Past simple tense

The Past Simple Tense

The Past Simple Tense is used to describe events that happened in the past.

Let’s see how we say the verb To Be in the affirmative form :

Present Simple

Past Simple

I am – I ’m

You are – You ’re

He is – He ’s

We are – We ’re

You are – You ’re

They are – They ’re

I was

You were

He was

We were

You were

They were

Example:

When I was five years old I was very talkative!

Let’s move on to the interrogative form of the verb To Be:

Present Simple

Past Simple

Am I … ?

Are you … ?

Is he … ?

Are we … ?

Are you … ?

Are they … ?

Was I … ?

Were you … ?

Was he … ?

Were we … ?

Were you … ?

Were they … ?

Example:

Where were you yesterday?

But wait…! Aren’t we forgeting something? What about the negative form ?

Present Simple

Past Simple

I am not – I’m not

You are not – You are n’t

He is not – He is n’t

We are not – We are n’t

You are not – We are n’t

They are not – They are n’t

I was not – I was n’t

You were not – You were n’t

He was not – He was n’t

We were not – We were n’t

You were not – You were n’t

They were not – They were n’t

Example:

I wasn’t here yesterday.

Well, that was easy, wasn’t it?

Yes, it was!

Please, pay attention! The Past Simple Tense is usually

associated with time expressions , such as yesterday ,

last week , a month ago and dates, like in 1977 .

!

Let’s Pratice!

1. Turn these sentences into the Past Simple Tense:

• Tommy is at school.
• They are studying.
• Susan isn’t at home.
• I ’m not a child.
• Are you there?
• Is Elizabeth a good student?

Remember! This verb is used to form the interrogative and negative forms of other verbs!

Let’s take a look at the Past Simple Tense of other verbs… other auxiliary verbs !

Verb To Do

Affirmative Form

Interrogative Form

Negative Form

I did

You did

He did

We did

You did

They did

Did I … ?

Did you … ?

Did he … ?

Did we … ?

Did you … ?

Did they … ?

I didn’t

You didn’t

He didn’t

We didn’t

You didn’t

They didn’t

There is only one auxiliary verb missing…

To Have!

Verb To Have

Affirmative Form

Interrogative Form

Negative Form

I had

You had

He had

We had

You had

They had

Had I … ?

Had you … ?

Had he … ?

Had we … ?

Had you … ?

Had they … ?

I hadn’t

You hadn’t

He hadn’t

We hadn’t

You hadn’t

They hadn’t

But it’s also important that we learn about other verbs!

Let’s take a look at some of the rules.

How do we form the Past Simple

of Regular Verbs ?

We just add –ed to the infinitive form

the verb.

Let’s take a look!

Let’s take some notes!

Simple Past

Infinitive + (e)d

Work – worked

Love – loved

Wash - washed

Main Rule

Enjoy - enjoyed

Vowel before -y

Verb ending in -y

Study - studied

Consonant after -y

Infinitive ends

with a short

vowel followed

by a consonant

Stop - stopped

Double the last consonant

Refer - referred

Verbs ending

in –er , -ir or - ur

Travel - travelled

Verbs ending in -el