Past Simple

Past Tense Index / Past Simple / Past Simple further functions / Irregular Verbs / Past Continuous / Past Continuous further functions / Past Simple or Past Continuous / Used to / Present Perfect / Present Perfect further functions / Present Perfect Continuous / Present Perfect Simple or Continuous / Past Perfect / Past Perfect Continuous / Past Perfect Simple or Past Perfect Continuous / Future in the Past

Form

Regular verbs: Subject + Verb (-ed) + Object

Irregular verbs: Subject + Verb (past form) + Object

Find more infrmation on English irregular verbs here

The past simple in English uses one form for all persons (with the unique exception of to be).

Function

We use the Past Simple to:

talk about completed or finished events

On a fundamental level, if an action is completed or finished then we use the past simple to talk about it.

I ate lunch at home yesterday

I wanted to be a journalist when I was younger

He played cricket in the 1990's

Exceptions

Verbs in the past do not take a new form in negative or question structures, we use the auxiliary verb (to do) to indicate past. The specific exception is to be, which is used without an auxiliary

Spelling notes

Regular verbs in the past have only two spelling rules that create exceptions to the INFINITIVE + ed structure. If the verb is a single syllable single vowel followed by a consonant, we simply double the consonant as well as adding the -ed

Secondly, if the INFINITIVE ends in a consonant + y we change the -y for an -i before the -ed

Irregular verbs behave differently and you can find more information about them here