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Simple Past

Express completed actions, past experiences, and historical events

What is Simple Past?

The simple past is your storytelling tense. It takes you back in time to describe actions and events that began and ended in the past. Whether it was two seconds ago or two centuries ago, if it's finished and done with, you use simple past.

This tense is essential for narrating personal experiences, telling stories, discussing history, and sharing what happened. It's straightforward in concept but requires learning irregular verb forms – a challenge every English learner faces!

When to Use

1. Completed Actions in the Past

Use simple past for actions that started and finished at a specific time in the past.

Examples

  • I visited Paris last year.
  • They finished the project yesterday.
  • She called me this morning.
  • We watched a movie last night.

2. Past States and Situations

Use simple past to describe how things were in the past.

Examples

  • She was happy as a child.
  • We lived in London for five years.
  • My grandfather owned a restaurant.
  • The weather was terrible yesterday.

3. Past Habits and Repeated Actions

Use simple past for things you did regularly in the past but don't do now.

Examples

  • I played tennis every weekend. (when I was younger)
  • He worked late every night. (in his old job)
  • We went to the beach every summer. (as kids)
  • She studied for hours each day. (during university)

Formation

Regular vs. Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs (+ed)
  • work → worked
  • play → played
  • watch → watched
  • walk → walked
  • study → studied (y → ied)
  • stop → stopped (double consonant)
vs
Irregular Verbs (special forms)
  • go → went
  • eat → ate
  • see → saw
  • make → made
  • take → took
  • come → came

Negative Form

Subject + did not + base verb
  • I didn't work yesterday.
  • You didn't call me.
  • He didn't go to school.
  • She didn't like the movie.

Question Form

Did + subject + base verb?
  • Did you work yesterday?
  • Did he call you?
  • Did she go to the party?
  • Where did you go?

Common Mistakes

Common Mistakes

  • ❌ I goed to the store. → ✅ I went to the store.
  • ❌ She didn't went home. → ✅ She didn't go home.
  • ❌ Did they worked late? → ✅ Did they work late?
  • ❌ I seen that movie. → ✅ I saw that movie.
  • ❌ We was at home. → ✅ We were at home.
  • ❌ She buyed a new car. → ✅ She bought a new car.

Practice Tips

Practice Tips

  • 📖 Keep an irregular verb list: There are about 200 common irregular verbs. Learn 10 per week by using them in sentences about your own life.
  • 🗓️ Use time expressions: Practice with "yesterday," "last week," "two days ago," "in 2020," "when I was young." These signal simple past.
  • ✍️ Write your day: Each evening, write 5-10 sentences about what you did today. "I woke up at 7. I had breakfast. I went to work."
  • 🎬 Retell stories: Watch a short video, then retell what happened using simple past. This builds narrative skills naturally.
  • ⚠️ Remember: did + base verb: In questions and negatives with "did," the main verb is always in base form, never past form.

Related Topics

Explore these related past tenses: