What is the Past Simple? 🕰️
The Past Simple (or simple past) is used to talk about completed actions that happened at a specific time in the past. Think of it as a finished event or a series of finished events—you start it, you finish it, and it’s over.
Formation
The way you form the Past Simple depends on the verb:
- Regular Verbs: You simply add -ed to the base form.
- walk → walked
- start → started
- study → studied (note the change from ‘y’ to ‘i’)
- Irregular Verbs: These verbs change their form completely, and you just have to memorize them!
- go → went
- eat → ate
- have → had
Usage
The Past Simple is often used with time expressions that tell us when the action finished, such as yesterday, last week, three years ago, or in 2010.
| Sentence Type | Structure | Example |
| Affirmative | Subject + Verb (past form) | She finished her report yesterday. |
| Negative | Subject + didn’t + Verb (base form) | We didn’t watch the news. |
| Question | Did + Subject + Verb (base form)? | Did they visit London last summer? |
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Key Uses
- A single completed action: “I woke up at 7 a.m.”
- A series of actions/events: “He came home, ate dinner, and watched a movie.”
- Past habits or states: “I lived in Paris for ten years.”
Past Simple vs. Past Perfect
The main difference between Past Simple and Past Perfect is the order of events.
- The Past Simple talks about an event that is completed in the past.
- The Past Perfect (had + past participle) talks about an event that was completed before another past event (which is usually in the Past Simple).
Example:
- Past Simple: “I got to the station at 9:00 a.m.”
- Past Perfect: “The train had already left when I got to the station.” (The train leaving happened first.)
To dive deeper into the Past Perfect, its structure, and its specific uses, follow this link for a more in-depth study.
Check Your Understanding
- How do you form the Past Simple for most regular verbs?
- Which part of the verb do you use when forming a negative sentence in the Past Simple?
- Fill in the gap with the Past Simple form: “We ______ (go) to the museum last Saturday.”
- If an action is described using the Past Perfect, what does that tell you about its timing relative to a main Past Simple event?
