In this article we will look at the second simple time form in English language – The Past Simple (Indefinite) Tense.It is a tense form of a verb, which is used to express single actions that took place in the past and the time for which has expired. In certain contexts where a past tense verb is used, you may notice the following marker words:

• yesterday (yesterday);
• last week/month/year (last week, last month/year);
• two days ago (two days ago);
• in 1917 (in 1917).

For example:

• I watched my favorite film yesterday.– Yesterday I watched my favorite film.
• My parents bought a new car last week. Last week my parents bought a new car.
• The First World War began in 1914.– First World War started in 1914.

Marker words can be used both at the end of a sentence and at the beginning. For example:

• Yesterday I walked with my friends.– Yesterday I went out for a walk with my friends.
• In 988 Christianity was adopted in Russia.– In 988, Christianity was adopted in Rus'.

Please note that in the simple past tense the verbs change their form. According to the method of forming the forms of the simple past tense, all verbs are divided into regular and irregular.

Regular verbs– verbs formed by adding the suffix –ed to the base of the infinitive. The suffix –ed is pronounced [d], after voiceless consonants (except t) it is pronounced [t], after t and d it is pronounced . For example:

• The baby stopped crying. – The baby stopped crying.

For irregular verbs There is a special table called “Table of Irregular Verbs”. You can view it here (). The table of irregular verbs consists of three forms. Let's look at some Irregular Verbs as an example:

• Our team won the football competition two days ago.– Two days ago our team won the football competition.

We have examined the main features of the affirmative form of simple past tense verbs. Negative form verbs in The Past Simple Tense are formed using the auxiliary verb did and the negation not, which are placed before the semantic verb in the form of an infinitive without the particle to. Just like in the form of the simple present tense (The Present Simple Tense), the abbreviated form didn’t is used in speech and writing. For example:

• We didn't go to the sea last summer.– We didn’t go to the sea last summer.
• They didn't know anything about that story.“They knew nothing about this story.”

The interrogative form of verbs in the simple past tense is formed using the auxiliary verb did, which is placed after the subject, and the subject is followed by a semantic verb in the form of the infinitive without the particle to. At the same time, the tone of voice at the last stressed syllable supply increases. For example:

• Did you see him yesterday? – Did you see him yesterday?
• Did the pupils visit the museum last week?– Did the students visit the museum last week?

The answers to the questions in these examples are identical, as is the case with the interrogative form of the simple past tense. The answers will look like this: Yes, I did or No, I didn’t.

Using The Past Simple Tense

• designation of events, actions, situations that occurred at a certain time in the past and are not related to the present: Last summer we ofte went to the river.— Last summer we often went to the river;
• designation of completed actions in the past: Yasterday I wrote you a letter.- Yesterday I wrote you a letter;
• designation of habits in the past: My sister liked to play with dolls when she was small.— My sister loved to play with dolls as a child;
• denoting a fact that happened once in the past: Mary telephoned an hour ago. — Maria called an hour ago;
• description of life events of people who have already died: Pushkin wrote lots of stories for children.— Pushkin wrote many fairy tales for children;
• formulating polite questions and requests: I wondered if you could give me a lift(a more polite request than I wonder if...). — I wanted to know if you could give me a ride.

Summary table of tense formation The Past Simple Tense

Formation of The Past Simple Tense in sentences

Affirmative		Negative		Interrogative
I	spoke	I	didn't speak	Did	I	speak
You	worked	You	didn't work		you	work
We		We			we
They		They			they
He		He			he
She		She			she
It		It			it

To summarize, I would like to note that the difference between the simple past tense and the simple present is that actions occur once in the past and are not repeated. The time in which these actions were performed has expired, and the actions themselves are in no way connected with the present. In English, the grammatical meaning of verbs in simple past tense coincides with the meaning of verbs in the past tense of both imperfect and perfect forms in the Russian language. Read about the last simple tense form of the verb in English in the following article.

Not a single language on Earth can do without the past tense. English is no exception. The past tense in English is used to express an action that happened an hour ago, yesterday, last year, that is, in the past.

Types of past tense in English and patterns of their formation

The English language differs from Russian in that it has several types of past tense - Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous, whereas in Russian there is only one past tense. The English language is different in that each of these past tenses has its own nuances, and we will talk about each of them today.

The first type of past tense in English is the Past Simple or simple past. The simple past tense in English is formed by adding the ending -ed to the stem of the verb. And to form the negative and interrogative forms of verbs in the Past Simple, an auxiliary verb is used do, namely its past form did. Past Simple corresponds to the perfect form of the past tense in Russian.

• I/you/he/she/we/they work ed
• I/you/he/she/we/they didn’t work
• Did I/you/he/she/we/they work?

The English language reminds you that if you use irregular verbs in the Past Simple, then the second form of the table of irregular verbs is needed here:

• I/you/he/she/we/they spoke
• I/you/he/she/we/they didn’t speak
• Did I/you/he/she/we/they speak?

Please note that the ending -ed we use only the affirmative form of verbs; in the negative and interrogative form there are no endings, everything is taken over by the auxiliary verb.
We bring to your attention the adverbs that are used in the Past Simple:

• Yesterday - yesterday
• The day before yesterday - the day before yesterday
• That day - on that day
• Last night - last night

An adverb can appear at the beginning or end of a sentence. For example:

• Last night I slept very well. — I slept very well last night.
• We spoke with John last week. — He talked to John last week.

Speaking of verbs to be And to have, then you remember that these are irregular verbs and they are conjugated in the Past Simple in their own way:

I/he/she was
You/we/they were
I/you/he/she/we/they had

Pay attention to the examples of sentences in which we use the simple past tense:

• I was busy when you called me. — I was busy when you called me.
• She hadn't any appointment yesterday. — She didn’t have any meeting yesterday.

What is the continuous past tense?

The past tense in English can be continuous or continuous - this is the Past Continuous, and it corresponds to the imperfect form of the past tense in Russian. If we use verbs in the Past Continuous, this indicates that the action is not finished, it is still ongoing.

The scheme for constructing the Past Continuous tense (long past tense) is as follows: to be V Past Simple + verb + -ing ending.

I/he/she was working
We/you/they were working

Was I/he/she working?
Were we/you/they working?

I/he/she wasn’t working
We/you/they weren't working

Adverbs used in the Past Continuous must express the duration of the action:

• At that moment - at that moment
• That time - at that time
• All the day/night/week - all day/all night/week
• One day ago/two days ago - a day ago/two days ago, etc.

Examples of sentences in English using the Past Continuous:

• Yesterday I was playing computer games all the day. — Yesterday I played computer games all day.
• When you came to us, Sue was talking on the phone. — When you came to us, Sue was talking on the phone.
• We were working all the week without weekend. — We worked all week without a day off.

It is worth noting that Past Simple and Past Continuous are used in speech more often than other past tenses.

How to easily learn the past tense in English?

Why is Past Perfect needed?

Past Perfect is the past perfect tense in English, which has the meaning of a long past tense.

The Past Perfect formation scheme is simple: had + verb + ending -ed or the third form of an irregular verb.

• I/you/he/she/we/they had worked
• Had I/you/he/she/we/they worked?
• I/you/he/she/we/they hadn’t worked

The Past Perfect is needed to express an action that happened a long time ago. The past perfect tense is also often used to talk about a past action that happened before another past action. At first glance it turns out to be a mess, but now you’ll see with an example. This phenomenon is present especially in indirect speech.

Pay attention to the following examples where the past perfect tense of verbs is used:

• Ann said that she had met John on the street. - Anna said that she met John on the street (at first she met, and then she said - past action before the past).
• Bill announced that he had won the competition. — Bill announced that he had won the competition.
• Andy observed that he had forgotten his documents. — Andy noticed that he forgot his documents.

The Past Perfect is also used in the third case of the conditional mood, in subordinate clauses:

• If you had listened your parents, you wouldn’t have made such a lot of mistakes. “If you had listened to your parents, you wouldn’t have made so many mistakes.”

How to make friends with the Past Perfect Continuous?

The English past tense has another variation. This is Past Perfect Continuous.

Past Perfect Continuous - past perfect long time. Past Perfect Continuous indicates an action that began in the past, continued for some time and ended before some specific moment in the past.

Most often, the Past Perfect Continuous (perfect continuous) is used in written texts; you rarely see it in oral speech, because it is easier to replace it with the Past Continuous.

To quickly and easily make friends with the Past Perfect Continuous, you need to remember its formation scheme: had + been + verb + -ing ending.

• I/you/he/she/we/they had been working
• I/you/he/she/we/they hadn’t been working
• Had I/you/he/she/we/they been working?

Example sentence with Past Perfect Continuous:

• He had been working hard and managed to finish the documents in time. “He worked hard and was able to complete the paperwork on time.

As you noticed, the Past Perfect Continuous is a little capricious, but if you remember the formation scheme, you will not have problems with it.

This is what it is - the past tense in English: Past Continuous, Perfect, Simple, and also Past Perfect Continuous. Remember the patterns and necessary adverbs, and you will always easily use the tense you need in your speech. We wish you success!

Today we will look at Lately, belonging to the Simple group in English grammar— Past Simple Tense. In English courses for adults from Easy Speak, our students begin to use this time already at the first level. It is translated into Russian as “simple past tense.” From the article you will learn when it is used, how it is formed, and how to construct negative and interrogative sentences in this tense.

When we use Past Simple

We use the simple past tense when we say:

1. About events or actions that occurred in the past and the time for which has expired. That is, the action or event is complete.
(he bought a car last year, they went on vacation last month, the meeting was last week)

2. About events or actions in the past that were repeated regularly, but are not happening now.
(she danced at school, we went to the gym last year)

3. About events in the past that happened one after another.
(they met, walked in the park, went to the cinema)

Bonus! Having trouble with English tenses? in Moscow and find out how easy it is to master tenses and start speaking English in 1 month!

How is the affirmative form of the Past Simple formed?

When forming the Past Simple, we always look at the verb, as it will change. There are two types of verbs in English: right and wrong.

Depending on the verb, the past tense is formed as follows:

• if the verb is correct, we add ending -ed(cook - cooked);
• if the verb is irregular, we put it in second form (see - saw).

There is no rule by which one can determine whether it is correct or not. regular verb in front of us. You can only find out by looking it up in a dictionary or remembering it.

The same goes for forms of irregular verbs. You need to memorize them or look them up in the dictionary. The Past Simple formation scheme is as follows:

The one we are talking about + a regular verb ending in ed or the 2nd form of an irregular verb.

I
You
We	worked
They	slept
She	went
He
It

For example

I went to the cinema yesterday.
I went to the cinema yesterday.

She moved last year
She moved last year.

They married three years ago.
They got married three years ago.

Verb endings -ed in the Past Simple

There are a few caveats when adding the -ed ending to regular verbs.

• If the verb ends in -e, then it is added to the verb -d only:

chang e- chang ed- change;
clos e- clos ed— close.

• If the verb ends to a consonant, in front of which stands stressed vowel, then the consonant is doubled:

sto p-sto pped- stop;
ba n-ba nned- forbid.

Exceptions: verbs ending in -x and -w:

fi x- fi xed- fix;
flo w-flo wed- leak.

Note: V British English, when a verb ends in -l, it is doubled regardless of where the stress falls:

travel l- travel lled- travel.

American version:

travel l- travel led- travel.

• If the verb ends in -y and there is a consonant before it, then y changes to i+ed:

cr y-cr ied- cry;
tr y- tr ied- sample.

Important: If there is a vowel before -u, then the ending -ed is added without change letters:

sta y-sta yed- stay;
pla y- pla yed- play.

Companion words Past Simple

These are clue words that help determine that this is the simple past tense:

• yesterday,
• last week / month / year,
• in 1989 (2000, 2012, etc.) year,
• two (three, four, etc.) days/month/years ago.

Examples

I saw him five days ago.
I saw him five days ago.

She watched this film yesterday.
She watched this film yesterday.

They lived in England in 1999 year.
They lived in England in 1999.

Negative sentences in Past Simple

Negation is formed using auxiliary verb did(this is the auxiliary verb do, but in the past form) and particles not. In this case, the semantic verb is used in the initial form.

The combination did + not will be our particle “ Not". For example, he did not participate in the exhibition, they did not go to the club yesterday.

The scheme for constructing a negative sentence in the Past Simple is as follows:

The one we are talking about + did + not + verb in the initial form.

I
You
We			work
They	did	not	sleep
She			go
He
It

Important point: The auxiliary verb did already shows that the sentence is in the past tense, so it itself verb in a sentence(run/jump/work) we do not put in the past tense, but use the initial form. That is, we do not put it in the 2nd form and do not add the ending ed.

Why do you need to show twice that this is the past tense?

Didn't swim yesterday.
He didn't swim yesterday.

NOT: He didn't swam yesterday.

For example

They did not work last summer.
They didn't work last summer.

She did not run yesterday.
She didn't run yesterday.

What abbreviation can you use?

We can shorten the negative particle not as follows.

Did + not = didn’t

We didn't win this battle.
We didn't win this battle.

Interrogative sentences in Past Simple

The construction of questions in the Past Simple is the same as in other tenses of this group (Simple). To ask a question, you need to put the auxiliary verb did first in the sentence. The semantic verb, as in negation, is not put in the past tense, but its initial form is used. There is no need to add the ending -ed.

Did + the person in question + the initial form of the verb.

	I
	you
	they	work?
Did	we	sleep?
	he	go?
	she
	it

Statement

He called me last week.
He called me last week.

They bought a new car.
They bought a new car.

Question

Did he called you last week?
Did he call you last week?

Did they buy a new car?
Did they buy a new car?

Short positive answer contains the auxiliary verb did, which replaces the action itself.

Yes, he did.
Yes, he called.

Yes, they did.
Yes, they bought it.

Complete positive answer is constructed as an affirmative sentence.

Yes, he called me last week.
Yes, he called me last week.

Yes, they bought a new car.
Yes, they bought a new car.

Short negative answer contains the auxiliary verb did and the negative particle not.

No, he did not.
No, he didn't call.

No, they did not.
No, they didn't buy it.

Complete negative answer is constructed as a negative sentence.

No, he did not call me last week.
No, he didn't call me last week.

No, they did not buy a new car.
No, they didn't buy a new car.

Special questions in the Past Simple

When we ask a question with the following question words:

• what,
• when,
• where,
• which,

Question word + did + the person in question + verb in the initial form?

		I
When		you
Where		they	work?
What	did	we	meet?
Why		she	buy?
		he
		it

Let's look at examples.

Why did did you steal this thing?
Why did you steal this thing?

When did she sell her phone?
When did she sell her phone?

What did do they buy?
What did they buy?

So, we've looked at the simple past tense, which is actually not that simple. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments below the article.

Also, if you haven't done this yet, I advise you to read about other times of the Simple group:

Now let's move on to practice.

Exercise to consolidate Past Simple

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. He built his house in 1997.
2. They went to a concert last month.
3. Did you give her a gift yesterday? Yes, I gave her a gift yesterday.
4. We didn't see each other last week.
5. My friend broke her phone last year.
6. The children didn’t go to camp last summer.
7. Why did he move?
8. Did you go hiking last weekend? No, we didn't go.

Write your answers in the comments, and I will definitely check them.

Speaking any language, it is impossible to be fully understood without knowing the rules for the formation of tense forms. In this case, the English language has a wide variety of options for self-expression. However, the main tense group is the so-called “group of simple tenses” or simple tenses, which logically divides time periods into past, present and future. Today we will focus on the Past Simple (pronounced [past simple]) or simple past tense in English and look at the ways of its formation, as well as examples of use.

The Past Simple Tense (also known as the Past Indefinite Tense) is a tense that is used to express states or actions that happened in the past. The so-called simplicity of this time lies in the fact that when using it, do not focus on the duration, completeness, or sequence of one event in relation to another.

The action simply happened in the past, that's a fact, period. Due to the fact that people constantly strive to simplify language, this tense form often replaces other forms of the past tense in writing, and even more often in speech, so knowledge of this particular group is necessary to explain situations and thoughts at a simple level. Let's take a closer look at how, where and how this form is used in English.

The only part of speech that can be changed when forming the past tense are verbs, which can be regular or irregular.

If at first it is difficult for you to understand whether a particular verb is regular or irregular, refer to the table of irregular verbs: if the verb is not on the list, most likely it belongs to the category of regular ones.

Past Simple: sentence forms

Having understood the types of past tense verbs and how they are formed, you need to learn how to construct sentences with them grammatically correctly.

1. The affirmative form of the Past Simple does not require the use of auxiliary verbs. To construct a sentence in the affirmative form, it is enough to use a verb in the past tense.

In simple words, it is enough to take an affirmative sentence in the present tense and replace the verb in it with the past tense.

1. The negative form the Past Indefinite Tense is formed using the auxiliary verb did and the negative particle not (informally didn’t), which is placed after the subject. An auxiliary verb with a particle is followed by main verb in infinitive. This means that the memorized irregular verbs and the ending -ed in negative sentences we won't need it.

	Ssubject (Subject)	Auxiliary verb +not	Verb (Verb)	Object (An object)
Present Simple (Present tense)	She	does not (doesn't)	love	him.
Past Simple (Past tense)	She	didn't (didn't)	love	him.

1. The interrogative form is also formed using the auxiliary verb did. It comes first in a sentence, followed by the subject and main meaning. infinitive verb.

For a short positive answer, it is enough to use auxiliary verbs; for a short negative answer, the particle not is needed. If the answer is negative, the auxiliary verb with the particle must be written together (didn’t). The full answer will be in the affirmative or negative form.

For the formation of special questions, the scheme remains practically unchanged. A question word is added to it only at the very beginning. Question words can be anything, here are some of them: what, why, how, how, which, where, where, when.

	? word	Auxiliary verb	Ssubject (Subject)	Verb (Verb)	Object (An object)
Present Simple (Present tense)	Why	do	you	like like	reading?
Past Simple (Past tense)	did	you	like liked it	reading?

An exception is the question word who, whose sentences do not require an auxiliary verb. This is where your knowledge of regular and irregular verbs will be needed.

Special questions cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”, so the answers to them are given in a completely affirmative or negative form.

Past Simple - use

The simple past tense is used very often in English. For correct application in practice, consider all cases Past usage Simple:

1. To express single actions/states or actions in the past, taken as a fact. Such sentences can refer to both ordinary everyday situations and historical events. Often such sentences contain special indicator words expressed:

• circumstance of time, these include: yesterday - yesterday, the day before yesterday - the day before yesterday, last night - last night, last week / month - last week / last month, in 1999 - in 1999, then - then;
• by the adverb ago, for example: 5 years ago - five years ago;
• question words when and how.

Examples:

Agatha Christie wrote detective novels. (Agatha Christie wrote detective novels.)	fact
Bruce graduated from the university 3 years ago. (Bruce graduated from university 3 years ago.)
We talked to him about the upcoming performance. (We talked to him about the upcoming performance.)	single action
Steven Spielberg was born in 1946. (Steven Spielberg was born in 1946.)	fact indicating a specific year
She called you 5 minutes ago. (She called you 5 minutes ago.)	single action, presence of the adverb ago
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941.	historical fact
I was excited to take part in the contest yesterday. (I was glad to take part in the competition yesterday.)	condition with time circumstance
I didn't like your hairstyle then. (I didn't like your hair then.)	action in the past with a time adverbial (I didn’t like it before, but now I like it)
Jane drew portraits in the childhood. (As a child, Jane drew portraits.)	action in the past (I used to draw, now I don’t)
He visited us 2 weeks ago. (He visited us 2 weeks ago.)	single action, presence of the adverb ago
When did you meet each other? (When did you meet each other?)	question about the past the question word when is used

1. To express habits or actions that were repeated constantly/often in the past, but are not repeated now. Indicator words in this case are expressed:

• adverbs everyday - every day, always - always, often - often, sometimes - sometimes, each time - every time;
• the expression used + verb in the infinitive, which translates as “before”.

He always wore black jackets. (He always wore black jackets.)	used to wear it, doesn't wear it now
I didn't use to brush my teeth twice a day. (I didn't brush my teeth twice a day before.)	I haven’t cleaned it before, but now I do
Dad used to smoke up to 10 cigarettes a day. ((Previously) My father smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day.)	It was a habit, but now it's gone
Donald Trump used to host The Apprentice. (Donald Trump hosted The Apprentice.)	drove, but now no longer drives
Mike used to watch The Big Bang Theory. (Mike used to watch The Big Bang Theory.)	I watched it, but I stopped now
They took Chinese classes every day. (They studied Chinese every day.)	they don't do it anymore

1. When there is a story or listing of events that happened one after another in the past.

1. In subordinate clauses of time to express the completeness of an action. Some indicator words for this case:

• as soon as - as soon as, once - as soon as, before - before, untill - until / until, after - after, when - when.

1. When using indirect speech, if the verb in the main clause is used in the Past Simple.

1. To characterize the subject in the past.

1. To report details of any news. To communicate the news itself, the Present Perfect tense should be used, and sentences in Past S should be used to describe it. However, if you are afraid of getting confused with tenses, you can use the simple past tense everywhere in such situations.

1. Past Simple is also used to form a conditional sentence of the second type (Second Conditional), which is used to express events in the present or future tenses, the probability of which is very small or completely unrealistic. The Russian equivalent of the second type of conditional sentence may sound like “if only”. A similar sentence is constructed using the conjunction if (if). Table with education formulas:

Examples of use:

If I had a million dollars, I would found a charitable foundation. (If I had a million dollars, I would start a charity.)	Unreal situation. I don’t have any money right now, I can’t start a foundation.
If I were you, I would not do this. (If I were you, I wouldn't do this.)	Unreal situation. I cannot switch bodies with another person or act for them.
We would go swimming if the weather were fine. (If the weather had been good, we would have gone swimming.)	The weather is bad, the likelihood that we will be able to go swimming is very low.
If I had children, I would spend with them all day long. (If I had children, I would spend all day with them.)	But I don’t have children, a similar situation is this moment impossible.

Please pay attention to two nuances:

• If a sentence begins with a subordinate clause “if”, then a comma is placed at the junction with the second part so that the sentences do not merge and are easier to read;
• In a conditional sentence, the verb to be in the past tense is usually used only in the plural (were), even with the singular pronouns I, he, she, it. The form were in such sentences is subjunctive. Although in everyday speech it is possible to substitute the form was for the singular, when taking tests, choosing was will be considered an error.

1. The Past Simple tense is also used with the construction I wish, which is equivalent to the Russian “It’s a pity that not.” Usually such a construction is used to express the desire for some action to happen or to happen differently. As in the case above, this design also consists of two parts. Education formula table:

Examples of use:

Pay attention to the features to understand how such sentences are constructed:

• If we translate the construction in the form “it’s a pity that not”, negative verbs turn into affirmative ones and vice versa;
• As in the formation of a conditional sentence of the second type, the verb to be is used only in the were form, although deviations from the rule are possible in colloquial speech.

1. Past Simple is used with another construction that can often be found in colloquial language - it is (it’s) time, which is translated as “it’s time.” Table with education formulas:

Examples of use:

These were all cases of using the Past Simple (Past Indefinite) or the simple past tense. They won't be too difficult, especially if you understand the grammar, learn irregular verbs, and practice using Past Simple Tense in different situations, based on the examples above.

You can't bring back the past. What has happened has passed... No, I didn’t get too philosophical, these phrases simply describe the time, called Past Simple in English, in the best possible way.

Past Simple is a closed past time, that’s it, you can’t go back there. You cannot go back to yesterday, last week, a month ago, even a minute ago!

The past simple is some moment in the past, some action that has nothing to do with the present!

How to recognize Past Simple

Time markers:

• yesterday- yesterday;
• last (last year(last year), last week(last week), last month(last month));
• ... ago (a week ago(a week ago) 5 minutes ago(5 minutes ago), 3 hours ago(3 hours ago));
• when (when I was a child(when I was a child), when he was 3(when he was 3).

What expression does this tense have in the language?

Let's look at sentences that contain an action verb.

He switched on a computer an hour ago.- just a fact in the past. We are not interested in the connection with the present, nor how long this action lasted - it is simply a fact, a point in the past with a clear understanding of when it happened.

How is the Past Simple formed?

The rule for constructing the Past Simple is very simple: first the performer of the action, that is, the subject, then the action verb with the ending -ed.

For example:

He look ed at me. - He looked at me.

We book ed a table last week. - We booked a table last week.

I start ed learning English 20 years ago. - I started learning English 20 years ago.

Past Simple. Example

That's all. Everything is very simple. Well if this verb does not refer to one of the 200. And if it refers, then the ending is not added to the verb, we take the second form of the verb.

For example: He got(get-got-got) up at 6 a.m.(He got up at 6 am) took(take-took-taken) a shower (took a shower), had(have-had-had) breakfast and went(go-went-gone) to work(had breakfast and went to work).

But don’t despair, firstly, they are not difficult to learn (really!), and secondly, we only need these forms for positive, affirmative sentences.

Construction of negative sentences

Let's see how negations are constructed in the past simple tense:

He didn't switch on his computer. - He didn't turn on his computer.

He didn't buy food at 6 p.m. yesterday. - He didn’t buy food at 6 pm yesterday.

Regardless of whether the verb is regular or not, after the auxiliary did and negative particle not the verb will be in the infinitive form.

What for? So the practical English decided, auxiliary verb did has already shown that this is the past tense, why this duality?

Interrogative sentence

In English interrogative sentences reverse order words, that is did is placed before the subject.

Did he switch on the computer? - Did he turn on the computer?

Did she buy food at 6 a.m.? - She bought food at 6 am?

What did you do yesterday? - What did you do yesterday?

Past Simple with the verb to be (to be)

To be or not to be? Whatever the answer is - positive or negative, the construction of the sentence will be different, not as with ordinary verbs.

This is a very strong verb, it stands on its own, it does not need auxiliaries. He solves such global issues. The verb "to be" appears where there is no action. To be someone (or something), somewhere, somehow...

In the past tense, the verb to be has the form "was" for the singular and "were" for the plural:

I/he/she/it was at home ( singular). - I, he, she was at home

You/we/they were at home. ( plural) - You, we, they were at home.

Remember that the pronoun you- always in, even if it is an appeal to one person - “you”, at least to several - “you”.

Comparing the simple past tense with the present simple tense

Let's compare it with the simple present tense, with the so-called “in general” tense, and you will see that everything in English is logical and understandable.

Table Past Simple vs Present Simple

	In general (Present Simple)	In the past (Past Simple)
+	I am at home. - I'm home He/she/it is at home. - He/she is at home. You/we/they are at home. - You/we/they are at home.	I was at home. - I was at home. You/we/they were at home. - You/we/they were at home.
-	I 'm not at home. - I'm not at home. He isn't at home. - He is not at home. You aren't at home. - Are you not at home.	I wasn't at home. - I wasn't at home. You weren't at home. - You weren't at home.
?	Am Am I at home? - I'm home? Is he at home? - He is at home? Are are you at home? - Are you home?	Was I'm at home. - Was I at home? Were are you at home? - They were home?

As we can see, sentences are constructed in the same way, just in the present the verb to be is - am/is/are- and in the past - was/were.

If there is an action verb

Now let's compare sentences that have action verbs (that is, the rest).

Past Simple vs Present Simple table with action verbs

	In general (Present Simple)	In the past (Past Simple)
+	I speak English. - I speak English. He speaks s English - He speaks English.	I start ed the lesson at 6 yesterday. - I started the lesson yesterday at 6 pm. He spoke (2nd form of the verb from speak) Spanish. - He spoke Spanish.
-	I don't speak French. - I do not speak French. He doesn't speak French. - He doesn't speak French.	I didn't speak French. - I didn't speak French.
?	Do do you speak English? - Do you speak English? Does does she speak French? - Does he speak French?	Did did you see him yesterday? - Did you see him yesterday?

As we can see, the past tense is built even easier than the real thing.

In the present, the form of the verb depends on the person (if the 3rd person is singular - she/he/it, then the verb is added - s, and in questions and negations this ending is added to the auxiliary do, turning into does. In the past tense, all pronouns have the same forms. You just need to remember the irregular verbs).

Spelling endings

Remember just a couple of rules for correctly writing verbs in the past tense with an ending -ed.

• If the infinitive of the verb already ends in -e, then only one letter is added -d. For example, like - like d
• If the verb is short (consists of one syllable, ends with a consonant and one vowel before it, then this consonant is doubled... It’s better to look at the examples: Stop - sto pp ed, tap - ta pp ed, dub - du bb ed.
• If ends with -y, and there is a consonant before it, then -y will change to -i, and then adds the ending -ed. Study - stud ied, reply-repl ied.

Pronunciation of endings

Ending -ed can be read as /t/ after voiceless consonants, that is, those that are pronounced without voice (k, p, s, f), like /d/ after voiced consonants, that is, those that are pronounced with voice (g, b, z, v, n), and how /id/ after -t, -d.

/t/	/d/	/id/
liked	lived	started
picked	dubbed	loaded
ripped	changed	sorted
passed	planned	parted

So, you can’t return the past, but you can remember it as much as you like. And I suggest you start without delay. What were you doing a minute ago, yesterday, last week, 5 years ago? Remember this in English!

To reinforce this, we present to your attention a video lesson about Past Simple.

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