The Past Simple tense in English is used to talk about actions or events that are finished and happened at a specific time in the past. It can describe completed actions, habits, or general truths that are no longer true.

Usage

The Past Simple is used for:

Actions that started and ended in the past (e.g., I visited Paris last year).
A series of completed actions (e.g., She finished her homework and went to bed).
Past habits or routines (e.g., When I was a child, I played outside every day).
Facts or general truths about the past (e.g., People believed the earth was flat).

Form

Affirmative

Subject + verb in past form

Regular verbs: add -ed (e.g., worked, played)
Irregular verbs: use the second form (e.g., went, saw)

Examples:

I visited my grandparents.
She wrote a letter.

How do you form negative sentences in the Past Simple?

Subject + don’t + verb.

Subject + did not (didn’t) + base verb.

Subject + verb + -ed + not.

Subject + did not (didn’t) + base verb.

Negative past simple sentences use 'did not' (or didn’t) followed by the base form of the verb, regardless of whether the verb is regular or irregular.

Negative

Subject + did not (didn’t) + base form of verb

Examples:

I didn’t watch TV last night.
They didn’t go to the party.

Question

Did + subject + base form of verb?

Examples:

Did you finish your homework?
Did they arrive on time?

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the -ed pattern. Some common ones:

Base Form	Past Simple	Example Sentence
go	went	She went to the market.
see	saw	I saw a movie.
write	wrote	He wrote a poem.
take	took	They took the bus.
eat	ate	We ate dinner early.

Time Expressions

Common time expressions used with the Past Simple:

English	Example
yesterday	I called you yesterday.
last night/week/month	She stayed home last night.
two days ago	They left two days ago.
in	We traveled in 2010.
when I was a child	I played outside when I was a child.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions that often introduce past time clauses:

Conjunction	Example
when	I was sleeping when the phone rang.
after	After I finished, I went out.
before	She left before dinner.
while	He listened to music while studying.
as soon as	As soon as I arrived, it started raining.

Which conjunction indicates one past action happened immediately after another?

when

as soon as

while

before

as soon as

"As soon as" shows that one action happened immediately after another in the past.

Examples

Example	Explanation
I visited Japan last year.	Completed action in the past.
She didn’t like the movie.	Negative statement in the past.
Did you see the news?	Question about a past event.
They went out after dinner.	Sequence of past actions.
When I was young, I played soccer.	Past habit.

"Quand j’étais jeune, je jouais au foot." (Translate this French sentence into English about a past habit using Past Simple.)

When I was young, I am playing soccer.

When I was young, I played soccer.

When I am young, I play soccer.

When I was young, I played soccer.

Past Simple describes past habits; 'played' shows this appropriately.

Summary

Use Past Simple for completed past actions, past habits, and past facts.
Add -ed for regular verbs; use irregular forms as needed.
Use did not + base verb for negatives and did + subject + base verb for questions.
Signal words like yesterday, last week, and ago often appear in Past Simple sentences.

Flashcards (1 of 5)

Example: I called you yesterday.

English: yesterday

Last updated: Wed Jun 18, 2025