Welcome to your easy guide to the Past Simple tense! If you want to talk about things you did yesterday, last week, or a long time ago, then the Past Simple tense is your new best friend. This English grammar lesson is perfect for English beginners (A1+ level) who want to improve their spoken English and understand how to talk about the past. Let’s get started!

What is the Past Simple Tense?

The Past Simple tense is used to talk about actions that finished in the past. Think of it like this: you did something, it’s now complete, and it happened before now. It’s that simple! We often use it to talk about events that happened at a specific time in the past, even if the exact time isn’t mentioned. This is very important for spoken English practice because we talk about our past experiences all the time.

For example:

• I watched a movie last night.
• She visited her grandmother yesterday.
• They played football on Sunday.

In each of these sentences, the action (watch, visit, play) is finished and happened in the past.

How to Form the Past Simple Tense

Forming the Past Simple tense is quite straightforward, but there are two main types of verbs we need to learn: regular verbs and irregular verbs.

Regular Verbs

For most verbs in English, we make the Past Simple tense by adding ‘-ed’ to the end of the verb. These are called regular verbs.

Here are some examples:

• walk – walked (I walked to school yesterday.)
• play – played (She played the piano last night.)
• watch – watched (We watched TV after dinner.)
• study – studied (He studied English last year.) (Notice how ‘y’ changes to ‘i’ when we add ‘-ed’ after a consonant)
• like – liked (They liked the ice cream.) (If the verb already ends in ‘e’, we just add ‘-d’)

Irregular Verbs

Unfortunately, not all verbs are regular! Some verbs are irregular. This means they don’t follow the simple ‘-ed’ rule. Instead, their Past Simple forms are different, and you need to learn them. Don’t worry, we’ll look at some common ones soon!

Here are a few examples of irregular verbs:

• go – went (I went to the park yesterday.)
• eat – ate (She ate pizza for lunch.)
• see – saw (We saw a bird in the garden.)
• drink – drank (He drank water after running.)
• have – had (They had a good time at the party.)

The best way to learn irregular verbs is to practice and use them! We’ll see some more common irregular verbs later in this lesson.

When to Use the Past Simple Tense

We use the Past Simple tense in several situations. Here are the main uses to help you with your English for beginners journey and spoken English practice:

1. Finished Actions in the Past

This is the most common use. We use the Past Simple to talk about actions that started and finished in the past. Often, we use time expressions like yesterday, last week, last year, ago, in 2020, etc., but it’s not always necessary if the context is clear.

Examples:

• I visited London last summer.
• She finished her homework an hour ago.
• They arrived at 7 pm.
• We lived in Spain in 2015.

2. Series of Completed Actions in the Past

We can use the Past Simple to describe a sequence of actions that happened one after another in the past. This is great for telling stories!

Example:

I woke up, then I got dressed, ate breakfast, and left for work.

Here, all the actions happened in order in the past.

3. Past Habits or States

Although we often use ‘used to’ for past habits, the Past Simple can sometimes also describe habits or states that were true for a period of time in the past but are no longer true now.

Examples:

• I played football every day when I was a child.
• She worked in a bank for five years.
• They lived in a small village before moving to the city.

Making Negative Sentences and Questions in the Past Simple

To make negative sentences and questions in the Past Simple tense, we usually use the auxiliary verb ‘did’.

Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence, we use ‘did not’ (or the contraction ‘didn’t’) + the base form of the verb (the verb without ‘-ed’ or any other changes).

Formula: Subject + did not / didn’t + base verb + …

Examples:

• I did not watch TV last night. (or I didn’t watch TV last night.)
• She did not go to the party. (or She didn’t go to the party.)
• They did not play football. (or They didn’t play football.)

Notice that even for irregular verbs, we use the base form after ‘did not/didn’t’. For example, it’s “didn’t go” not “didn’t went”.

Questions

To ask questions in the Past Simple tense, we use ‘Did’ at the beginning of the question, followed by the subject and the base form of the verb.

Formula: Did + Subject + base verb + …?

Examples:

• Did you watch TV last night?
• Did she go to the party?
• Did they play football?
• Did he eat breakfast?

Again, remember to use the base form of the verb after ‘Did’.

Common Irregular Verbs to Learn

Learning irregular verbs takes time and practice, but starting with the most common ones is a great idea. Here are some very frequent irregular verbs in the Past Simple tense:

• be – was/were
• go – went
• eat – ate
• see – saw
• come – came
• get – got
• have – had
• make – made
• take – took
• give – gave
• say – said
• tell – told
• know – knew
• think – thought
• speak – spoke
• find – found
• write – wrote
• read – read (pronounced like ‘red’ in the past tense)
• do – did

Try to learn a few of these each day. Practice using them in sentences to help you remember them!

Pronunciation Tips for Past Simple ‘-ed’ Endings

The ‘-ed’ ending of regular verbs in the Past Simple can be pronounced in three different ways. This is important for English pronunciation tips and sounding natural when you speak.

• /t/ sound: After voiceless sounds like /p/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/.
  • Examples: walked /wɔːkt/, looked /lʊkt/, watched /wɒtʃt/
• /d/ sound: After voiced sounds like /b/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /r/, and vowel sounds.
  • Examples: played /pleɪd/, loved /lʌvd/, cleaned /kliːnd/
• /ɪd/ sound: After /t/ and /d/ sounds.
  • Examples: wanted /ˈwɒntɪd/, needed /ˈniːdɪd/, started /ˈstɑːtɪd/

Don’t worry too much about this at the beginning, but try to listen to how native speakers pronounce these endings and practice yourself.

Let’s Practice!

Fill in the blanks with the Past Simple tense of the verb in brackets. Remember to think if the verb is regular or irregular!

1. Yesterday, I ______ (watch) a funny video online.
2. She ______ (go) to the beach last weekend.
3. They ______ (play) basketball after school.
4. He ______ (eat) all the cake!
5. We ______ (visit) our grandparents on Sunday.
6. I ______ (not/study) for the test, so I was nervous.
7. ______ (you/see) that new movie?
8. She ______ (not/like) the food at the restaurant.
9. They ______ (arrive) late for the meeting.
10. He ______ (drink) all the juice.

Answers:

1. watched
2. went
3. played
4. ate
5. visited
6. did not study / didn’t study
7. Did you see
8. did not like / didn’t like
9. arrived
10. drank

Speak with Confidence!

Now you know the basics of the Past Simple tense! The best way to improve is to practice using it in your own spoken English. Try talking about your day yesterday, your last weekend, or a holiday you enjoyed. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – that’s how you learn!

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Keep practicing, and you’ll become a pro at using the Past Simple tense in no time! Good luck with your English language learning journey!