The Simple Past Tense 2023 Complete Guide with exercises

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This post is about the simple past tense! The past simple is one of the most fundamental tenses in English and is used to talk about completed actions in the past. Whether you’re learning English as a second language or need a refresher, mastering the past simple is essential for effective communication.

In this post, we will explore the ins and outs of the past simple, including its formation, usage, and common exceptions. We will provide detailed examples to help you understand the nuances of this tense and give you practical exercises to reinforce your understanding.

By the end of this post, you will have a solid grasp of the past simple tense, including how to use it to express simple past actions, talk about past habits, describe a sequence of events in the past, and much more. So let’s get started!

How to formulate the simple past

There are two types of forms for the simple past tense: REGULAR and IRREGULAR

1. Regular form: verb + ed
   • Watch → watched
   • Listen →  listened
   • Play → played
   • Cry → cried
     
2. Irregular form: has no rule (this means we change all the spelling of the verb)
   • Be →  was/were
   • Do → did
   • Have → had
   • Speak → spoke

Click on the link to see a complete list of irregular verbs.

Irregular Verbs Alphabetical Order

How to make the simple past affirmative

The simple past affirmative is formed using the past tense of the verb. For example, the regular verb “talk” would become “talked” in the past tense. You can use the regular formula of verb + ed to form the past tense of most regular verbs.

Here are some examples of the simple past affirmative::

• I talked to my friend yesterday.
• He arrived late to the party.
• They cooked dinner last night.
• We cleaned the house last weekend.
• She sang a song at the concert.

Affirmative form of the simple past (Regular Verbs)

• I watched
• You watched
• He watched
• She watched
• It watched
• We watched
• You watched
• They watched

Affirmative form of the simple past (Irregular Verbs)

• I spoke
• You spoke
• He spoke
• She spoke
• It spoke
• We spoke
• You spoke
• They spoke

How to make the simple past negative

To make the simple past negative in English, you need to use the auxiliary verb “did” in its negative form “did not” (didn’t), followed by the base form of the main verb. The formula is:

Subject + didn’t + base form of the main verb

Here are some examples of the simple past negatives:

• I didn’t go to the party last night.
• He didn’t finish his homework on time.
• They didn’t watch the movie because they had other plans.
• She didn’t eat breakfast this morning.
• We didn’t see any animals on our hike.

The negative form of the simple past (Regular Verbs)

Note: Didn’t = did not

• I  didn’t  watch
• You  didn’t  watch
• He  didn’t  watch
• She  didn’t  watch
• It  didn’t  watch
• We  didn’t  watch
• You  didn’t  watch
• They  didn’t  watch

The negative form of the simple past (Irregular Verbs)

Note: Didn’t = did not

• I  didn’t  speak
• You  didn’t  speak
• He  didn’t  speak
• She  didn’t  speak
• It  didn’t  speak
• We  didn’t  speak
• You  didn’t  speak
• They  didn’t  speak

How to make the simple past interrogative

To make the simple past interrogative in English, you need to use the auxiliary verb “did” followed by the subject and the base form of the main verb. The formula is:

• For yes/no questions: Did + subject + base form of the main verb?
• For wh-questions: Wh-word + did + subject + base form of the main verb?

Here are some examples of the simple past interrogartive

Yes/No Questions:

• Did you finish your work yesterday?
• Did she call you back?
• Did they leave early?

Wh-Questions:

• What did you do over the weekend?
• Where did he go on vacation?
• When did the movie start?

The interrogative form of the simple past (Regular Verbs)

• Did I watch it?
• Did you watch it?
• Did he watch it?
• Did she watch it?
• Did it watch?
• Did we watch it?
• Did you watch it?
• Did they watch it?

The interrogative form of the simple past (Irregular Verbs)

• Did I speak?
• Did you speak?
• Did he speak?
• Did she speak?
• Did it speak?
• Did we speak?
• Did you speak?
• Did they speak?

In all of these examples, “did” is used to form the question, and the main verb appears in its base form. In the wh-questions, a wh-word is added to ask for specific information about the action that took place in the past.

Spelling rules of the simple past tense 

Other spelling rules of the simple past tense

a– Verbs ending with -l, the consonant is always doubled after a single vowel.

For example:

• travel – travelled
• cancel – cancelled
• quarrel – quarrelled

b – Verbs having one syllable and ending with a vowel + consonant, we double the consonant:

For example:

• stop – stopped
• hop – hopped
• beg – begged

c – Verbs with more syllables if the stress falls on the last syllable then we double the last consonant:

For example:

• ad’mit – admitted
• con’fer – conferred
• kid’nap – kidnapped

But If the stress is not on the last syllable, we do not double the consonant:

For example::

• ‘enter – entered

The use of the simple past tense

We use the Simple past tense:

• to talk about a completed action in the past.
  I watched a movie yesterday.
  I did some jogging last weekend.

• to talk about a series of completed actions in the past.
  He came home, switched on the TV, and sat down.

• with time expressions like.
  -yesterday
  -last day, week, month, year…..
  -in 2008
  -…..ago
  -when…..(used to talk about past action)
  -The previous lesson, hour, day, week…..

Conclusion

Congratulations on completing this post on the past simple tense! We hope this guide has helped you gain a better understanding of the past simple and feel more confident using it in your English communication. Remember that practice is the key to mastering any language skill, so be sure to continue practicing the past simple with the exercises provided in this post.

Exercises for the simple past tense

Past Simple Exercises