Past Simple Tense in English

Pastsimple tense

We use the past simple tense to talk about:

things we did in the past

Examples: We travelled to Japan last year. She didn't play hockey. You closed the door yesterday. They didn't go to school.

We use the past simple tense to talk about:

true things or state facts in the past

Examples: I played football when I was a child. You didn´t study Chinese at school. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Cervantes wrote "The Quixote".

how do we form the past simple tense?

For regular verbs, the past simple ending is ed, for example:

play - playedenjoy - enjoyedwant - wanted visit - visited

love - lovedlive - livedcry - cried stop - stopped

Examples: I played football last month. She speaks Spanish. We play football at school. He works in a library.

how do we form the past simple tense?

For irregular verbs, there is a special past simple form, for example:

be - was/werego - wenthave - hadeat - ate

lose - lost see - saw speak - spoke write - wrote

Examples: I played She speaks Spanish. We play football at school. He works in a library.

how do we form the past simple tense?

For negatives, use didn't and the verb, but don't change the verb to the past form.

go - didn´t go have - didn´t have write - didn´t write

play - didn´t play live - didn´t live work - didn´t work

Examples: I didn´t play the guitar. She didn´t go to the library. We didn´t have an exam.

wh- questions

who

where

what

did she

did you talk

did you have

play tennis?

to?

for lunch?

How

when

why

did you study

did you travel

did they feel

yesterday?

to Lisbon?

Maths?

let´s play!

We _________ a lot of fun at your birthday yesterday.

had

have

did

were

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

My brother _________ three bottles of water.

did

was

drank

drinks

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

They _________ lots of animals in the zoo.

saw

see

work

didn´t

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

He _________ to school last Saturday morning.

went

go

met

was

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

We _________ our homework last night.

do

finished

finish

were

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

She _________ beach volleyball at the seaside.

played

listened

told

play

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

My cousin _________ his leg two months ago.

break

broke

broken

were

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

George and Luke _________ to music after school.

listened

didn´t

listen

sing

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

I _________ a shower at home last night.

am

took

catch

take

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

Where _________ you meet your best friend?

does

when

did

have

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

When did your sister _________ English?

study

studied

did

cook

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

My family _________ the living room last Sunday.

cleaned

talked

does

cleans

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

The bus _________ at the traffic lights.

stoped

stopped

did

climbed

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

Steve and Emily _________ the plants last week.

waters

water

watered

blew

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!

_________ it rain a lot last night?

who

do

did

what

OH NO!TRY AGAIN!