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English Grammar and Exercises / Verbs tenses / Simple Past Tense - Form

Simple Past Tense - Form

How to use the Simple Past Tense   |   ​Click here for Simple Past Tense Exercises
Download this explanation in PDF
THE FORMS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE
Affirmative: [VERB + ed] or IRREGULAR VERB
Examples:
  • I played football yesterday. (regular verb)
  • Leonardo da Vinci lived from 1452 to 1519. (regular verb)
  • She bought some fruits last night. (irregular verb)
  • They saw him in the park. (irregular verb)

Negative: did not + [VERB]
Examples:
  • I did not wash the dishes.
  • You did not play the piano.
  • She didn’t sleep well last night.
  • Sharon didn’t put the book on the table.
Negative contraction:
  • did not = didn’t

Interrogative: Did + SUBJECT + [VERB] 
Examples:
  • Did you have your breakfast? Yes, I did / No I didn’t.
  • Did she work yesterday? Yes, she did / No, she didn't.
 
You can add a question word (what, where, when, etc.) before did to ask for more information.
Examples:
  • What did you do the last weekend? I studied Science.
  • Where did she go? She went to the school.
  • When did you play baseball? I played baseball last night.
  • Why didn’t you tell me about the accident?
  • How did you do that?

NOTE: The auxiliary did is used to form the negative and interrogative forms.
​
Spelling rules for [VERB + ed]
Here are the spelling rules:

Most regular verbs

Add -ed

clean - cleaned

need – needed

talk - talked

wash - washed

Regular verbs ending in: “-e”

Add –d

care - cared

die - died

love – loved

like – liked

live - lived

Regular verbs endings in: consonant + y

Change y to i + -ed

carry – carried

cry - cried

hurry – hurried

study – studied

Regular verbs endings in: vowel + y

Do not change y, just add -ed

pray – prayed

stay – stayed

destroy - destroyed

but pay-paid, lay-laid, say-said.

One-syllable regular verbs endings in:  consonant + vowel + consonant

Double final consonant + -ed

 

 

drop - dropped

plan – planned

stop – stopped

 

Do not double one-syllable regular verbs endings in: -w, -x or -y

snow – snowed

mix - mixed

play – played

Two or more syllables regular verbs endings in:  consonant + vowel + consonant

Double final consonant + -ed

(only if the last syllable is stressed)

 

admit – admitted

prefer – preferred

 

travel – travelled(UK) traveled (US)

marvel – marvelled(UK) marveled (US)

 

Do not double if the last syllable is not stressed

happen – happened

offer - offered

suffer - suffered

visit - visited

 

 

Irregular verbs
For irregular verbs, use the past form:
  • eat -> ate
  • go -> went
  • see -> saw

Click here to learn about how to use the Simple Past Tense
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