Grammar - Beginner - Past Simple

The Simple Past Tense
Use the simple past tense to talk about things that happened in the past. The simple past tense is also
used to talk about things that happened in stories.

We use the past tense to talk about:

something that happened once in the past:
I met my wife in 1983.
We went to Spain for our holidays.
They got home very late last night.

something that happened several times in the past:
When I was a boy, I walked a mile to school every day.
We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

something that was true for some time in the past:
I lived abroad for ten years.
He enjoyed being a student.
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

we often use expressions with ago with the past simple:
I met my wife a long time ago.

I bought a new camera last week.
Joe learned to play the guitar very quickly.
We drove to the safari park last weekend.
The giant panda gave birth to a cub last night.
Yesterday Dad took me to the carnival.
The plane landed a few minutes ago.
The children visited a farm during the holidays.
Who invented the computer?
Jack and Jill went up the hill.
Little Red Riding Hood decided to visit her grandmother.
The Three Bears found Goldilocks asleep in their house.

Past simple questions and negatives

We use did to make questions with the past simple:

Did she play tennis when she was younger?
Did you live abroad?
When did you meet your wife?
Where did you go for your holidays?

But questions with who often don't use did:

Who discovered penicillin?
Who wrote Don Quixote?

We use didn't (did not) to make negatives with the past simple:

They didn't go to Spain this year.
We didn't get home until very late last night.
I didn't see you yesterday.

Regular and Irregular Verbs
The simple past tense of most verbs ends in -ed. These verbs are called regular verbs.

Spelling File
Base Form                        Simple Past
aim                                     aimed
bake                                     baked
open                                    opened
happen                             happened
pull                                   pulled
push                                  pushed
scold                                scolded
shout                                 shouted
visit                                    visited
wait                                   waited
walk                                 walked
work                                worked

Mom opened the door for us.
Sally petted the dog.
That event happened long ago.
We visited our uncle last week.
They walked to school together yesterday.
They worked until twelve last night.
Dad tried to fix the light.
William Tell aimed at the apple on his son’s head.

- The simple past tense is usually formed by adding -ed
to the verb. For example:
jump + ed = jumped lift + ed = lifted
laugh + ed = laughed look + ed = looked

- If the verb ends with -e, just add -d. For example:
agree + d = agreed hate + d = hated
die + d = died live + d = lived

- Remember these spelling rules:
You must double the last letter of some verbs before adding -ed. For example:
fan + ed = fanned pat + ed = patted
grab + ed = grabbed rip + ed = ripped
nod + ed = nodded slam + ed = slammed

- Notice that the verbs above are all short verbs of just one syllable. They all end with a consonant such as b, d, m, n, p, t, and have only a single vowel before the consonant.

- With verbs that end in -y, change the y to i before adding -ed. For example:
bury + ed = buried fry + ed = fried
carry + ed = carried hurry+ ed = hurried
cry + ed = cried try + ed = tried

The simple past form of some verbs does not end in -ed. Such verbs are called irregular verbs.
The simple past tense of some irregular verbs does not change at all.
He hit the ball over the net.
Dad read to us last night.
He shut the door.
I put some sugar in my coffee.

Spelling File
Base Form                          Simple Past
beat                                        beat
burst                                        burst
cost                                         cost
cut                                           cut
hit                                            hit
hurt                                        hurt
put                                          put
read                                        read
split                                        split
shut                                        shut


Most irregular verbs, however, take a different form in the simple past tense. 
I lost my pen on the bus.
We sold our car last week.
The baby slept right thought the night.
Peter got a watch for his birthday.
I heard a noise in the night.
He brought his pet mouse to school.
My book fell off the desk.

Spelling File
Base Form                               Simple Past
bend                                             bent
break                                          broke
bring                                         brought
buy                                           bought
fall                                             fell
fly                                             flew
get                                              got
hear                                           heard
keep                                          kept
lose                                           lost
sell                                           sold
shoot                                        shot
sleep                                         slept

Was and Were
The verbs was and were are also forms of the verb be.
Was is the simple past tense of am and is. Use was with the pronouns I, he, she and it, and with singular nouns.

Beethoven was a German composer.
Sue was at the library this morning.
It was very wet on Monday.
Ten years ago she was only a baby.
He was not well yesterday.
Last year she wasn’t tall enough to reach
the high shelf.
Samantha was second in the race,
wasn’t she?

Were is the simple past tense of are. Use were with the pronouns you, we and they, and with plural nouns.
The Romans were brave soldiers.
They were third in the wheelbarrow race.
There weren’t any clouds in the sky.
Were you still in bed when I phoned?
We were on the same school team.
Those were my best jeans.

Here is a table to help you remember the rules:
                                    Singular                       Plural
First person                   I was                        we were
Second person             you were                  you were
Third person                 he was                    they were
                                     she was                   they were
                                      it was                     they were

Here’s a table to show you the different forms of the verb be:
                                                       Simple Present                      Simple Past
First person singular                               am                                         was
Second person singular                           are                                        were
Third person singular                                is                                        was
First person plural                                    are                                       were
Second person plural                                are                                       were
Third person plural                                   are                                       were

Learn these contractions:
was not = wasn’t
were not = weren’t

Keywords to indicate the presence of Simple Past Tense :
Yesterday

Last (week, month, year,..)

Ago, Once, Once upon a time

In those days

One day

Then

In 1980s / 1985 / like this

In ancient times

In early days

In my childhood

In my boyhood days

Today morning…