Level: beginner
With most verbs, the past tense is formed by adding –ed:
| called | liked | wanted | worked |
But there are a lot of irregular past tense forms in English. Here are the most common irregular verbs in English, with their past tense forms:
| Base form | Past tense |
|---|---|
| be begin break bring buy build choose come cost cut do draw drive eat feel find get give go have hear hold keep know leave lead let lie lose make mean meet pay put run say sell send set sit speak spend stand take teach tell think understand wear win write |
was/were began broke brought bought built chose came cost cut did drew drove ate felt found got gave went had heard held kept knew left led let lay lost made meant met paid put ran said sold sent set sat spoke spent stood took taught told thought understood wore won wrote |
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.
- Past simple 1
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- Past simple 2
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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?
- Past simple questions 1
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- Past simple questions 2
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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.
- Past simple negatives 1
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- Past simple negatives 2
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Level: intermediate
Past simple and hypotheses
We can also use the past simple to refer to the present or future in hypotheses (when we imagine something). See these pages:
Comments
Hello Kirk, I don't think there's much difference between the two sentences I "sat" is past simple "was sitting" is past continuous and it depends on the aspect of the speaker. I've always spoken English quite well but my fears began one day when I spoke to my gf who's American and she said I used some certain sentences wrongly in some contexts. That's why I want to be well grounded. My problem is how people use past simple and continuous in a sentence without interruptions. E.g "I watched as the blood was dripping from his body last week". I say things like this everyday but sometimes I'm unsure If they are right in some contexts. "Watched" past simple "was dripping" past continuous. You watched the action as a whole, was dripping was just part of what you saw....if you can explain this usages to me very well then I'm Good with my English.
Hello Timmosky,
There are a lot of factors to consider in choosing past simple vs past continuous. Without a specific context or knowing how the speaker sees an event, it's difficult to completely explain why they choose one or the other. Next time you say something that your girlfriend finds odd, you're welcome to describe it to us and we can see if we can help you.
You might also want to take a look at this Cambridge Dictionary page on the past simple vs the past continuous, which explains some of the most common ways they are used.
I hope this helps you.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Great work guys I can really say I know how to use they past continuous now. Now I'm moving to past perfect progressive and I've got a question...can an action in past perfect progressive continue like that of past continuous up until a time in the past...for example I had been walking for 5 minutes when I saw two people talking; they were walking as they were talking, I continued walking with them
Hello Timmosky,
Yes, that is precisely how the past perfect continuous works. Like all perfect tenses, it describes an action prior to another time or action and which has some connection to that time or action (causal, for example)
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you Peter and Kirk. Thank you so very much, I think with your explanations, I've started to understand just how the past continuous works. But I have a question. Can I generalize the events happening at a time with past simple and then break it down with past continuous. For example: I ran to the office when I got his call this morning; while I was running though, I was praying he didn't get to the office before I did. Another example: I talked with him yesterday, and when we were talking, Jenny passed by, she was waving to us as she was passing. Are these tenses usable this way I.e past simple to generalize, past continuous to breakdown. Thanks a bunch
Hello Timmosky,
I'm not sure I'd use those terms (generalise and breakdown) but the uses of the forms in your examples are fine. The continuous forms represent actions in progress and the simple describes actions taken as a whole.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Sorry for my bothering questions on past simple and past continuous but I really wanna put all doubts in my mind to rest. I've read about it several times and the way people use them I think is dependent on choice. E.g
1 I was telling her the other day not to provoke her aunt but she wouldnt listen.
2. I told her the other day not to provoke her aunt but she wouldn't listen. These two sentences mean the same thing or is there a particular way of using past continuous because to me it seems you can substitute past simple in many past continuous usages.
Hello Timmosky,
As I said in a previous answer, aspect reflects the prespective of the speaker regarding the action, not the fact of the action itself. In many cases there is a choice and the speaker may choose, for example, to emphasise the repeated nature of an action because it is in some way notable (such as being irritating or impressive that the person is so persistent).
There are uses where only one form makes sense, or where the meaning changes. For example:
In the first example he arrived during my conversation with her. In the second sentence I begin talking to her only when he arrives.
In your example both forms are possible and there is little difference between them. The continuous form emphasises that it was not merely one comment to her but a process which the speaker may see as ongoing - the speaker's efforts to convince her continued (in his mind) up to the point at which they failed. This may be through multiple conversations or it may be simply that the speaker viewed the issue as incomplete because he intended to return to the topic. The simple form suggests that the speaker sees it as complete: he spoke to her and after that the issue was left to her to decide what to do next. As I said, it is a question of the speaker's perspective on the situation.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi sir
I have studied mass communication or I studied mass communication
Hi aseel aftab,
This is the same issue (present perfect or past simple) that has already been explained in answers to several previous questions. Please take a look at those answers.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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