Past Tense

Past Tense
The tenses simply show the time of an action.

Simple Past Tense indicates an action which is completed at a definite
time in the past.
POSITIVE FORM (+): Subject + V2 ( Second Form of Verb )
NEGATIVE FORM (-): Subject + did not + V1 ( First Form of Verb )
QUESTION FORM (?): Did + Subject + V1 ( First Form of Verb )
NEGATIVE QUESTION FORM (?): Did not / Didn’t + Subject + V1 (
First Form of Verb )
SHORT ANSWER FORMS ( + / – ) : YES / NO + Subject + did / did
not (didn’t)
POSITIVE(+ POSITIVE NEGATIVE

) NEGATIVE(-) QUESTION (?) QUESTION (?)
He listened He did not (didn’t) Did he listen Didn’t he listen

listen
She listened She did not Did she listen Didn’t she listen
(didn’t) listen
It listened It did not (didn’t) Did it listen Didn’t it listen

listen
I listened I did not (didn’t) Did I listen Didn’t I listen

listen
You listened You did not Did you listen Didn’t you listen
(didn’t) listen
We listened We did not (didn’t) Did we listen Didn’t we listen

listen
They listened They did not Did they listen Didn’t they listen
(didn’t) listen
ATTENTION! Any auxiliary verbs aren’t used in positive sentences
and the second form of the verb is used. ‘ Did or did not’ is used as a
auxiliary verb in negative and question sentences and the
verb remains simple.
Common tense markers:
Ago / Yesterday / Last week, night, year, summer / Two days, four
years ago/ In the past / The day / before yesterday / in 2000 / in
September, etc.
Examples:
 Did you watch the news last night?
 Didn’t they go to the party yesterday?
 She didn’t read the book.
 He drew beautiful pictures last week.
 I learnt Spanish last summer.
 Did you give the present to your friend? Yes, I did.
 We didn’t buy a new car.
 There were some problems.
 You were angry.
 The child was so hungry.
Notes:
We also use a question word (Who, What, Why etc.) in past tense.
Question Words (who, what, why, etc.) + did + subject pronoun ( he,
she, it, I, you, we, they) + V1 ( First Form of Verb )
0r
Question Words (who, what, why, etc.) + V2 ( Second Form of Verb )
+ object pronouns ( me, you, him, her,it, us, them)
Examples:
 Where did you stay last night?
 When did she go to the school?
 Why did she cry?
 Who gave you this gift ?
 What made you angry?
USING OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE:

1. Simple Past Tense expresses completed actions in the past.
Examples:
 They walked on the beach yesterday.
 I met him when she was in London.
 He went to Paris two days ago.
 We saw him last Sunday.
 I heard a terrible explosion last night.
 When she arrived home, your son was reading a book.
 Lisa watched a romantic movie yesterday.
 Did you visit your grandfather?
 Didn’t she study very hard for the exam?
 We didn’t enjoy the trip.
 Michael wrote her a letter last week.
 They didn’t forget to turn off the light.
 Paul answered the question correctly.
2. Simple Past Tense expresses a series of completed actions
in the past.
Examples:
 I visited my grandmother, stayed for 1 or 2 hours, chatted with
her, and went to my home.
 My brother woke up, washed my face, got dressed, and left
home.
 He arrived at the airport at 9:30 am, took her from the airport,
and came home at 2:00 pm.
3. Past Tense expresses a single period with time expressions
such as for 1 hour, for five years,” all day, a whole weekend,
etc.
Examples:
 I didn’t see him for 2 days.
 He had a girlfriend for 3 years.
 The students didn’t answer their teacher’s question for 10
minutes.
 She chose to stay with her mother all day.
 My father talked on the phone for 5 minutes.
4. Simple Past Tense expresses the habit in the past if it is

used adverbs of frequency like always, often, usually, etc. ( to
express the habits in the past, we can use ‘used to’ at the
same time.)
Examples:
 I always did my homework on time when I was a student.
 My Father often read me tales before I went to bed.
 When I was a young, I walked 10 miles to workplace everyday.
 He usually played football in this garden when he was a child.
 They sometimes drank milk after they got up.
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PAST TENSE:
Using Regular Verbs in The Past Tense:
To change regular verbs into its past tense form, we add -d, -ed, or -
ied at the end of the verbs according to their last syllable.
General Rule: Regular verbs become the second form, taking most
commonly ‘–ed’ at the end of the verbs.
Examples:
Present Past
answer answered
accept accepted
boil boiled
stay stayed
play played
add added
rain rained
need needed
However there are some exceptions to the rule. These are stated
below.
1. If the verb ends with ‘-e ‘, we add ‘ –d ‘.

Examples:
Present Past
move moved
dance danced
use used
2. If the verb ends with consonant + vowel + consonant, we
double the final consonant and add ‘ –ed ‘.
Examples:
Present Past
plan planned
stop stopped
prefer preferred
3. If the verb ends with W, X or when the final syllable is not
emphasized, We do not double the final consonant and add ‘–
ed’.
Examples:
Present Past
show showed
Present Past
fix fixed
allow allowed
4. If the verb ends with two vowels + a consonant, we do not
double the final consonant and add ‘–ed’.
Examples:
Present Past
rain rained
need needed
wait waited
5. If a two-syllable verb ends with consonant + vowel +
consonant, we do not double the final consonant when the
stress is on the first syllable and add ‘–ed’.
Examples:
Present Past
suffer suffered
offer offered
happen happened
6. If the verb ends with consonant + vowel + ‘-l’ , we normally
double the final ‘ –l ‘ and add ‘-ed’.
However, in the United States (US) they do not double the ‘-l’ when
the accent is on the first syllable.
Examples:
Present Past (UK) Past (US)
travel travelled ( UK ) traveled ( US )
marvel marvelled ( UK ) marveled ( US )

7. If the verb ends with two consonants, we do not double the
final consonant add ‘-ed’.
Examples:
Present Past
help helped
add added
warn warned
8)If the verb ends with a consonant + ‘-y’ , we throw the final
‘ –y‘ and add ‘-ied’ at the end of the verb.
Examples:
Present Past
apply applied
reply replied
carry carried
9. If the verb ends with a vowel + ‘-y’ , we throw the final ‘ –y‘
and add ‘-ed’ at the end of the verb, not ‘ied’.
Examples:
Present Past
enjoy enjoyed
annoy annoyed
play played
IRREGULAR VERBS:
As you can guess from the name of irregular verbs, it does not
depend on any rules.
Examples:
Present Past
become became
begin began
do did
come came
take took
eat ate
find found
give gave
Point 1: We use the simple past to talk about completed events.
1. We watched a really good movie.

2. I went to Nepal for a year.
3. I played tennis when I was a kid.
4. They bought a new house.
Point 2: Affirmative sentences use the past tense form of the

verb, which often is an -ed ending.
1. He stayed home and studied.

2. He worked late last night.
3. She cooked a big dinner.
4. He washed and ironed the clothes.
Point 3: Many verbs have an irregular form that is not an -

ed ending, but rather a special spelling.
1. I met Joe last night. (meet)

2. We had dinner at the new cafe. (have)
3. We ate their pasta. (eat)
4. Later, we saw a movie. (see)
5. It made me cry! (make)
6. He bought dinner, so I paid for the movie. (buy/pay)
Point 4: For WH questions, use did after the question word.
 What did you do on the weekend?

o I stayed home and studied.
 Where did Roy go on the weekend?
o He went to Devon.
 Who did you meet?
o I met Susan.
Point 5: For Yes / No questions, we use did to start the question,

and did in short answers.
 Did you go out on Saturday?

o Yes, I did go out.
o No, I didn’t go out.
 Did you see Roy?
o Yes, I did.
o No, I didn’t.
Point 6: For negative statements, just add did

not or didn’t before the base verb.
1. I did not have time to go to the party.

2. I didn't have time to go to the party.
3. She did not like her dinner.
4. She didn't like her dinner.
5. The trains did not leave on time.
6. The trains didn't leave on time.

Past Tense

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Past Tense

The tenses simply show the time of an action.

POSITIVE(+ POSITIVE NEGATIVE

He listened He did not (didn’t) Did he listen Didn’t he listen

It listened It did not (didn’t) Did it listen Didn’t it listen

I listened I did not (didn’t) Did I listen Didn’t I listen

We listened We did not (didn’t) Did we listen Didn’t we listen

USING OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE:

4. Simple Past Tense expresses the habit in the past if it is

1. If the verb ends with ‘-e ‘, we add ‘ –d ‘.

travel travelled ( UK ) traveled ( US )

marvel marvelled ( UK ) marveled ( US )

1. We watched a really good movie.

Point 2: Affirmative sentences use the past tense form of the

1. He stayed home and studied.

Point 3: Many verbs have an irregular form that is not an -

1. I met Joe last night. (meet)

Point 4: For WH questions, use did after the question word.

 What did you do on the weekend?

Point 5: For Yes / No questions, we use did to start the question,

 Did you go out on Saturday?

Point 6: For negative statements, just add did

1. I did not have time to go to the party.

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