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A1 · ④ Past simple
Past simple
Finished, over, done — and the good news: one form for everybody, whatever your gender.
50minthe whole
sheet
54questions
in the practice
3pages,
one at a time
01 · First page · the regulars, and the families of the irregulars
The forms
No change at all
cut → cutput → putcost → costlet → lethit → hit
-ought / -aught
buy → boughtthink → thoughtbring → broughtteach → taughtcatch → caught
i → a
sing → sangdrink → drankswim → swambegin → begangive → gave
-ew
know → knewgrow → grewfly → flewthrow → threwdraw → drew
-old / -eld
tell → toldsell → soldhold → held
Alone in the world
go → wentbe → was / werehave → haddo → didsee → sawmake → madetake → took
past simple: The past simple is the tense of what is finished. It belongs to a moment that is over and closed: yesterday, last week, in 2019, ten minutes ago. If you can say when, and the when is over, this is your tense.
regular verb: A regular verb simply takes -ed, and it takes it for every person: I worked, she worked, they worked. There is nothing to conjugate. Several languages change the past for gender and number — English does not, and this is one of the few places where English is genuinely easier.
did: For questions and negatives the helper comes back, in its past form: did. And as always, once the helper carries the tense the main verb goes back to its bare form. Did you go, never did you went.
- I worked in a bank for six years.
- She went to Rome last summer.
- They didn't come to the party.
- Did you see the film?
- We were very tired.
| How to write it | How to say it | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Verb ends in… | Rule | Example | Sound of -ed |
| most verbs | add -ed | work → worked | /t/ after p, k, f, s, sh, ch |
| -e | add only -d | live → lived · like → liked | /d/ or /t/ |
| consonant + -y | -y becomes -ied | study → studied · try → tried | /d/ |
| one vowel + one consonant, stressed | double the consonant | stop → stopped · plan → planned | /t/ or /d/ |
| -t or -d | add -ed | want → wanted · need → needed | /ɪd/, one more syllable |
Golden rule
The tense is carried once. In an affirmative sentence the verb carries it: I went. As soon as did appears, did carries it and the verb goes back to bare: Did you go? I didn't go. This is the same rule as the present, with the same helper — it has only changed its own form.
be does not take did. It makes its own past and its own questions: I was, you were, Was she at home?, They weren't ready. If the sentence has was or were, did has no business being there.
02 · Second page · when you use it
The uses
Finished, with a when
An action complete in a moment that is over. Usually the moment is said out loud.
I met her in 2019.We arrived an hour ago.He called yesterday.
One after another
The tense of telling a story: events in the order they happened.
I woke up, made coffee and left.She opened the door and saw him.
A past habit
Something that was true for a while and is not any more.
I played the piano as a child.We lived in Dublin for ten years.
A finished state
With be, for how someone or something was.
The film was boring.They were at home all day.
One did for everybody
did does not change: no persons, no gender. The same word for I, she and they.
Did I go?Did she go?Did they go?
Back to bare
After did and didn't the verb loses its past form completely.
I didn't go.Did you see it?not: didn't went
Short answers
You answer with the helper, exactly as in the present.
Yes, I did.No, she didn't.
be goes alone
was and were make their own question and their own negative.
Were you there?It wasn't easy.not: Did you be there?
The words that call the past simple
Some time expressions leave you no choice: yesterday, last night, last week, two days ago, in 2019, when I was a child, then. If one of them is in the sentence, the verb goes in the past simple and nothing else will do. Note ago in particular: it comes after the amount of time, not before, and it always takes the past simple — three years ago, not before three years.
🌍 For everyone
Neither language has a verb like be that makes its own past question. Was she at home? needs no did at all, and Did you be at home? is the mistake both make.
Were you at home?
The irregular verbs are not a rule you can work out: they are a list you have to know. But they are not a hundred separate problems either — the families on the first page cover most of them, and the fifty most frequent verbs will carry you through almost every conversation.
Did you went home? → Did you go home?
did already carries the past. The verb cannot carry it a second time.
I didn't saw her. → I didn't see her.
Same rule in the negative: after didn't the verb is bare.
You was late. → You were late.
be keeps two past forms: was for I, he, she, it — were for you, we, they.
Did you be at home? → Were you at home?
be never takes did: it makes its own question.
I go to Rome last year. → I went to Rome last year.
last year closes the moment: the past simple is compulsory.
She studyed medicine. → She studied medicine.
Consonant plus -y becomes -ied.
Before three years I lived here. → Three years ago I lived here.
ago goes after the amount of time; before is a different word.
- — Did you sleep well? — No, I didn't.
- She wasn't at home when I called.
- We met ten years ago, in Kraków.
- He got up, drank his coffee and left.
03 · Third page · now it's your turn
Exercises
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