Past Simple

Learn about the basic facts about the English tenses.

Examples
  • 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.

Use
  1. Events in the past that are now finished
  2. Situation in the past
  3. A series of actions in the past
USE 1: Past actions that are now finished

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]
USE 2: Situation in the past

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).
USE 3: A series of actions in the past

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.
Form

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.

Declarative Sentences
Subject + Verb + ED or an irregular verb form
e.g. I/a dog etc. e.g. worked/went/made

Sorry, you need to install flash to see this content.
I saw two colorful fishes in the lake yesterday (Use 1)

    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)
    I have eaten the cake yesterday.  
Time Expressions
Common time expressions (time adverbials) in the Past Simple are:
  • yesterday
  • the other day
  • just now
  • the day before yesterday
Questions
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)
Negative Sentences
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)

Check your understanding!

Comments

ramalingam123's picture
Submitted by ramalingam123 on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 15:35.

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.

Admin's picture
Submitted by Admin on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 15:59.

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!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 15:59.

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 ?

Admin's picture
Submitted by Admin on Tue, 08/16/2011 - 01:44.

Hi,

Thanks for spotting that! It has been corrected.

Cheers