Past Simple
- I was sleepy.
- He didn't learn any Italian when he was in Italy two year ago.
- I went to the cinema, bought popcorn and watched a movie.
We use the Past Simple to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. The actions can be short or long. There can be a few actions happening one ofter another.
- Events in the past that are now finished
- Situation in the past
- A series of actions in the past
The first use of the Past Simple to express actions that happened at a specific time in the past. The actions can be short [1] or long [2].
Examples:- John cut his finger last week. [1]
- I went to college 3 years ago. [2]
- He ate the dinner 1 hour ago. [1]
- I slept well last night. [2]
Another use of this tense is talk about situations in the past.
Examples:- I lived in New York for 10 years (I don't live there anymore).
The Past Simple can also be used with a few actions in the past happening one after another.
Examples:- He entered a room, lit a cigarette and smiled at the guests.
Forming a sentence in the Past Simple is easy. To form a declarative sentence, all you need is the subject of the sentence (e.g. I, you, he, a dog) and the past form of your verb (e.g. was, talked, swam). Questions and negative sentences are only a little more difficult, because they require an auxiliary verb.
| Subject | + | Verb + ED or an irregular verb form |
| e.g. I/a dog etc. | e.g. worked/went/made |
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| Examples | Use | |
| He entered the room, lit a cigarette and smiled at the guests. | (Use 3) | |
| Mary tried the soup but it was too hot to eat. | (Use 1) | |
| I lived in New York for 10 years (I don't live there anymore). | (Use 2) | |
| They saw us playing football. | (Use 1) | |
| He married a woman who lived in the same village. | (Use 3) | |
| I ate the cake yesterday. | (Use 1) | |
- yesterday
- the other day
- just now
- the day before yesterday
| Auxiliary verb | + | Subject | + | Verb in the present form |
| did | e.g. I/a dog etc. | e.g. work/go/make |
| Examples | Use | |
| How long did he work there? | (Use 1) | |
| Did the telephone ring? | (Use 1) | |
| Did you see that? | (Use 1) | |
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb + not | + | Verb in the present form |
| e.g. I/a dog etc. | didn't | e.g. work/go/make |
| Examples | Use | |
| He didn't learn any Italian when he was in Italy two year ago. | (Use 1) | |
| I wasn't at my grandma's when you came. | (Use 1) | |
| He didn't get any good grades when he attended school. | (Use 3) | |
Comments
very helpful and interesting notes and diagrams, but i think it could be more understandable if you placed one type of examples to one side and another type of information to another side.Anyway the information is good.
There is also when you said that i lived in new york for ten years(i don't live there anymore).You placed on the 2 but it should had been placed on the 3 one because the action is finished since he doesn't live there anymore.
I'm glad you liked it. Whenever I have some free time, I try to improve this or that so your suggestions are very valuable to me. Thanks!
Hi! I think it's wrong here:
Negative Sentences
Subject + Auxiliary verb + not + Verb in the past form
e.g. I/a dog etc. didn't e.g. worked/went/made
Did you mean Verb in the present form ?
Hi,
Thanks for spotting that! It has been corrected.
Cheers