Learn English Grammar - THE PAST SIMPLE - Lesson Four - with easy examples

lesson 4 part 1 the past simple the past simple is used to talk about

completed actions that happened at a fixed time in the past it is the most

commonly used past tense in English regular verbs in the past simple to form

a regular verb in the past simple e D is added to the base form to relate to

something you did in the past Walter washed his car on Tuesday the

verb ends in 'ed' washed the fixed point in the past is Tuesday

Walter washed his car on Tuesday how to form the past simple most verbs in the

past simple do not change with the subject first of all you have the

subject I you he she we they then you have the past verb played then you have

the rest of the sentence tennis yesterday I played tennis yesterday you

played tennis yesterday he played tennis yesterday she played tennis yesterday we

played tennis yesterday they played tennis yesterday further examples

last night I watched a documentary about Italy last Friday I danced with friends

Tom usually drives to work but yesterday he walked instead Heather

cleaned her bedroom last weekend before the party

Tom shaved off his beard yesterday after work

Nia listen to music and started reading a new book spelling rules for the past

simple the past simple of all regular verbs end in 'ed' but for some verbs

there are some spelling changes to wash washed for many regular verbs 'ied' is

added if the last letter of the word is 'e' you just add 'd' dance danced if the

last letter of the word ends in Y then you change the ending to 'ied' try

tried the Y is removed and 'ied' is added instead a stressed final syllable

ending consonant vowel consonant

stop ends 'ped' the last consonant is doubled and 'ped' is added stopped

stopped further examples jump jumped work worked play played arrived arrived

save saved decide decided carry carried cry cried hurry

hurried dropp dropped hub hopped step stepped irregular verbs in the past

simple some verbs do not take Edie to form the past simple there are no

specific rules about how to form irregular verbs in the past simple I

went swimming yesterday went is the past simple of go I am swimming I went

swimming yesterday common regular verbs in the past simple go becomes went

have becomes had du becomes did put this stays the same

come becomes came see becomes sore further examples I swam in the 500-meter

race I came to the U.S in 1980 we saw some rare birds I did really well in

school Steve put his cup on the table Sam ate two pizzas we went to the zoo

last week they drank all our lemonade they had a great vacation

Sheila drove to the park 'be' in the past simple the past simple of

'be' is completely irregular it is the only verb in the past simple which changes

depending on the subject the traffic was bad so we were late for school was were

how to form 'be' in the past simple the past simple of 'be' changes with the

subject for example you have the subject I you he she we they you have the form

of 'be' I was you were he she was we they were I was late for school

you were late for school he she was late for school

we they were late for school further examples he was a doctor for 40

years she was a Broadway star in the 1960s there was a party last night we

were in the library yesterday there were lots of people at the party

they were at the movies last week

part two the past simple negative the past simple negative is used to talk

about things that did not happen in the past it is always formed the same way

unless the main verb is be the past simple negative

the past simple negative uses did not or didn't with the base form of the main

verb the main verb is not put into the past simple

for example I played tennis last week but I didn't play yesterday played is

the past simple to make the negative didn't is used with the base form

I didn't play yesterday we are expressing something we did in the past

but something we didn't do later I played tennis last week but I didn't

play yesterday how to form this sentence you have the subject I you have the form

of did not didn't did not or didn't are used to make the negative no matter what

the subject is you have the base form of the verb go the base form in the main

verb is used in the past simple negative and then you have the rest of the

sentence swimming I did not go swimming further examples you didn't like the

beach they didn't buy the big expensive car she did not talk to anyone before

the exam in this sentence did not is only used for emphasis or informal

situations I didn't eat all the chocolate Emily didn't enjoy the

theme-park as much as Zara Hugh did not cycle to work today

common mistakes when forming base forms in the past simple negative when using

the negative form of the past simple didn't plus the main verb in the base

form is used the main verb is never in the past simple

I didn't play tennis last night correct I didn't played tennis last night

incorrect the past simple negative of B to form

the past simple negative of B naught is added after was or were the book was

interesting but the movie was not the books were great but the movies were not

how to form this sentence you have the subject the movie you have the form was

were you have not and the rest of the sentence

interesting the movie was not interesting in the plural form the

movies were not interesting further examples Kate was not feeling well the

cat wasn't in the house was not is often shortened to wasn't my parents were not

pleased the computers weren't working were not is often shortened to weren't

finally past simple questions questions in the past simple are formed using did

for past simple questions with be the subject and the verb was or were are

swapped around questions in the past simple use did plus the base form of the

verb to ask a question in the past simple they bought a new car did they

buy a new car did goes before the subject the main verb is in its base

form by she visited her parents last week who did she visit last week you can

add question words to ask open questions who did she visit last week did they buy

a new car how to form the sentence you have did you have the subject they you

have the base form of the verb by and the rest of the sentence a new car

further examples did they have a good time did you read a book on the beach

did ray drink all the milk where did she meet her friends when did he go to the

gym why did you buy so much food questions in the past simple with B to

make a question using the verb be in the past simple swap the order of the

subject and was or were in a statement the subject comes before the verb she

was excited in a question the verb and the subject swap places

the subject comes after the verb you were excited becomes were you excited

how to form the sentence you have was were you have the subject I he she it

you we they and the rest of the sentence excited was I excited was he excited was

she excited was it excited you excited were we excited

were they excited further examples was he good at playing tennis were they

surprised by you why was she late for the party

you can add question words to make open questions what was that song called was

there any cake at the party were we the last ones to arrive what were the

lectures about what was the weather like

that is all for me for today join me next time when once again I will be asking...

how's your grammar?