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Past Simple Tense Structure For Beginners

The document provides information about using the past simple tense in English. It lists the positive, negative, and question forms of the verb "to be" in the past tense. Examples are given of using regular and irregular verbs in the past simple. Common time expressions that are used with the past simple are listed, such as "yesterday" and "last year." The document also briefly describes using the past continuous tense to talk about actions that were ongoing in the past.

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105 views

Past Simple Tense Structure For Beginners

The document provides information about using the past simple tense in English. It lists the positive, negative, and question forms of the verb "to be" in the past tense. Examples are given of using regular and irregular verbs in the past simple. Common time expressions that are used with the past simple are listed, such as "yesterday" and "last year." The document also briefly describes using the past continuous tense to talk about actions that were ongoing in the past.

Uploaded by

S7S ALFATIH
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Past Simple "To Be"

To Be - Past

Positive Negative Question

I was I wasn't Was I?


You were You weren't Were you?
He was He wasn't Was he?
She was She wasn't Was she?
It was It wasn't Was it?
We were You weren't Were we?
You were We weren't Were you?
They were They weren't Were they?

Examples:

I was at my friend's house yesterday evening.


Bill Clinton was the President of the U.S. for eight years.
We were very happy to receive your letter last week.

You weren't at home last night.


Alice wasn't at work yesterday because of flu.
They weren't on holiday in August. It was in July.

Where were you at eight o'clock last night?


Was Winston Churchill the British Prime Minister for a long time?
How often were we in that restaurant last month?
Note. To make the negative, add "not" after the verb. To make the question, invert the verb and
the subject.

Past Simple Structure

Positive

Regular Verbs

Subject + Verb + ED or D

Irregular Verbs

Subject + Irregular Verb

Examples:

She worked all last year for a company called Kudos.


I lived in Madrid for a year in the 1990s.

but

She went to work by bus last week.


I wrote him a long letter.

If the verb finishes with "e", just add a "d", otherwise add "ed".

You can find a list of the most common irregular verbs, put in order of frequency of occurrence
in English.
Rank Base Form Past Tense Form Past Participle
1 say said said
2 make made made
3 go went gone
4 take took taken
5 come came come
6 see saw seen
7 know knew known
8 get got got/gotten (US)
9 give gave given
10 find found found
11 think thought thought
12 tell told told
13 become became become
14 show showed shown
15 leave left left
16 feel felt felt
17 put put put
18 bring brought brought
19 begin began begun
20 keep kept kept
21 hold held held
22 write wrote written
23 stand stood stood
24 hear heard heard
25 let let let
26 mean meant meant
27 set set set
28 meet met met
29 run ran run
30 pay paid paid
31 sit sat sat
32 speak spoke spoken
33 lie lay lain
34 lead led led
35 read read read
36 grow grew grown
37 lose lost lost
38 fall fell fallen
39 send sent sent
40 build built built
41 understand understood understood
42 draw drew drawn
43 break broke broken
44 spend spent spent
45 cut cut cut
46 rise rose risen
47 drive drove driven
48 buy bought bought
49 wear wore worn
50 choose chose chosen

Negative

Subject + Didn't + Infinitive Verb

Examples:

I didn't want to go to Australia on holiday last year. I wanted to try China.


JFK didn't die in Miami, he died in Florida.
They didn't go out last night after all.

Note. The negative form is the same for all verbs, regular or irregular.

Questions

Question Word + Did + Subject + Infinitive Verb

Examples:

What time did you go to bed yesterday.


How many cups of coffee did he drink during the meeting?
Why did they leave the room?

Past Simple Use


We use the past simple to describe an action which started and finished in the past. Whether the
event was in the near past or distant past is not important in English. In many languages, there is
this distinction!

JFK died in 1963.


The Egyptians invented paper.
I saw a great film last week.
I had muesli for breakfast this morning.

Remember to use the past simple to describe a series of finished events in the past. If you
describe two actions that happen together, you may need to use the Past Continuous:

Yesterday, I got up at 6, had a shower, went down into the kitchen, sat down and had breakfast.

There are many time expressions which are often used in conjunction with the past simple.

yesterday, last week/month/year, the day before yesterday


a long time ago, when I was young, six months/years/days ago
in 1996, before the war, in the 15th Century

Past Continuous Structure

The past continuous is easy to form. We use the past of the verb "to be" plus the verb in the
____ing form.

For example:

He was swimming in the river.


They were dancing when the police arrived.
Here is the verb write conjugated in the past continuous

Past Continuous

Positive Negative Question

I was writing I wasn't writing Was I writing?


You were writing You weren't writing Were you writing?
He was writing He wasn't writing Was he writing?
She was writing She wasn't writing Was she writing?
It was writing It wasn't writing Was it writing?
We were writing We weren't writing Were we writing?
You were writing You weren't writing Were you writing?
They were writing They weren't writing Were they writing?

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