The Simple Past Tenseby Marlon Ovando

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The Simple Past Tense

Use the Simple Past to talk about completed actions in the past.

• Susan bought a new car last month.• Tom watched TV last night.• Mr and Mrs Smith got married 10 years ago.• I traveled to Spain when I was 6 years old.

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Past Time Expressionsyesterday

last night

last week

last month

last year

two hours ago

five years ago

when I was ten years old

in the sixteenth century

Ana Paula was happy last night. She danced alone.

Past of verb TO BEAffirmative Negative Question

I was I wasn’t Was I …?

You were You weren’t Were you …?

He was He wasn’t Was he …?

She was She wasn’t Was she …?

It was It wasn’t Was it …?

We were We weren’t Were we …?

They were They weren’t Were they …?

A: Where were you last night?B: I was at home.

A: Was your mom sick last Sunday?B: No, she wasn’t. She was tired.

Past of Regular VerbsTo form the past of Regular Verbs, add –ED to the base form of the verb.

open opened play played cook cooked

Click here to check spelling rules.

They walked on the beach.

Past of Irregular VerbsIrregular Verbs do not add –ed to their base form.

Irregular Verbs have their own past form so you must memorize them.

eat ate break broke buy bought drive drove go went take took

For a complete list of Irregular Verbs, click here

•The boy drove his new car.

Affirmative Sentences

I did my homework last night.

Sue woke up ten minutes ago.

They played tennis last Sunday.

Joe visited his grandma yesterday.

Subject Vpast Complement

Negative Sentences

I didn’t watch TV last night.

Jane didn’t drink tea for breakfast.

We didn’t play chess in the afternoon.

Bob didn’t read the newspaper.

Subject

Did you work at home yesterday?

Did Sarah write a letter last night?

Did Mrs. Smith have an accident?

Did they buy a new house last year?

Complement

VBaseFor

m

SubjectDID

Yes/No

Questions

(Subject) Information QuestionsQuestion Word VPast Complement?

Who- My father

openedopened

the door?it.

What- A short circuit

causedcaused

the fire?the fire.

How many people- Twenty people

camecame

to the party?to the party.

(Complement)Information Questions

Question Word

Aux. Verb (DID)

Subject VBaseForm

Complement?

What did you have for lunch?

I had rice and meat for lunch.

Where did Susan work last year?

She worked in a bank in New York.

How long did they live in Brazil?

They lived there for 5 years.

Who did you meet at the party?

I met Tina.

Tag Questions (1)

Affirmative Sentence, didn’t Subject Pronoun?

You bought a new laptop, didn’t you?

Grace did her homework, didn’t she?

The Thompsons flew to New York, didn’t they?

It rained a lot last month, didn’t it?

Tag Questions (2)

Negative Sentence, did Subject Pronoun?

You didn’t clean your room, did you?

Your niece didn’t sweep the floor, did she?

Joe and Mike didn’t win the contest, did they?

It didn’t snow last winter, did it?