Simple Past Tense

The Structure of the Simple Past Tense

Subject+verb+(past form)+object

I played football You played football He/She/It played football Affirmative: I played football You played football He/She/It played football

We played football You played football They played football

You did not play football He/She/It did not play football Negative: I did not play football You did not play football He/She/It did not play football

We did not play football You did not play football They did not play football

Did he/she/it play football? Interrogative: Did I play football? Did you play football? Did he/she/it play football?

Did you play football? Did they play football? Did we play football? Did you play football? Did they play football?

Regular Verbs

We add –ed at the end of the verbs: work. worked walk. walked play We add –ed at the end of the verbs: work worked walk walked play played

We add –d if a verb ends in –e: like liked love loved smile smiled

If a verb ends in a consonant+y we drop –y and add –ied try. tried cry If a verb ends in a consonant+y we drop –y and add –ied try tried cry cried carry carried study studied

We use Simple Past Tense to describe definite events in the past. Usages: We use Simple Past Tense to describe definite events in the past. We use Simple Past Tense for habitual actions in the past.

But many verbs are irregular: write. wrote see. saw go. gone be But many verbs are irregular: write wrote see saw go gone be was/were tell told

Examples

They deserved the cup.

They made a line.

He fell in love.

I locked the door.

My friend had a birthday party.

Last year I graduated from the university.

Mr. Smith called me yesterday.

He worked last summer

Last week it rained cats and dogs.

Exercises

Fill in the blanks with the past tense form of the following verbs.

Tom …….(watch) TV last night.

The game ……(start) ten minutes ago.

The plane …….(arrive) at 9:15 a.m.

The mechanic …….(fix) the car yesterday.

I ……(visit) my aunt last Sunday.

The baby…..(cry) because he was hungry.

He …..(buy) a new car yesterday.

Marry …..(write) a letter two hours ago.

He ……(drink) a lot of water because he was thirsty.

The boy ……(eat) sandwiches for lunch.

Grandma ……(tell) me a very interesting story last night.

We …..(have) dinner at this restaurant six years ago.

…….he ……(get up) early yesterday?

They …….(not have) breakfast yesterday.

The End