Hello! Today we continue to get acquainted with the temporary forms of the English language. We have the simple past tense (indefinite) in line, namely - past time Simple, or as it is also called Past Indefenite. Our goal is to learn how to conjugate affirmative, interrogative and negative verbs in Past simple tense, as well as figure out in which cases you need to use Past Simple Time.

First, let's define what Past Simple Tense is. So, Past Simple Tense expresses actions or states that took place at some time in the past. At the same time, their duration, completeness, precedence in relation to another action, etc. are not indicated, i.e., the action is expressed as a fact.

The Past Simple tense is a tense form that is used to describe events that happened in the past. This time is typical for written language as well as for oral speech. Rules for the formation of the past tense in English

Rules for the formation of Past Simple Tense

And now let's move on to the main thing - the rules for the formation of Past Simple Tense in English.

Affirmative Past Simple Tense

Auxiliary verbs are not required to form the affirmative form of Past Simple Tense.

Regular verbs form the affirmative form of the Past Simple Tense by adding an ending -ed to the stem of the infinitive without a particle to. This applies to all persons, the only and plural.

Rules for pronunciation of the ending - ed:

1. after voiceless consonants, except for t → [t]
to work - worked
to help - helped

2. after voiced consonants, except for d, and after vowels → [d]
to answer [ˈɑːnsə] - answered [ˈɑːnsəd]
to open [ˈəʊpən] - opened [ˈəʊpənd]

3. after consonants t and d → [ɪd]
to land - landed [ˈlændɪd]
to want - wanted [ˈwɒntɪd]

Rules for adding the ending -ed:

1. If the verb ends in mute - e, then - e missed.
to hop e− hoped
to blam e— blamed

2. If the verb ends in -y, and before -y there is a consonant, then -y changes to -i.
to tr y— tr i ed to cr y— cr i ed

If before -y is a vowel, no change occurs.
to pla y— played

3. If a one-syllable verb ends in a consonant with a preceding short vowel, then the final consonant is doubled.
to sto p— sto pp ed

4. If a verb consisting of several syllables ends in a consonant with a preceding stressed vowel, then the final consonant is doubled.
to prefer r— prefe rr ed to permi t— permy tt ed

5. In such cases, the final consonant l doubles before both stressed and unstressed vowels.
to travel l— travel ll ed to compe l— compe ll ed

to walk

• I walk ed in the forest.
• you walk ed in the forest.
• He/ She/ It walk ed in the forest.
• We walk ed in the forest.
• you walk ed in the forest.
• they walk ed in the forest.

Irregular verbs form Past Simple Tense not according to general rule, and with the help of the II basic form irregular verbs, which is also the same for all singular and plural persons. You can find a table of irregular verbs in the article Irregular verbs in English. Verb to be, in this case, is an exception, and we will return to it later. List of irregular verbs to understand in Past Simple Tense in the affirmative form:

• I understood the question.
• You understood the question.
• He/She/It understood the question.
• We understood the question.
• You understood the question.
• They understood the question.

Interrogative form Past Simple Tense

The interrogative form, both for regular and irregular verbs in English, is formed using the auxiliary verb did(Past Simple from to do) and the infinitive form of the main verb.

To form an interrogative form Past Simple auxiliary did is put first, followed by the subject, and the subject is followed by the infinitive of the main verb.

Regular Verb Conjugation Example to walk

• Did I walk in the forest?
• Did you walk in the forest?
• Did he/ she/ it walk in the forest?
• Did we walk in the forest?
• Did you walk in the forest?
• Did they walk in the forest?

Irregular verb conjugation example to understand in Past Simple Tense in interrogative form:

• Did I understand the question?
• Did
• Did he/ she/ it understand the question?
• Did do we understand the question?
• Did do you understand the question?
• Did do they understand the question?

Negative Past Simple Tense

Negative form in English, also formed with an auxiliary verb did, but already in combination with a negative particle not. So, the subject is put first, followed by the auxiliary verb did + negative particle not, and finally the infinitive of the main verb.

Auxiliary did usually merges into one with a particle not:
did not didn't

Regular Verb Conjugation Example to walk

• I did not (didn"t) walk in the forest.
• You did not (didn"t) walk in the forest.
• He/She/It did not (didn"t) walk in the forest.
• We did not (didn"t) walk in the forest.
• You did not (didn"t) walk in the forest.
• They did not (didn"t) walk in the forest.

Irregular verb conjugation example to understand in Past Simple Tense in negative form:

• I did not (didn"t) understand the question.
• You did not (didn"t) understand the question.
• He/She/It did not (didn"t) understand the question.
• We did not (didn"t) understand the question.
• You did not (didn"t) understand the question.
• They did not (didn"t) understand the question.

And now, in order to make it easier for you to navigate with the Past Simple Tense construction, let's summarize all these rules in tables.

Conjugation table of regular verbs

Number	Face	affirmative form	Interrogative form	negative form
Unit h.	1 2 3	I walk ed you walk ed He/ She/ It walk ed	Did I walk? Did you walk? Did he/ she/ it walk?	I did not (didn"t) walk You did not (didn"t) walk He/She/It did not (didn"t) walk
Mn. h.	1 2 3	We walk ed you walk ed they walk ed	Did we walk? Did you walk? Did they walk?	We did not (didn"t) walk You did not (didn"t) walk They did not (didn"t) walk

Irregular verb conjugation table

Number	Face	affirmative form	Interrogative form	negative form
Unit h.	1 2 3	I understood You understood He/She/It understood	Did I understand? Did do you understand? Did he/ she/ it understand?	I did not (didn"t) understand You did not (didn"t) understand He/She/It did not (didn"t) understand
Mn. h.	1 2 3	We understood You understood They understood	Did do we understand? Did do you understand? Did they understand?	We did not (didn"t) understand You did not (didn"t) understand They did not (didn"t) understand

And now, as promised, we return to the verb exception to be. This verb acts as an auxiliary and forms interrogative and negative forms without did.

Verb conjugation table to be

Number	Face	affirmative form	Interrogative form	negative form
Unit h.	1 2 3	I was You were He/She/It was	was I? Were you? was he/she/it?	I was not (wasn "t) You were not (weren "t) He/She/It was not (wasn "t)
Mn. h.	1 2 3	We were You were They were	Were we? Were you? Were they?	We were not (weren "t) You were not (weren "t) They were not (weren "t)

Past Simple Tense is used

1. When expressing facts that happened in the past that are not related to the present. Most often, the relation of an action or state to certain period in the past tense it becomes clear from the context (the content of the sentence or neighboring sentences).

• I read this book in London - I read this book in London. (The circumstance in London indirectly indicates the time of the action.)
• I called for help, but no one answered - I called for help, but no one answered (The verbs called, answered express a sequence of actions.)
• I'm sorry I was out when you called - I'm sorry, I was absent when you called. (The relative clause when you called indicates the time.)

Very often in sentences in Past Simple Tense there are circumstances of time:

• yesterday - yesterday
• last night - last night
• last week - last week
• last month - last month
• last year - last year
• last summer - last summer
• the other day - on another day
• in 1945 - in 1945

As well as phrases with adverbs ago:

• five minutes ago
• an hour ago
• two years ago

• Where did you travel last year? Where did you travel last year?
• I was born in 1982— I was born in 1982.
• They were here ten minutes ago They were here ten minutes ago.

Interrogative adverbs when and how can also indicate the past tense.

• how did it happen? - How did it happen?
• When did you begin your studies? - When did you start your studies?

2. When expressing ordinary or repetitive actions in the past that are not related to the present:

• Last summer I often swam in pool - Last summer I often swam in the pool.
• When you were ill I went to see you every other day - When you were sick, I visited you every day.

Note that you can also use the construction to express repeated actions in the past. used + infinitive.

• We used to see each other very often when I was young - We saw each other very often when I was young.

used + infinitive it is also used when expressing a habitual or long-term action in the past (usually distant).

• In his childhood he used to be capricious - As a child, he was capricious.

3. When expressing a property or action that characterized the subject in the past.

• She was very thin when she was a small girl - She was very thin when she was a little girl.

4. In additional subordinate clauses in indirect speech, with the condition that the verb in the main clause is in the Past Simple Tense.

• Not said he lived in Moscow - He said that he lives in Moscow.
• I told him I wasn't there - I told him that I was not there.

The past simple tense (Past Simple Tense) is not particularly difficult. The most difficult thing is to learn the II form of all irregular verbs, which I advise you to do. You can't do without knowing these forms! Good luck in learning English!

Greetings, my dear readers.

Many of my students, at the very beginning of their studies, hate to study times with a fierce hatred. And everything from the fact that at school we are not taught structured rules, they do not give us enough exercises for training.

But so that this does not happen to you, I want to dedicate this lesson very important topic: rules and examples Simple! Today we are waiting for a detailed explanation, how to form and how to use the Past Simple tense correctly.

Let `s start!

Icons used in this article:

V (verb) — English verb in the first form

V2 (verb2)- English verb in the second form

How is Past Simple time formed?

For affirmative proposals, this time is formed as follows:

Subject + V2.

In the picture above, you can just see examples of such proposals. Let's look at some more examples:

I decided to go.- I decided to go.

She moved to Moscow in 1995.- She moved to Moscow in 1995.

They looked at me! They looked at me!

But be careful! If you remember, it exists, and in Past Simple time, the words from this table will use the form from the second column.

For example:

I went to the bank yesterday.(the verb to go goes into the second form - went). - I went to the bank yesterday.

Lily broke my vase last week! Lily broke my vase last week!

The forms of the verb to be deserve special attention in this tense: in the past tense they turn into was (for he, she, it) and were (for you, we, they).

I was at the library last weekend.- I was in the library last week.

We were happy together! We were happy together!

To form negative sentence, you will have to follow the following pattern:

Subject + did not + V

I didn't do it.- I did not do it.

I didn't see her.- I didn't see her.

She didn't say her name. She didn't say her name.

This will be especially true for 4th grade students, because they usually just begin to study this topic and practice will be extremely necessary for them.

And if you want to be the first to receive all the most delicious and useful information, then subscribe to my blog newsletter and constantly develop your English. Remember that it is better to spend 5 minutes a day on the language than an hour or two but once a week.

Exercise 1. Put the verbs in the following sentences in the affirmative and negative forms of Past Simple.

1. I (to do) morning exercises.
2. He (to work) at a factory.
3. She (to sleep) after dinner.
4. We (to work) part-time.
5. They (to drink) tea every day.
6. Mike (to be) a student.
7. Helen (to have) a car.
8. You (to be) a good friend.
9. You (to be) good friends.
10. It (to be) difficult to remember everything.

Exercise 2. Open the brackets using the verbs in.

1. Alice (to have) a sister.
2. Her sister's name (to be) Ann.
3. Ann (to be) a student.
4. She (to get) up at seven o'clock.
5. She (to go) to the institute in the morning.
6. Jane (to be) fond of sports.
7. She (to do) her morning exercises every day.
8. For breakfast she (to have) two eggs, a sandwich and a cup of tea.
9. After breakfast she (to go) to the institute.
10. Sometimes she (to take) a bus.
11. It (to take) her an hour and a half to do her homework.
12. She (to speak) English well.
13. Her friends usually (to call) her at about 8 o'clock.
14. Ann (to take) a shower before going to bed.
15. She (to go) to bed at 11 p. m.

Exercise 3. Open the brackets using the verbs in.

1. My working day (to begin) at six o "clock.
2. I (to get) up, (to switch) on the TV and (to brush) my teeth.
3. It (to take) me about twenty minutes.
4. I (to have) breakfast at seven o'clock.
5. I (to leave) home at half past seven.
6. I (to take) a bus to the institute.
7. It usually (to take) me about fifteen minutes to get there.
8. Classes (to begin) at eight.
9. We usually (to have) four classes a day.
10. I (to have) lunch at about 2 o'clock.

Exercise 4. Use the words in brackets to form sentences in . Pay attention to what form the sentence should be in (affirmative or negative).

1) They _____ football at the institute. (to play)
2) She _____ emails. (not / to write)
3) ____ you____ English? (to speak)
4) My mother____ fish. (not/to like)
5) ____ Ann ____ any friends? (to have)
6) His brother _____ in an office. (to work)
7) She___ very fast. (cannot/to read)
8) ____ they ____ the flowers every 3 days? (to water)
9) His wife _____ a motorbike. (not / to ride)
10) ____ Elizabeth_____ coffee? (to drink)

Exercise 5. Insert Past Simple in the required form.

1. I ... a student.
2. My father ... not a shop assistant, he ... a scientist.
3. ... your aunt a nurse? - Yes, she ... .
4. ... they at home? - No, they ... not. They...at school.
5. ... are you an engineer? - Yes, I...
6. ... your friend a photographer? No, she ... not a photographer, she ... a student.
7. ... your brothers at school? - Yes, they ... .
8. ... this her watch? - Yes, it ... .
9. Max ... an office worker.
10. We ... late, sorry!

Exercise 6. Translate into English:

1. She was busy. (to be busy)
2. I was not busy.
3. Were you busy?
4. Were they at home? (to be at home)
5. He was not at home.
6. I didn't know.
7. Did they know?
8. She didn't know.
9. Who knew?
10. Nobody knew.
11. He read English books? (to read English books)
12. They never read. (never / to read)
13. Did she have an apartment? (to have a flat)
14. He had nothing.
15. Who was it?

Right answers:

Exercise 1. 1 - did, 2 - worked, 3 - slept, 4 - worked, 5 - drank, 6 - was, 7 - had, 8 - were, 9 - were, 10 - was.

Exercise 2 , 13 - called, 14 - took, 15 - went.

Exercise 3. 1 - began, 2 - got, switched, brushed, 3 - took, 4 - had, 5 - left, 6 - took, 7 - took, 8 - began, 9 - had, 10 - had.

Exercise 4. 1 - played, 2 - did not (=didn't) write, 3 - Did (you) speak, 4 - did not (=didn't) like, 5 - Did (Ann) have, 6 - worked , 7 - could not (=couldn't) read, 8 - Did (they) water, 9 - did not (=didn't) ride, 10 - Did (Elizabeth) drink.

Exercise 5 1 - was, 2 - was, was, 3 - Was, was, 4 - Were, were, were, 5 - Were, was, 6 - Was, was, was, 7 - Were, were, 8 - was , was, 9 - was, 10 - were.

Exercise 6. 1 - She was busy, 2 - I was not busy, 3 - Were you busy?, 4 - Were they at home?, 5 - He was not at home, 6 - I didn't know, 7 - Did they know?, 8 - She didn't know, 9 - Who knew?, 10 - No one (=nobody) knew, 11 - Did he read English books?, 12 - They never read, 13 - Did she have a flat ?, 14 – He didn't have anything (=He had nothing), 15 – Who was it?

Past Simple (Indefinite) - past indefinite time

Past Simple (Past Indefinite) - simple indefinite tense in English, most often used to denote an action that happened in the past and is already completed. Below is the formula and rules for the formation of Past Simple and indicator words, examples of its use in declarative, negative and interrogative sentences, and situations in which the simple indefinite tense is used in English.

Education Past Simple

AT affirmative proposal Past Simple is formed by adding to verbs endings -ed or using their second form (also called Past Simple) if the verb is irregular.

Affirmative (declarative) sentence using Past Simple:

I played football yesterday. — I played football yesterday (action completed yesterday).

I thought about that. - I thought about it (action completed).

A negative sentence is formed by using the verb did (2nd form of the verb do) and adding the share not after it. At the same time, did and not can be merged into one word didn't. Formula:

Noun + did + not + verb

An example of a negative sentence:

I did not play with my dog ​​yeasterday. I didn't play with my dog ​​yesterday.

I did not smoke five years ago. I didn't smoke five years ago.

To create an interrogative sentence in the Past Simple, you must use the following formula:

Did + noun + verb

An example of an interrogative sentence:

Did you play football yesterday? — Did you play football yesterday?

Did you go to the cinema five days ago? Did you go to the cinema five days ago?

___________________________

Pointer words Past Simple

Auxiliary words are often used with Past Simple to make it easier to distinguish between simple indefinite tenses. There are such pointers:

- yesterday = yesterday
— the day before yesterday = the day before yesterday
- (Three days, five days, five years ...) ago = three days ago, five days ago, five years ago, etc.
- last (week, month, year, weekend ...) = last week, last month, last year, etc.
- in (1999, 2010, June, April ...) = in June, April, etc.
- when ... = when ....

___________________________

Cases in which Past Simple is used

Here we come to the most important thing, namely, the cases of using a simple indefinite tense. After all, it is not enough to know the rules of education of any time, you need to be able to use them. The following rules and examples of its use in different occasions help you learn how to use it in conversation and writing.

I use case: completed an action in the past

Completed Action in the Past

Past Simple in this case is used to emphasize that the action took place in the past and ended in the past. In this case, marker words are often used. examples:

I saw a movie yesterday. — I saw the film yesterday.

I did not see a play yesterday. I didn't see the play yesterday.

Last year, I traveled to Japan. — Last year I traveled to Japan.

Use case II: a series of completed actions

A Series of Completed Actions

Past Simple is used to refer to actions in the past that went one after another. examples:

I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim. — I finished my work, walked to the beach and found a good place to swim.

He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00. He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00 and met the others at 10:00.

Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs? “Did you add flour, pour it into the milk, and then add the eggs?”

III use case: an action that lasted some time in the past

Duration in Past

Another case where the simple indefinite past tense is used may be to emphasize that the action took place in the past some time. Typically, in such cases, for expressions two years, for two months, all day, all year and others. examples:

I lived in Brazil for two years. — I lived in Brazil for two years.

Shauna studied Japanese for five years. Shona has been learning Japanese for five years.

They sat at the beach all day. They sat on the beach all day.

Use Case IV: Past Habits

Habits in the Past

Past Simple can be used when you want to show that you had some kind of habit in the past that you have already gotten rid of. In that case Past Simple replaces the used to expression. It is also common to use the word when. examples:

I studied French when I was a child. — I learned French when I was a child.

He did not play the piano. He didn't play the piano.

Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid? - You played musical instruments when was a child?

V use case: facts that were relevant in the past or generalizations

Past Facts or Generalizations

In this case, Past Simple is used to describe facts in the past or a generalization. As with the 4th use case, the meaning is very close to the meaning of the sentences in which used to occurs. examples:

She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing. She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.

He didn't like tomatoes before. He used to not like tomatoes.

people paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past. — In the past, people paid much more to call from mobile phones.

past simple is the simple past tense in English. It is indeed very simple in formation, even simpler than the simple present -, but its use is complicated by the presence and some features of the pronunciation of regular verbs in the past tense.

past simple sometimes also called preterite.

See Anne's explanation from Cambridge University Press:

The Past Simple is mainly used to describe events in the past that have been completed. Although it has other uses as well.

The past form of regular verbs is usually formed by adding -ed at the end, in addition, there are several hundred irregular verbs that have different shape. Most verbs have the same past tense regardless of the person and number of the noun. That is, it is not necessary, as in present simple add -s for a third party.

Past Simple formation table for the verb "to be"

Past Simple formation table for all other verbs

Past Simple is used with words that can be remembered with an acronym (on, in, last, when, ago, yesterday)

Examples of Past Simple:

She was in London on 2nd of March The party was on Friday Paul was born in September in 1960 They were in Vienna last year I was very happy when I was a child were at the meeting three weeks ago I was at the cinema yesterday

Features of writing and pronunciation of regular verbs in Past Simple

By pronunciation, regular verbs in the past tense can be divided into three groups:

1. If the correct verb ends with a dull sound, then in the past tense it will be read with (t) at the end, for example:

Main form	Past form, spelling	ending, pronunciation
watch	watched	(t)	(watcht)
dance	danced	(t)	(danct)
laugh	laughed	(t)	(laught)
wash	washed	(t)	(washt)

2. If the correct verb ends in -t or -d, then in the past it is read from -id at the end:

Main form	Past form, spelling	ending, pronunciation	Past form, pronunciation
start	started	(id)	(startid)
want	wanted	(id)	(wanted)
land	landed	(id)	(landid)
paint	painted	(id)	(paintid)

3. The correct verb ends with a vowel sound or a voiced consonant sound, then in the past it is read with -d at the end:

Main form	Past form, spelling	ending, pronunciation	Past form, pronunciation
play	played	(d)	(playd)
clean	cleaned	(d)	(cleand)
study	studied	(d)	(student)
close	closed	(d)	(closd)

Exercise - Rihanna Diamonds Song

Listen to the song and find all the verbs in the past tense.