Simple past tense

also called past simple or preterite
1. The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now.
  1. The simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has already happened.
    1. show action that occurred and was completed at a particular time in the past
      1. The simple past tense of regular verbs is marked by the ending -d or -ed
        You can also use the simple past to talk about a past state of being, such as the way someone felt about something. This is often expressed with the simple past tense of the verb to be and an adjective, noun, or prepositional phrase.
How to Formulate the Simple Past
1. For regular verbs, add -ed to the root form of the verb (or just -d if the root form already ends in an e)
  1. Play→Played Type→Typed Listen→Listened Push→Pushed Love→Loved
    1. Example: I played soccer yesterday
2. For irregular verbs, things get more complicated. The simple past tense of some irregular verbs looks exactly like the root form
  1. Put→Put Cut→Cut Set→Set Cost→Cost Hit→Hit
    1. Example: I hit my head last weekend
3. For other irregular verbs, including the verb to be, the simple past forms are more erratic
  1. See→Saw Build→Built Go→Went Do→Did Rise→Rose Am/Is/Are→Was/Were
    1. Example: I saw it yesterday
How to Make the Simple Past Negative
1. Fortunately, there is a formula for making simple past verbs negative, and it’s the same for both regular and irregular verbs (except for the verb to be). The formula is did not + [root form of verb]. You can also use the contraction didn’t instead of did not.
  1. Wolfgang did not brag too much about his hula hoop skills. Wolfgang’s girlfriend didn’t see the contest.
2. For the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. When the subject of the sentence is singular, use was not or wasn’t. When the subject is plural, use were not or weren’t.
  1. The third-place winner was not as happy as Wolfgang. The fourth-place winner wasn’t happy at all. The onlookers were not ready to leave after the contest ended. The contestants weren’t ready to leave either.
How to Ask a Question
1. The formula for asking a question in the simple past tense is did + [subject] + [root form of verb].
  1. Did Wolfgang win the gold medal or the silver medal? Where did Wolfgang go to celebrate? Did the judges decide fairly, in your opinion?
2. When asking a question with the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. The formula is was/were + [subject].
  1. Was Wolfgang in a good mood after the contest? Were people taking lots of pictures?

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Simple past tense

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	Created by Silvia Stella Laguna Rios over 5 years ago