Simple Past Tense - Easy usages, Forms, Examples and Practices.

Use : Simple Past tense is used to talk about an action that happened and finished at a specific time in the past. It is formed by using simple past verb and the past time expressions.

Forms

Positive : Sub + V2 + past time expressions.

Negative : Sub + didn't + base verb (V1) + Past time expressions.

Yes/No : Did + sub + base verb + past time expressions?

Wh-Question : Wh-word + did + sub + base verb.....?

Changing present to past spelling rules

Rule 1 : Add -d to the verb that ends in -e.

- love > loved

- like > liked

- hate > hated 

- move > moved

Rule 2 : change y > -ied when a verb ends in consonant + y

- study > studied

- cry > cried

- fry > fried

- try > tried

Rule 3 : add red if the verb doesn't follow rule 1 and 2.

- visit > visited

- stay > stayed

- stop > stopped

- watch > watched 

Irregular Verbs

- go >went

- see > saw

- meet > met

- eat > ate

- pay > paid

- spend > spent

- drink > drank

- speak > spoke

- do > did

- have > had

- am/is > was

- are > were

Example

• I visited Angkor Wat Temple in 2010.
• They played soccer last week.
• She wanted TV last night.
• My mom watered the plant this morning.
• My brother didn't do his homework last night.
• She didn't go to the movie last week.
• Did you go to bed late last night?
• Did they play soccer last week?
• What did you do yesterday?
• Who did she talk to a moment ago?

Practices

Gap-Filling Practice: Simple Past (Regular Verbs)
Write the correct past form of the verb in brackets.

1. She ______ (watch) a movie last night.
2. They ______ (wash) their clothes yesterday.
3. He ______ (fix) his bicycle yesterday afternoon.
4. We ______ (mix) the ingredients for the cake.
5. The teacher ______ (pass) the test papers to students.
6. My father ______ (push) the heavy table into the room.
7. The dog ______ (chase) the cat this morning.
8. The baby ______ (cry) loudly last night.
9. She ______ (carry) the books to the classroom.
10. They ______ (study) English for the test yesterday.
11. He ______ (try) to open the door.
12. We ______ (copy) the sentences from the board.
13. The students ______ (hurry) to school in the morning.
14. She ______ (reply) to the email last night.
15. The boy ______ (play) football after school.
16. They ______ (stay) at home yesterday.
17. She ______ (enjoy) the music at the party.
18. The teacher ______ (explain) the lesson clearly.
19. We ______ (visit) our grandparents last weekend.
20. He ______ (finish) his homework before dinner.

Simple Past Tense Quiz