1. B. Troeva, New Bulgarian University
The Past Simple Tense
B. Troeva, New Bulgarian University

2. Use For completed actions in the past
We can have a single completed action in the past:
e.g. I wrote a letter to her yesterday.
George came home early.
WWII ended in (We often use the Past Simple to talk about when things happened.)
We can also have a series of completed actions in the past:
e.g. Laura came in, closed the door and sat down.
For past habits, facts or generalizations which are no longer true:
e.g. I spent my holiday with my grandma every summer when I was a child.
She was very beautiful when she was young.

3. Form 1. Regular verbs: verb + ed
Important: After ‘did’ and ‘did not’ there is no –ed! I
You
He/She/It worked. We
They
He/She/It didn’t work.
you
Did he/she/it work? we
they
Yes, he/she/it did.
No, we didn’t.

4. Spelling of past regular verbs
1. most verbs: verb + -ed e.g. helped 2. after –e: verb + d e.g. hoped 3. when ending in –y: 3.1. vowels (a,o,e) + y= yed e.g. played 3.2. consonant (b, c, etc.) + y = ied e.g. studied 4. doubling of consonants: 4.1. consonant+vowel+consonant in 1-syllable words stopped, planned 4.2. consonant+vowel+consonant under stress: prefer - preferred

5. Form Irregular verbs Infinitive Past form Past participle be was/were
been go
went
gone
come
came
have
had
tell
told
see
saw
seen do
did
done
read

6. Irregular Verbs: Questions and Negative Sentences
Example 1
A positive statement in the Past Simple with the past form of the irregular verb ‘come’:
I came to Sofia a year ago.
The negative sentence and the question are formed with ‘did’, which is followed by the infinitive of the verb:
My sister didn’t come with me, but a year later.
When did you come to Sofia?
Example 2
We had a nice time at the picnic.
But Emil didn’t have a nice time as he was quite sick.
Did you have a nice time?