







In English we use the past simple tense to talk about finished actions in the past.
We use 'did' as an auxiliary verb in negatives and questions and we often use the past simple with past time phrases such as 5 minutes ago, yesterday, last week, in the 1980s, and when I was a child.
Notes for use of past simple :
In English, to change verbs to the past tense, we add '-ed' to regular verbs. For example;
work --> worked
live --> lived
walk --> walked
If the verb ends in 'e', we drop the 'e' before adding '-ed'. For example;
dance --> danced
smile --> smiled
phone --> phoned
If the verb ends in a vowel + consonant, we double the last consonant. For example;
stop --> stopped
tag --> tagged
plan --> planned
If the verb has more than one syllable, we double the consonant at the end only if the last syllable is stressed. For example;
prefer --> preferred
permit --> permitted
regret --> regretted
If the last syllable of the verb is not stressed, we do not double the last consonant. For example;
visit --> visited
happen --> happened
develop --> developed
In British English, verbs ending in 'l' double the 'l' before '-ed' whether the last syllable is stressed or not. For example;
travel --> travelled
cancel --> cancelled
If the verb ends in a 'y' or a 'w', we do not double it when we add '-ed'. For example;
stay --> stayed
play --> played
sew --> sewed
In English we do not double the consonant if the verb has two vowels before the last consonant. For example;
boil --> boiled
explain --> explained
In English we also do not double the consonant if the verb ends in two consonants. For example;
help --> helped
start --> started
However, irregular verbs change to completely different words in the past tense. For example;
go --> went
take --> took
know --> knew
The table below shows the different forms of past simple :
Example Verb : live | I / You / We / They / He / She / It |
| Positive | ... lived. |
| Negative | ... didn't live. |
Questions | Did ... live? |
| Short answers | Yes, ... did. / No, ... didn't. |
For the verb 'to be' we use 'was' and 'were'' in the past simple. No auxiliary verbs are used in negative sentences and questions.
Verb : Be | I / He / She / It | You / We / They |
| Positive | ... was ... | ... were ... |
| Negative | ... wasn't ... | ... weren't ... |
| Questions | Was ... ... ? | Were ... ...? |
| Short answers | Yes, ... was. / No, ... wasn't. | Yes, ... were. / No, ... weren't. |
Past Simple Example Sentences :
Positive Examples of Past Simple :
Negative Examples of Past Simple :
Question Examples of Past Simple :
| Past simple example sentences | |
|---|---|
| Yes, I had a very nice sleep. | 是的,我睡得非常香。 |
| I'm very surprised you didn't check the wine list before you ordered. | 我非常惊讶,你在点单之前都没有看一下酒单。 |
| When did you get here? I didn't see you. | 你什么时候来的。我没有看到你。 |
| Yeah, normally... But I'm too sick to go to work so I took the day off. | 是的,通常是... 但是我病的很严重不能去上班就请了1天假。 |
| Of course I didn't, they had already started playing it before I got there! | 当然没有,在我到那里之前他们已经在玩黄蜂了! |
| Today Rebecca called me about... | 今天,瑞贝卡打电话给我,是关于... |
| I thought your laptop was worth a cigarette! | 我觉得你的笔记本电脑值一根烟! |
| And we just bumped into each other tonight. | 今晚我们只是偶然碰到。 |
| Actually, I was going to ask you something at the pub, but Diego interrupted me. | 实际上,我在酒吧想要问你一个问题,但是迭戈打断了我。 |
| I found out we didn't have many things in the fridge. | 我发现冰箱里没有很多东西。 |
| Exactly, I think they understood it at first sight! | 确实是,我觉得他们一眼就明白了! |
| Did you see any fire or smoke around? | 你看到周围有火或者烟吗? |
| It seems I forgot to turn it on after I plugged it into the charger! | 看来是我冲上电后,忘记开机了! |
| Of course, we all grew up together. | 当然,我们都是一起长大的。 |
| I just wanted to talk to you alone. | 我只是想和你单独谈一下。 |
| Oh sorry, I didn't ask you what you wanted. | 噢,对不起,我没有问你想要哪种。 |
| Pinocchio didn't know he wasn't a real boy in the beginning, either. | 皮诺曹一开始也不知道自己不是真的男孩。 |
| We also tried to find a house for you a couple of weeks ago. | 2周前我们也试着为你找房子。 |
| I checked the train schedule on the internet. | 我在网上查过火车时刻表。 |
| It seems you checked the production date. | 你似乎看的是生产日期。 |