Learn Simple Past Tense in English with clear rules, examples, and exercises. Perfect for beginners to improve grammar and writing skills. In this post, we will be exploring the forms, usages, examples, and spelling rules and exercises.
Table of Content
- Use
- Past Expressions
- Forms and examples
- Spelling Rules
- Irregular Verbs
- -ed Pronunciation
- Exercises
Use
Simple past tense is used to talk about an action that happened and finished at a specific time in the past. To show specific time in the past, the following past expression are frequently used.
Past Expressions
- in 2000
- yesterday
- When I was 5 years old
- Last : last week, last year, last summer
- Ago : 2 hours ago, 10 years ago, a long time ago.
Forms and Examples
Positive: Sub + V-ed + ……….
- I went to bed at 9 last night.
- She stayed at home yesterday.
- He studied with in 10 years ago.
- They lived in the countryside in 200.
- Tom just left 1 minute ago.
Negative: Sub + didn’t + base verb + ……
- She didn’t call me yesterday.
- Roza didn't come to class last week.
- They didn't do homework last night.
- We didn't do anything 10 minutes ago.
- My mom didn't cook breakfast this morning.
Yes/No: Did + sub + base verb…………?
- Did you watch TV last night?
- Did they come to class yesterday?
- Did your mom water the plant this morning?
- Did dinosaurs exist 1000 years ago?
- Did Roza live in the countryside in 2000?
Short answers
- Yes, sub + did.
- No, sub + didn’t.
Information Question : Wh-word + did + sub + base verb…………?
- What time did you do last night?
- Where did you study when you were young?
- Who did you live with in 2000?
- Why did she cry yesterday?
- Which car did you drive in 2005?
Spelling Rules
All verbs used in simple past must be in the past form. For regular
verbs, there are three important rules to follow when changing the verbs from
present to past tense. Let’s see as below.
Rule 1: Add –d to the verbs that end in –e.
- Love > loved
- Like > liked,
- Receive > received
- Hope > hoped
Rule 2: When a verb ends in consonant + y, change y to –ied.
- Study > studied
- Cry > cried
- Fry > fried
- Carry > carried
- Marry > married
Rule 3: Add –ed to the verbs that don’t follow rule 1 and 2.
- Start > started
- End > ended
- Stay > stayed
- Stop > stopped
Irregular verbs
Some verbs are irregular, so there are no rules at all. We have to learn
to memorize them gradually. Here are some of the frequently used irregular
verbs.
- Go _ went
- Buy _ bought
- Catch-caught
- Teach – taught
- Grow – grew
- See – saw
- Write – wrote
- Ride – rode
- Fight – fought
- Feel – felt
- Lose – lost
- Bring – brought
- Find – found
- Know – knew
- Give – gave
- Draw – drew
- Fly – flew
- Swim – swam
- Make – made
- Take – took
- Choose – chose
- Steal – stole
- Begin – began
- Fall – fell
- Throw – threw
- Cut – cut
- Read – read
- Drink – drank
- Run – ran
Pronunciations of -ed
/id/ : when the verbs end in -t or -d
- end - ended
- start - started
- offend - offended
- need - needed
/t/ : when the verbs end in:
- p : stop - stopped
- k : kick - kicked
- sh : finish - finished
- ch : watch - watched
- gh : laugh - laughed
- th : breath - breathed
- ss : kiss - kissed
- c: dance - danced
- x: fix - fixed
/d/ : when the verbs end in:
- l : travel - travelled
- n : ban - banned
- r : offer - offered
- g : belong - belonged
- v : believe - believed
- s : use - used
- w : borrow - borrowed
- y : stay - stayed
- z : amaze - amazed
Practice 1
1. She _________ (walk) to the park yesterday.
2.They _________( not/ play) football last weekend.
3. He _________(study) for the exam all night.
4. I _________(visit) my grandparents last summer.
5._________ ( you/ watch) a movie last week?
6. _________ (you/ clean) your room yesterday?
7. She _________ (stay) at home on Sunday last week.
8.They _________ (go) on vacation to other countries last year.
9. He _________ (meet) his old fried at a pat last night.
10. He _________(fix) the broken chair.
Practice 2
1. danced /gracefully / She/ at the party last night.
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2. He/ diligently/ for his final exams/ studied.
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3. traveled / to Paris during/ They / their summer vacation.
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4. cooked/ a delicious meal for my family/ I.
..........................................................................
5. an exciting movie/ We watched/at the cinema.
..........................................................................
6. chased the mouse/ The cat/ around the garden.
..........................................................................
7. a beautiful sunset/ She/ on her canvas/painted.
..........................................................................
8. bicycle tire/the broken/He fixed.
..........................................................................
9. played / soccer in the park/ They
..........................................................................
10. my grandparents/ over the weekend/ I visited.
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Practice 3 (Irregular verbs)
🎯 Irregular Verbs Match
Match present verbs with their past forms!
Score
Matches
Present Form
Past Form
🎉 Congratulations!
You've matched all the irregular verbs!