







In English we use the past simple tense to talk about finished actions in the past.
We use 'did' as an auxiliary verb in negatives and questions and we often use the past simple with past time phrases such as 5 minutes ago, yesterday, last week, in the 1980s, and when I was a child.
Notes for use of past simple :
In English, to change verbs to the past tense, we add '-ed' to regular verbs. For example;
work --> worked
live --> lived
walk --> walked
If the verb ends in 'e', we drop the 'e' before adding '-ed'. For example;
dance --> danced
smile --> smiled
phone --> phoned
If the verb ends in a vowel + consonant, we double the last consonant. For example;
stop --> stopped
tag --> tagged
plan --> planned
If the verb has more than one syllable, we double the consonant at the end only if the last syllable is stressed. For example;
prefer --> preferred
permit --> permitted
regret --> regretted
If the last syllable of the verb is not stressed, we do not double the last consonant. For example;
visit --> visited
happen --> happened
develop --> developed
In British English, verbs ending in 'l' double the 'l' before '-ed' whether the last syllable is stressed or not. For example;
travel --> travelled
cancel --> cancelled
If the verb ends in a 'y' or a 'w', we do not double it when we add '-ed'. For example;
stay --> stayed
play --> played
sew --> sewed
In English we do not double the consonant if the verb has two vowels before the last consonant. For example;
boil --> boiled
explain --> explained
In English we also do not double the consonant if the verb ends in two consonants. For example;
help --> helped
start --> started
However, irregular verbs change to completely different words in the past tense. For example;
go --> went
take --> took
know --> knew
The table below shows the different forms of past simple :
Example Verb : live | I / You / We / They / He / She / It |
| Positive | ... lived. |
| Negative | ... didn't live. |
Questions | Did ... live? |
| Short answers | Yes, ... did. / No, ... didn't. |
For the verb 'to be' we use 'was' and 'were'' in the past simple. No auxiliary verbs are used in negative sentences and questions.
Verb : Be | I / He / She / It | You / We / They |
| Positive | ... was ... | ... were ... |
| Negative | ... wasn't ... | ... weren't ... |
| Questions | Was ... ... ? | Were ... ...? |
| Short answers | Yes, ... was. / No, ... wasn't. | Yes, ... were. / No, ... weren't. |
Past Simple Example Sentences :
Positive Examples of Past Simple :
Negative Examples of Past Simple :
Question Examples of Past Simple :
| Past simple example sentences | |
|---|---|
| Because we were at the cinema, dear... | Porque estábamos en el cine, querido... |
| Diego was living in this house and there was a vacancy. | Diego vivía en esta casa y había una vacante. |
| Dude, I heard you shagging till late last night. | Colega, te escuché f*llar hasta tarde anoche. |
| Yeah, normally... But I'm too sick to go to work so I took the day off. | Sí, normalmente... Pero estoy demasiado enferma como para ir a trabajar, así que me tomé el día. |
| I sent you the link... | Ya te envié el enlace... |
| Of course I didn't, they had already started playing it before I got there! | Por supuesto que no, ¡ellos ya habían empezado a jugar antes de que yo llegara! |
| That's interesting, did you also teach them how to cook? | Es interesante, ¿también los enseñabas a cocinar? |
| Yes, while I was looking at the wine, the rice fell... | Sí, mientras estaba mirando el vino, se cayó el arroz... |
| I called about 10 people yesterday to make appointments. | Ayer llamé a cerca de 10 personas para agendar citas. |
| I hope it wasn't an expensive wine! | ¡Espero que no fuera un vino caro! |
| What the f*ck! I didn't know that! | ¡Qué demonios! ¡No lo sabía! |
| We are going to follow the original plan, how it was before. | Vamos a seguir el plan original, como estaba antes. |
| Did you get yourself a cappuccino, too? | ¿Tú también te trajiste un capuchino? |
| Oh, that's a relief, did you get rid of it? | Oh, eso es un alivio, ¿te deshiciste de ella? |
| When did you get here? I didn't see you. | ¿Cuándo llegaste? Yo no te vi. |
| What!? So you complained to Nick about our cat! | ¿¡Qué!? ¡Así que te quejaste con Nick sobre nuestro gato! |
| I went home and plugged my phone into the charger... | Regresé a mi casa y conecté mi teléfono al cargador... |
| You know we talked about bringing Pogo here one day. | Ya sabes que hablamos sobre traer a Pogo aquí un día. |
| Did you just meet him tonight? | ¿Acabas de conocerlo esta noche? |
| That's funny... What did you forget to ask? | Qué chistoso... ¿Qué se te olvidó preguntar? |