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GRAMMAR LESSON

Past Simple Tense

Beginner

Tenses

UNDERSTAND THE PATTERN

The rule in plain English

Use past simple for completed past events and states. Regular verbs usually add -ed; many common verbs are irregular. Ordinary questions and negatives use did + base verb. Be is different: was/were, wasn’t/weren’t.

SEE HOW IT WORKS

Examples in context

  1. They played football yesterday.
  2. She went home after work.
  3. He did not come. / Did he come?

MAKE IT STICK

Put the rule into practice

Try 3 questions. Read the explanation after each answer, then review any mistakes and try again.

Make it yours

Write one sentence about your life using this grammar.

Check your sentence

Use past simple for completed past events and states. Regular verbs usually add -ed; many common verbs are irregular. Ordinary questions and negatives use did + base verb. Be is different: was/were, wasn’t/weren’t.

Compare: They played football yesterday.

Check the sentence structure and whether your meaning fits the rule.

Self-review only. Your sentence is not automatically marked, saved or submitted.

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GO DEEPER

Explore the full explanation

When to use the past simple

Use the past simple for events and states in a finished past period: We visited the museum on Saturday. It also describes past habits: When I lived nearby, I walked to work. A time expression can be stated or understood from the conversation.

Positive sentences

Regular verbs usually add -ed: work → worked. Spelling sometimes changes: study → studied; stop → stopped. Irregular verbs have forms to learn: go → went; eat → ate. Some stay the same: cut → cut; put → put.

  • I studied after dinner yesterday.
  • She went to the library on Monday.
  • He cut the paper into small squares.

Negatives and questions with did

For most verbs, use did not / didn’t + base verb in negatives, and did + subject + base verb in questions. The past marking is already in did.

  • They did not arrive late. Not: did not arrived.
  • Did she go home? Not: Did she went?
  • What did you buy?

When who or what is the subject of an ordinary positive question, do not add did: Who called you? Compare Who did you call?, where you is the subject.

The verb be: was and were

Use was with I/he/she/it and were with you/we/they in ordinary statements about the past. Form negatives with not and questions by changing the order; do not use did.

  • I was tired. I wasn’t tired. Was I tired?
  • They were early. They weren’t early. Were they early?

Tell a short story

Yesterday I woke up early, brushed my teeth and left home at seven. I met my cousin at the station. We bought breakfast and talked until the train arrived.

These verbs move a sequence of events forward. For background in progress, use the past continuous: It was raining when we left.

A past form does not always mean past time

In If I won the prize, I would buy a bicycle, won presents an imagined situation, not a completed past event. This is a different use of the past form. Reported speech can also shift forms: She said she wanted a break.

Quick self-check

  1. Correct: Did you went to class yesterday?
  2. Make negative: They were at home.
  3. Complete with the past simple: Who ___ (send) this message yesterday?
Check the answers

1. Did you go to class yesterday? Use the base form after did. 2. They were not / weren’t at home. Be does not use did here. 3. Who sent this message yesterday? Who is the subject.

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