Past Simple — Forms, Examples & Practice

14.08.24 Tenses Time to read: 11min

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Understanding tenses is crucial for mastering any language, as they form the backbone of how we express time in communication. One of the fundamental tenses in English is the past simple, a key component of our language rules. The past simple tense is used to describe actions or events that occurred at a specific time in the past. In this article, we will explore the rules and usage of this tense, shedding light on how to form and apply it correctly in various contexts.

Past simple in a nutshell

This tense describes actions or events that occurred at a specific time in the past. It is straightforward in form and essential for effective storytelling and communication about experiences from the past.

Definition: Past simple

The past simple (also: simple past) tense is a verb tense used to indicate that an action or situation occurred in the past and is now finished. This tense does not indicate whether the action was completed recently or a long time ago, just that it is not ongoing. With the active voice of past simple, there are no auxiliary verbs or participles needed, unlike other tenses such as the present perfect tense, making its usage straightforward. You simply use the past form by adding “-ed” to regular verbs, while irregular verbs have unique conjugations that must be memorized. Simple past is used to describe completed actions in the past, to recount events in a narrative, or to express actions that happened at a specific time in the past, even if the time is not mentioned.

Examples

  • She watched a movie last night.
  • They went to the park yesterday.
  • He finished his homework and then played video games.

Formula of past simple active voice

The past simple tense is a foundational aspect of English grammar. This tense is characterized by its straightforward structure, relying solely on the base form (infinitive) of verbs. Unlike with present simple, you don’t need to take pronouns or subject-verb agreement into account, as all verbs in past tense maintain the same form. One exception to this rule, however, is the past form of “to be,” which changes to “was/were.” In this section, we will explore the rules and patterns involved in creating the past tense for both regular and irregular verbs by providing clear examples and explanations.

Regular verbs

Regular verbs adhere to a predictable conjugation pattern. Typically, they form their past tense by adding “-ed” to the infinitive. However, there are some regular verbs with specific spelling changes:

  • If the regular verb ends in a consonant, it sometimes gets doubled before adding -ed.
  • If the regular verb ends in -y, we change it to an -i before adding -ed.
  • If the regular verb ends in -e, we only need to add -d to the base form.
Infinitive Past simple
To walk walked
To play played
To plan planned
To stop stopped
To cry cried
To marry married
To dance danced
To love loved

Irregular verbs

The English language contains approximately 200 irregular verbs that do not conform to standard conjugation patterns. These verbs have distinctive forms for different tenses, often exhibiting unpredictable changes in spelling or pronunciation between the infinitive, past tense, and past participle. The past participle is one of the two past forms and is used in forming perfect and passive tenses. Irregular verbs can be divided into four different categories:

  • Verbs with a different infinitive, past simple, and past participle.
  • Verbs with the same infinitive, past simple, and past participle.
  • Verbs with only the same past simple and past participle.
  • Verbs with only the same infinitive and past participle.
Infinitive Past simple Past participle
To be was/were been
To buy bought bought
To come came come
To do did done
To fly flew flown
To go went gone
To hurt hurt hurt
To lie lay lain

To enhance your understanding, we have created a PDF document that encompasses both regular and irregular verbs, which you may obtain by downloading it from the link provided below.

Past Simple - Verbs
Download

Practice worksheet

Now that you know how to form the past simple tense, it is time to practice its conjugations. Below, you can find ten example sentences that include both regular and irregular verbs in various contexts in the past. Let’s see if you can get them all correct.

  1. She _____ to the store and _____ some groceries. (To walk, to buy)
  2. They _____ soccer yesterday and _____ the match. (To play, to win)
  3. He _____ for the exam and _____ confident about his answers. (To study, to feel)
  4. We _____ the museum and _____ many interesting exhibits. (To visit, to see)
  5. I _____ my room and _____ an old photo album. (To clean, to find)
  6. She _____ her friend with homework and _____ a letter. (To help, to write)
  7. They _____ a movie and _____. (To watch, to eat)
  8. He _____ the car and _____ it to work. (To fix, to drive)
  9. We _____ the house and _____ a new fence. (To paint, to build)
  10. I _____ at the joke and _____ around the yard. (To laugh, to run)
  1. She walked to the store and bought some groceries. (To walk, to buy)
  2. They played soccer yesterday and won the match. (To play, to win)
  3. He studied for the exam and felt confident about his answers. (To study, to feel)
  4. We visited the museum and saw many interesting exhibits. (To visit, to see)
  5. I cleaned my room and found an old photo album. (To clean, to find)
  6. She helped her friend with homework and wrote a letter. (To help, to write)
  7. They watched a movie and ate. (To watch, to eat)
  8. He fixed the car and drove it to work. (To fix, to drive)
  9. We painted the house and built a new fence. (To paint, to build)
  10. I laughed at the joke and ran around the yard. (To laugh, to run)

Active question form of past simple

To form questions in the past simple tense, we use the auxiliary verb “did,” which is the past form of “do,” followed by the subject, the base form of the main verb, and of course a question mark.

Structure

Did + subject + infinitive + rest of the sentence?

Examples

Statement Question
She walked to the store. Did she walk to the store?
We visited the museum last year. Did we visit the museum last year?
You saw the movie in July. Did you see the movie in July?
He studied for the exam. Did he study for the exam?

Questions with question words

While most questions in the past simple tense use “did,” there are exceptions, particularly when “who,” “what,” or “which” are subjects of the sentence. In this case, “did” can be omitted, meaning the verb needs to be in its past form again.

Examples

  • Who wrote this book?
  • What happened at the meeting?
  • Where did you find this?
  • When did she leave?
  • Which team won the match?
  • How did you do that?

Negative question form of past simple

Negative questions in the past simple tense can be formed in two ways:

  1. Using the contraction “didn’t.”
  2. Inverting the subject and auxiliary verb “did,” and adding “not”.

Structure

Didn’t + subject + infinitive + rest of the sentence?

Did + subject + not + infinitive + rest of the sentence?

The first question form of past simple with the apostrophe is more commonly used in spoken English and in informal writing. It often implies slight surprise or seeks confirmation of something the speaker expects to be true or is unsure about.

The second question form of past simple tends to be more formal and is more commonly found in written English. It places a clearer emphasis on the negative aspect, often used to express disbelief or surprise.

Examples

Negative question "didn't" Negative question "did not"
Didn't she walk to the store? Did she not walk to the store?
Didn't we visit the museum last year? Did we not visit the museum last year?
Didn't you see the movie in July? Did you not see the movie in July?
Didn't he study for the exam? Did he not study for the exam?

Negative questions with question words

When forming negative questions with question words (who, what, where, etc.) in the past simple tense, the structure includes “did not” or “didn’t.”

Structure

Question word + didn’t + subject + infinitive + rest of the sentence?

Question word + did + subject + not + infinitive + rest of the sentence?

Examples

Negative question word + "didn't" Negative question word + "did not"
Why didn't she walk to the store? Why did she not walk to the store?
Why didn't we visit the museum last year? Why did we not visit the museum last year?
What didn't you see in July? What did you not see in July?
Who didn't study for the exam? Who did not study for the exam?

Below, we have created an image that illustrates the structures of the past simple active voice.

Past-simple-formula-active

Formula of past simple passive voice

As we’ve gone through the structure of simple past’s active voice in the previous paragraphs, it’s now time to talk about the structure of the passive voice. It is used when the focus is on the action rather than the subject performing the action. It is formed by using the auxiliary verb “was/were” and the past participle of the main verb. When people are involved, we use the agent “by” to show the doer of the action. The object in an active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

Structure

Subject + was/were + past participle (+ by agent) + object.

Examples

  • The letter was written by John.
  • The cake was eaten by the children.
  • The houses were built in 1990.

Structure

Subject + was/were + not + past participle (+ by agent) + object.

or

Subject + wasn’t/weren’t + past participle (+ by agent) + object.

Examples

  • The letter was not written by John.
  • The cake wasn’t eaten by the children.
  • The houses were not built in 1990.

Structure

Was/Were + subject + past participle (+ by agent) + object?

Examples

  • Was the letter written by John?
  • Was the cake eaten by the children?
  • Were the houses built in 1990?

Structure

Was/Were + subject + not + past participle (+ by agent) + object?

or

Wasn’t/Weren’t + subject + past participle (+ by agent) + object?

Examples

  • Wasn’t the letter written by John?
  • Was the cake not eaten by the children?
  • Weren’t the houses built in 1990?

Below, we have created an image to summarize the form of the past simple passive voice.

Past-simple-formula-passive

Indicators for past simple

There are numerous tenses in the English language, but for each one, there are time expressions that make it easier to figure out which past tense to use. Here are some common indicators for the past simple tense, along with examples.

Yesterday

Refers to the day before today.

Examples

  • I finished the book yesterday.
  • She called me yesterday to discuss the project.
  • They played basketball yesterday after school.

Last night/week/month/year

Refers to the previous night/week/month/year.

Examples

  • We went to a concert last night.
  • He started his new job last week.
  • They moved to a new house last year.

In [year]

Refers to a specific year in the past.

Examples

  • They graduated in 2010.
  • The company was founded in 1985.
  • He traveled to Europe in 1998.

[Number] days/weeks/months/years ago

Refers to a specific number of day/weeks/months/years before the present.

Examples

  • We met three years ago.
  • She traveled to Japan two months ago.
  • He finished the project five days ago.

On Monday/Tuesday/etc.

Refers to a specific day of the week in the past.

Examples

  • He left on Friday.
  • We had a meeting on Monday.
  • She visited the museum on Saturday.

On [date]

Refers to a specific date in the past.

Examples

  • The event happened on July 4th.
  • They got married on June 15th.
  • The report was submitted on March 1st.

The other day

Refers to a recent day, not specified exactly.

Examples

  • I saw John the other day.
  • She mentioned the problem the other day.
  • We went to that new restaurant the other day.

Once

Refers to a single time in the past.

Examples

  • She once visited her stepsister’s house.
  • He once worked as a chef.
  • They once lived in Berlin.

When

Used to describe a time in the past.

Examples

  • When I was a child, we lived in the countryside.
  • She smiled when she heard the news.
  • They traveled to Italy when they were on vacation.

During

Refers to a specific period or event that was completed within that period.

Examples

  • During the meeting, she presented her ideas.
  • He stayed calm during the crisis.
  • They visited many places during their trip.

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Short answers in past simple

Short answers in the past simple tense are concise responses that confirm or deny the occurrence of an action. They can be used in both active voice with “did” or “didn’t” and in passive voice with the auxiliary verb “was/were” or “wasn’t/weren’t.” Here’s how to form short answers in past simple, along with examples.

Active voice

Structure

Affirmative: Yes, + subject + did.

Negative: No, + subject + didn’t/did not.

Examples

A: Did you go to the party?

  • Yes, I did.
  • No, I didn’t.

Passive voice

Structure

Affirmative: Yes, + subject + was/were.

Negative: No, + subject + wasn’t/weren’t.

Examples

A: Was the cake baked by Sarah?

  • Yes, it was.
  • No, it wasn’t.

Practice exercise

To conclude this article, you can test your knowledge of past simple with this practice exercise. The answers for the correct past simple conjugations can be found in the second tab. Learning English tenses can be difficult, specifically irregular verbs, so don’t get frustrated when you can’t get a perfect result. As they say in the English proverb, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” meaning that achieving great things takes time and effort.

  1. She ____ the house yesterday. (To clean, active)
  2. He ____ a letter to his friend. (To write, active)
  3. They ____ ____ the movie last night. (To watch, negative)
  4. I ____ ____ to the gym this morning. (To go, negative)
  5. ____ she ____ her homework? (To finish, interrogative)
  6. ____ you ____ the latest episode of the show? (To see, interrogative)
  7. ____ they ____ you last night? (To call, negative interrogative)
  8. ____ he ____ the documents? (To bring, negative interrogative)
  9. The book ____ ____by millions of people. (To read, passive)
  10. The cake ____  ____ by Melanie. (To bake, passive, negative)
  1. She cleaned the house yesterday. (To clean, active)
  2. He wrote a letter to his friend. (To write, active)
  3. They didn’t watch the movie last night. (To watch, negative)
  4. I didn’t go to the gym this morning. (To go, negative)
  5. Did she finish her homework? (To finish, interrogative)
  6. Did you see the latest episode of the show? (To see, interrogative)
  7. Didn’t they call you last night? (To call, negative interrogative)
  8. Didn’t he bring the documents? (To bring, negative interrogative)
  9. The book was read by millions of people. (To read, passive)
  10. The cake wasn’t baked by Melanie. (To bake, passive, negative)

FAQs

A past simple example is a sentence that describes an action or event that was completed in the past.

Example

  • She walked to the store.

The simple past, also known as the past simple tense, is used to describe actions or events that were completed at a definite time in the past. This tense indicates that the action is finished and no longer happening.

  1. She cleaned the house yesterday.
  2. He wrote a letter to his friend.
  3. They watched a movie last night.
  4. I went to the gym this morning.
  5. We visited the museum last week.
  6. She cooked dinner for her family.
  7. He finished his homework.
  8. They traveled to Spain last summer.
  9. I met my friend for lunch.
  10. She bought a new dress.

The past simple form of a verb is created in two main ways:

  • Regular verbs: Add “-ed” to the base form of the verb.

Walk ⇾ walked

  • Irregular verbs: Change the verb to a specific past form, which must be memorized.

Go ⇾ went

Indicators of the past simple tense include: yesterday, last night/week/month/year, in [year], on Monday/Tuesday/etc., once, when, during, on [date], the other day, and [number] days/weeks/months/years ago.