stung
strike struck
string strung
strive striven
swear sworn
sweep swept
swell swelled/swollen
swim swum
swing swung
take taken
teach taught
tear torn
tell told
think thought
thrive thrived
throw thrown
thrust thrust
tread trodden
understand understood
uphold upheld
upset upset
wake woken
wear worn
weave woven
wed wedded, wed
weep wept
wind wound
win won
withhold withheld
withstand withstood
wring wrung
write written
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Pat Byrd
Department of Applied Linguistics & ESL Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30302 [email protected] & [email protected] Telephone: 404-651-2934
Irregular Verbs
Base Form Simple Past Tense
Past Participle
awake awoke awokenbe was, were beenbear bore bornbeat beat beatbecome became becomebegin began begunbend bent bentbeset beset besetbet bet betbid bid/bade bid/biddenbind bound boundbite bit bittenbleed bled bledblow blew blownbreak broke brokenbreed bred bredbring brought broughtbroadcast broadcast broadcastbuild built builtburn burned/burnt burned/burntburst burst burstbuy bought boughtcast cast castcatch caught caughtchoose chose chosencling clung clungcome came comecost cost costcreep crept creptcut cut cutdeal dealt dealtdig dug dugdive dived/dove diveddo did donedraw drew drawndream dreamed/dreamt dreamed/dreamtdrive drove drivendrink drank drunk
