What Is the Simple Past Tense?

(with
Examples)
The simple past tense is used to describe a completed activity that happened in the
past. In other words, it started in the past and ended in the past.

Uses of the Simple Past Tense

Here are some examples of the simple past tense (shaded):

The Martians landed near the aqueduct.

The burglar considered using the fire escape.

Of course, you can also have the negative version, which is formed "did not" + "[verb in
base form]":

The Martians did not land near the aqueduct.

(We could have used didn't instead of did not.)

The burglar did not consider using the fire escape.

And, the question versions:

Did the Martians land near the aqueduct?

Why didn't the burglar consider using the fire escape?

Forming the Simple Past Tense

Here is an infographic explaining the simple past tense:

The Simple Past Tense with Time Expressions

The simple past tense is often seen with a time expression explaining when the activity
took place or how long it lasted.
Examples of "when an activity took place":

On Tuesday last week, the Martians landed near the aqueduct.

("On Tuesday last week" tells you when it happened. It's called an adverbial
phrase of time. Other examples are"Yesterday," "Last year," "Before breakfast,".
They are really common. When any adverb appears at the front of a sentence, it is

usual to follow it with a comma. A comma is not usually used when the adverbial
phrase appears at the back of a sentence. NB: This is not a strict rule. Use a comma
if it helps your reader.)
Read more about commas with adverbial phrases.

The Martians landed near the aqueduct on Tuesday last week.

(Note: No comma)

Just before he was caught, the burglar considered using the fire escape.
("Just before he was caught" tells you when the activity took place.)
Examples of "how long an activity took":

Last week, the council inspected the drains.

("Last week" tells you when it happened and for how long.)

Her daughter hid under the bed for three hours.

(Using "for" is a common way of describing how long an activity lasted.)

The Other Past Tenses

The simple past tense is one of four past tenses. They are:

The 4 Past Tenses

Example

simple past tense

I went

past progressive tense

I was going

past perfect tense

I had gone

past perfect progressive tense

I had been going

Regular Verbs
If it's a regular verb, the simple past tenseis formed like this:
Add "ed" to most verbs:

jump > jumped

paint > painted

If a verb of one syllable ends [consonant-vowel-consonant], double the final consonant
and add "ed":

chat > chatted

stop > stopped

If the final consonant is w, x or y, don't double it:

sew > sewed

play > played

fix > fixed

If last syllable of a longer verb is stressed and ends [consonant-vowel-consonant],
double the last consonant and add "ed":

incur > incurred

prefer > preferred

If the first syllable of a longer verb is stressed and the verb ends [consonant-vowelconsonant], just add "ed":

open > opened

enter > entered

swallow > swallowed

If the verb ends "e", just add "d":


thrive > thrived

guzzle > guzzled

If the verb ends [consonant + "y"], change the "y" to an "i" and add "ed":

cry > cried

fry > fried

Irregular Verbs
If it's an irregular verb, the simple past tense is formed in all sorts of different ways.
Here are some examples:

break > broke

catch > caught

find > found

see > saw

You just have to learn them.
Click here for a list of the most common irregular verbs.

Your scorecard:

Q1: Click on the one with an example of the simple past

tense:A: Last week, I went to Philadelphia, but it was closed.B:
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.

FUNCTIONS OF THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The simple past is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. Duration is not
important. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past.

EXAMPLES

John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.

My father died last year.

He lived in Fiji in 1976.

We crossed the Channel yesterday.

You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain
past time expressions

frequency: often, sometimes, always

I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
I often brought my lunch to school.

a definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
We saw a good film last week.
Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
She finished her work atseven o'clock
I went to the theatre last night

an indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago People lived in caves
a long time ago.

She played the piano when she was a child.

Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is placed after the period of
time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.
Be Careful: The simple past in English may look like a tense in your own language, but the meaning may
be different.

FORMING THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

PATTERNS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE FOR REGULAR VERBS
Affirmative

Subject

+ verb + ed

skipped.

Negative

Subject

+ did not

+ infinitive without to

They

didn't

go.

+ subject

+ infinitive without to

Interrogative

Did

Did

she

arrive?

Did not

+ subject

+ infinitive without to

Didn't

you

play?

Interrogative negative

TO WALK
Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

I walked

I didn't walk

Did I walk?

You walked

You didn't walk

Did you walk?

He walked

He didn't walk

Did he walk?

We walked

We didn't walk

Did we walk?

They walked

They didn't walk

Did they walk?

SIMPLE PAST TENSE OF TO BE, TO HAVE, TO DO

Subject

Verb

Be

Have

was

had

Subject

Verb

You

were

had

He/She/It

was

had

We

were

had

You

were

had

They

were

had

NOTES ON AFFIRMATIVE, NEGATIVE, &

INTERROGATIVE FORMS
AFFIRMATIVE
The affirmative of the simple past tense is simple.

I was in Japan last year

She had a headache yesterday.

We did our homework last night.

NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE

For the negative and interrogative simple past form of "do" as an ordinary verb, use the auxiliary "do", e.g.
We didn't do our homework last night.
The negative of "have" in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary "do", but sometimes by
simply adding not or the contraction "n't".
The interrogative form of "have" in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary "do".

EXAMPLES

They weren't in Rio last summer.

We didn't have any money.

We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.

We didn't do our exercises this morning.

Were they in Iceland last January?

Did you have a bicycle when you were young?

Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

Note: For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use the
auxiliary 'did''.

SIMPLE PAST, IRREGULAR VERBS

Some verbs are irregular in the simple past. Here are the most common ones.

TO GO

He went to a club last night.

Did he go to the cinema last night?

He didn't go to bed early last night.

TO GIVE

We gave her a doll for her birthday.

They didn't give John their new address.

Did Barry give you my passport?

TO COME

My parents came to visit me last July.

We didn't come because it was raining.

Did he come to your party last week?