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The Simple Past Tense
Yesterday I went for a swim.
PAST SIMPLE TENSE: REGULAR VERBS
Affirmative:
The past tense of regular verbs is formed by adding –d or
–ed to the base form of the verb. I worked in a shop last
year, I lived in a big house when I was younger.
I worked hard last weekend
ED Formation
- We add -ed at the end of the verb:
Walk → walked
- If the verb ends in “e”, we only add -d:
Live → lived
- When the verb ends in consonant+vowel+consonant we double the last
consonant:
Stop → stopped
- When the verb ends in consonant+y, we remove the “y” and add -ied:
Study → studied
Simple Past Tense: Irregular verbs
Affirmative:
Irregular past verb forms must be learned because they
don’t follow any rule:
Go
went
Come
came
Buy
bought
Drink
drank
Eat
ate
Find
found
I went to Paris last July
See
saw
PAST SIMPLE TENSE: REGULAR and IRREGULAR VERBS
Negative:
Use did not or didn’t + a base form verb to make the
past simple tense negative. I didn’t work last summer
I didn’t live in a flat during my
last Summer holidays.
I didn’t go to Berlin last July
PAST SIMPLE TENSE: REGULAR and IRREGULAR VERBS
Interrogative:
Use did + subject + a base form verb to make the past
simple interrogative. Did you play sport last Summer?
Did you travel by boat last holidays?
Yes, I did.
Did you see any dolphins?
No I didn’t.
Past simple
tense:
Regular verbs
Questions
Negative
Affirmative
Short
answer
Short
answer
Yes, I did.
No, I didn't.
I worked.
I didn't work.
Did I work?
He worked.
He didn't work.
Did he work? Yes, he did. No, he
didn't.
She worked.
She didn't work.
Did she
work?
Yes, she
did.
No, she
didn't.
It worked.
It didn't work.
Did it work?
Yes, it did.
No, it didn't.
You worked.
You didn't work.
Did you
work?
Yes you
did.
No, you
didn't.
We worked.
We didn't work.
Did we work? Yes we did. No, we
didn't.
They worked.
They didn't work.
Did they
work?
Yes they
did.
No,they
didn't.
The Simple Past Tense is used
1.To talk about actions that happened at a specific time in
the past. You state when it happened using a time adverb
(yesterday, last Month...):
“Last year I took my exams”.
2. It can be used to describe events that happened over a
period of time in the past but not now:
"I lived in Asia for two years."
3. It is also used to talk about habitual or repeated actions
that took place in the past:
"When I was a child we always went to the seaside on bank holidays."
The Simple Past Tense
Time expressions:
Yesterday, last month, last year, last time, …
ago, in ...
My friends travelled to Saudi Arabia two
years ago
Past continuous tense
The farmer was working at
6 o’clock yesterday evening
Past continuous tense
AFFIRMATIVE: Play
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
was
were
was
playing
Past continuous tense
Was the teacher explaining grammar at school
last Monday?
No, she wasn’t. She was explaining Geography.
Past continuous tense
INTERROGATIVE: Play
was I
you
were we
they
he
was she
it
NEGATIVE: Play
Was not
Wasn’t
were not
weren’t
playing?
I
You
We
They
He
was not
She wasn’t
It
playing
Uses of the past continuous
1-We use the past continuous tense to
describe a past action over a period of
time
"What were they doing yesterday at 8 o’clock?"
"They were working all day.
2-We use the past continuous to say that
somebody was in the middle of doing
something at a certain time.
This time yesterday the hairdresser was
working
3-Past simple and past continuous are used
together when something happened in the
middle of something else
The policeman broke his ankle
while he was running after the dog
Compare the past continuous (I was doing)
and past simple (I did):
Past continuous (in the middle of an action)
 I was walking home when I met Dave. (in the
middle of walking home)
 Ann was watching television when the phone
rang.
Past simple (complete action)
 I walked home after the party last night.
 Ann watched televison a lot when she was ill
last year
Past continuous tense
Time expressions:
While, as, when.
While the band was playing a mobile phone rang
past perfect
FORM
This tense is formed with the past tense of the verb to have + past
participle of the main verb.
Examples
I had never seen so many measuring tools.
What assistance had he given?
He hadn’t expected this outcome.
past perfect
USE
1. We use this tense to describe one past action happening before
another past action.
Example
The customer had left the shop by the time I found his order form.
past perfect
USE
1. We use this tense to describe one past action happening
before another past action.
2. We use it when necessary to indicate the sequence of two
actions.
Example
He had already cleared the screen when I got behind his desk.
past perfect
USE
1. We use this tense to describe one past action happening
before another past action.
2. We use it when necessary to indicate the sequence of two
actions.
3. We often use it when the second action is understood, but not
stated.
Example
I hadn’t realized!
(until you told me.)
past perfect
on the time diagram
past
had
dinner
watched
TV
now
future
1. When I had had dinner, I watched TV.
past
had
dinner
watched
TV
now
future
2. I had dinner before I watched TV.
In (1) the sequence of actions is expressed by the past perfect
tense; whereas in (2) the sequence of actions is indicated by
the use of before