Simple Past Tense

What is Simple Past Tense?

The simple past tense is sometimes called the preterite tense. It is used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. We can use several tenses to talk about the past, but the simple past tense is the one we use most often.

There are two types of past tense verbs:

Regular verbs: add “ed” to the simple form -Achieved

Irregular verbs: don’t add “ed” – began

How do we make the simple past tense?

This page will explain the rules for forming the simple past tense sentences. Again we want to remember the general structure of English sentences before we start. In this way, you can easily understand .
First, let us see the of simple past tense.
General Structure

• 1. Affirmative (Positive) Sentence

Subject	Verb	Rest of the sentence
I, We, You, They, He, She, It	Past	Rest of the sentence.

• 2. Negative Sentence

Subject	Auxiliary + Not	Verb	Rest of the sentence
I, We, You, They, He, She, It	did not	Present	Rest of the sentence.

• 3. Yes/No type Question

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest of the sentence?
Did	I, We, You, They, He, She, It	Present	Rest of the sentence?

• 4.Information Question?

QW	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest of the sentence?
QW	did	I, We, You, They, He, She, It	Present	Rest of the sentence?

Important Note:

• Verb – past
  Auxiliary verb – Did
  I, We, You, They, He, She, It – Did
• QW – Question Word

1. Affirmative (Positive) Sentences

Subject	Verb (Past Tense)	Rest of the sentence
I	worked	on my website yesterday.
You	learned	English at home.
We	saw	a movie yesterday.
He	ate	breakfast earlier.
She	arrived	on time.
It	took	time.
They	visited	the beach.

Rules:

• For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
• Simple Past Form of the verb is used after the subject.

2. Negative Sentences

Subject	Auxiliary + Not	Verb (Present Tense)	Rest of the sentence
I	did not	work	on my website yesterday.
You	did not	learn	English at home.
We	did not	see	a movie yesterday.
He	did not	eat	breakfast earlier.
She	did not	arrive	on time.
It	did not	take	time.
They	did not	visit	the beach.

Rules:
Auxiliary verb (did not) “didn’t” and simple form of the verb is used.
I, We , You, They, He, She, It – Did
Please note that past form of the verb is only used affirmative (positive) sentences.

3. Yes/No type Question

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb (Present Tense)	Rest of the sentence?
Did	I	work	on my website yesterday?
Did	you	learn	English at home?
Did	we	see	a movie yesterday?
Did	he	speak	breakfast earlier?
Did	She	arrive	on time?
Did	it	take	time?
Did	they	visit	the beach?
Did	Mugilan	go	in Chennai?

Rules:

• The Auxiliary verb Did is used in the beginning of the sentences.
• I, We , You, They, He, She, It – Did
• The verb is used in its simple form. It ends with question mark (?).

4. Information Questions

Question Word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb(Present)	Rest of the sentence?
When	did	I	work	on my website?
Where	did	you	learn	English?
When	did	we	see	a movie?
When	did	he	eat	breakfast?
What	did	she	write	?
How long	did	it	take	?
Where	did	they	play	cricket?
Why	did	Kabilan	go	to Chennai?

Rules:
Question words are used in the beginning of the sentences.
I, We , You, They, He, She, It  - Did
The verb is used in its simple form. It ends with question mark (?).

When should we use the simple past tense?

Use 1 Completed Action in the Past

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past.
I saw a movie yesterday.
Did you have dinner last night?
When did the train leave?
Tom lived in India

Use 2 Duration in Past

The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. Duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.
I lived in India for two years.
He studied English for five years.
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.