Simple Past Tense: Rules and Examples

The Simple Past tense is one of the basic verb tenses used in English grammar. It is used to express actions or events that occurred in the past and have already been completed. 

In this lesson, we will discuss the form, use, and examples of the Simple Past tense.

Form of the Simple Past Tense

The Simple Past tense is formed by adding -ed to the base form of regular verbs. 

For irregular verbs, the past tense form varies and needs to be memorized. Here are the examples of the formation of Simple Past tense:

Regular verbs:	Irregular verbs:
Work → Worked Play → Played Jump → Jumped	Go → Went Eat → Ate Buy → Bought

1. Affirmative form:

The affirmative form of the Simple Past tense is formed using the base form of the verb for regular verbs, or the irregular form for irregular verbs. No auxiliary verb is used in the affirmative form.

Affirmative form

I worked yesterday. She studied for her exam last night. They went to the party on Saturday.

2. Negative form:

The negative form of the Simple Past tense is formed using the auxiliary verb "did" in the past tense and the word "not." 

The word "not" is contracted with "did" to form the contraction "didn't." The main verb remains in its base form. 

Negative form

I did not work yesterday. She did not study for her exam last night. They did not go to the party on Saturday.

3. Interrogative form:

The interrogative form of the Simple Past tense is formed by inverting the subject and auxiliary verb "did" in the past tense. The main verb remains in its base form. 

Affirmative form

Did you work yesterday? Did she study for her exam last night? Did they go to the party on Saturday?

Uses of the Simple Past Tense

The Simple Past tense is used to describe completed actions or events that happened in the past. It is commonly used to talk about past habits or routines, to narrate a story, or to describe a past event.

Simle Past Use		Examples
Use	Past habits or routines:	She woke up early every day last week. I always went to the gym on Fridays.
	Narrating a story:	The cat chased the mouse around the house. The boy rode his bike to the park.
	Describing a past event:	We visited Paris last summer. She saw the movie twice last month.

   

Regular verbs spelling exceptions

Rule	Examples
Genrale Rule: Base form of the verb + -ed	Visit  → Visited Work   →  Wored
Verbs that end in –e: verb + -d	Love    →  Loved Hope  →  hoped
Verbs that end in –y: change the –y to –I +ed	Try     → Tried Cry →  cried

More examples of the Simple Past Tense

Here are some more examples of the Simple Past tense:

• I studied for my exam yesterday.
• They walked to the store last night.
• He ate breakfast at 7:00 am this morning.
• She watched TV for an hour yesterday evening.
• We played soccer for two hours yesterday.