Let's continue by reviewing how to form the simple past tense and the past continuous tense in Standard English. Next, we will look at when to use each to correctly express our thoughts in a sentence.
In this part of Unit 1, we look at how we form and use the past. The simple past tense is also one of the most common tenses in English. As we did in the previous lesson, keeping in mind parts of speech, sentence structure, and verb mood can help you form and use tenses correctly.
Again, we want to remember from ESL001 that each sentence in English has a subject and predicate. Also, subject pronouns will help us conjugate the verbs or change their form. Finally, it is also helpful to keep in mind regular and irregular verb types when forming the simple past.
Simple Past Tense - Affirmative
For most verbs (regular), the simple past is conjugated by adding -ed or -d. The basic pattern is Subject + verb(-ed/-d). For irregular verbs, we must learn the changed form of the verb that shows the past. Here are the rules with examples using the regular verb "cook" and irregular verb "sing".
Subject |
Verb Conjugation/Form |
Sentence Examples |
I (first person singular) |
regular verb+ -ed (or -d) irregular verb = past form |
I cooked pasta yesterday. I sang alone last night. |
you (second person singular) |
regular verb+ -ed (or -d) irregular verb = past form |
You cooked pasta yesterday. You sang alone last night. |
he/she/it (third person singular) |
regular verb+ -ed (or -d) irregular verb = past form |
He cooked pasta yesterday. She sang alone last night. |
we (first person plural) |
regular verb+ -ed (or -d) irregular verb = past form |
We cooked pasta yesterday. We sang alone last night. |
you (second person plural) |
regular verb+ -ed (or -d) irregular verb = past form |
You cooked pasta yesterday. You sang alone last night. |
they (third person plural) |
regular verb+ -ed (or -d) irregular verb = past form |
They cooked pasta yesterday. They sang alone last night. |
As you can see, the form of the verb is the same for all subjects. Past simple conjugation is easy because we do not have to remember different endings for each person. However, we must remember the past simple form of irregular verbs. Here is a list of the most commonly used irregular verbs.
Simple Present | Past |
---|---|
be | was, were |
become | became |
begin | began |
blow | blew |
break | broke |
bring | bought |
build | built |
burst | burst |
buy | bought |
catch | caught |
choose | chose |
come | came |
cut | cut |
dive | dove (dived) |
do | did |
draw | drew |
drink | drank |
drive | drove |
eat | ate |
find | found |
fly | flew |
forget | forgot |
forgive | forgave |
freeze | froze |
get | got |
give | gave |
go | went |
grow | grew |
have | had |
hear | heard |
hide | hid |
hold | held |
hurt | hurt |
lose | lost |
make | made |
mean | meant |
meet | met |
pay | paid |
put | put |
quit | quit |
read | read |
ride | rode |
ring | rang |
rise | rose |
run | run |
say | said |
see | saw |
seek | sought |
sell | sold |
send | sent |
set | set |
shake | shook |
sleep | slept |
speak | spoke |
spend | spent |
spring | sprang |
stand | stood |
steal | stole |
strike | struck |
swim | swam |
swing | swung |
take | took |
teach | taught |
tear | tore |
tell | told |
think | thought |
Simple Past Tense - Negative
The helping verb "did" is needed to form negative statements in the past simple. It’s very important to note that the verb no longer ends with -ed (for regular types) or uses the past simple form (for irregular types) in the negative. The basic pattern is Subject + did + not + verb. Here are the rules with examples using the regular verb "cook" and irregular verb "sing".
Subject |
Verb Conjugation/Form |
Sentence Examples |
I (first person singular) |
helping verb (DID) + not + verb |
I did not cook pasta yesterday. I did not sing alone last night. |
you (second person singular) |
helping verb (DID) + not + verb |
You did not cook pasta yesterday. You did not sing alone last night. |
he/she/it (third person singular) |
helping verb (DID) + not + verb |
He did not cook pasta yesterday. She did not sing alone last night. |
we (first person plural) |
helping verb (DID) + not + verb |
We did not cook pasta yesterday. We did not sing alone last night. |
you (second person plural) |
helping verb (DID) + not + verb |
You did not cook pasta yesterday. You did not sing alone last night. |
they (third person plural) |
helping verb (DID) + not + verb |
They did not cook pasta yesterday. They did not sing alone last night. |
As you can see again, the form of the verb is the same for all subjects for both regular and irregular verbs.
Simple Past Tense - Interrogative
The helping verb "did" is also needed to form questions in the past simple. It’s very important to note that the helping verb changes places with the subject. Also, the main verb again no longer ends with -ed or -d or uses the past simple form (for irregular types) in the interrogative. The basic pattern is Did + subject + verb?. Here are the rules with examples using the regular verb "bake" and the irregular verb "read".
Helping Verb |
Subject |
Verb Conjugation/Form |
Sentence Examples |
DID |
I (first person singular) |
verb |
Did I bake a pumpkin pie yesterday? Did I read my lessons last week? |
DID |
you (second person singular) |
verb |
Did you bake a pumpkin pie yesterday? Did you read your lessons last week? |
DID |
he/she/it (third person singular) |
verb |
Did he bake a pumpkin pie yesterday? Did she read her lessons last week? |
DID |
we (first person plural) |
verb |
Did we bake a pumpkin pie yesterday? Did we read our lessons last week? |
DID |
you (second person plural) |
verb |
Did you bake a pumpkin pie yesterday? Did you read your lessons last week? |
DID |
they (third person plural) |
verb |
Did they bake a pumpkin pie yesterday? Did they read your lessons last week? |
Once again, we can see that the form of the verb is the same for all subjects for both regular and irregular verbs.
However, one verb does not follow the patterns explained above. You may have guessed already that the verb "be" is different. The chart below shows the rules for conjugating "be" in the past simple.
Subject |
Be - Past Simple Affirmative |
Be - Past Simple Negative |
Be - Past Simple Interrogative |
I/he/she/it (first & third person singular) |
was I was alone. It was hungry. |
was not I was not alone. It was not hungry. |
Was + pronoun? Was I alone? Was it hungry? |
you/we/they (second person singular & plural + third person plural) |
were You were at home. They were at school. |
were not You were not at home. They were not at school. |
Were + pronoun? Were you at home? Were they at school? |
The video below explains how to form affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences in the past simple.
Source: Adapted from Barbara Hall and Elizabeth Wallace, https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/collegeeslwritermills/chapter/overview-of-verb-forms/
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