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
- GapFillTyping_MTYzMjI=
- Past simple 2
- GapFillTyping_MTYzMjM=
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
- ReorderingHorizontal_MTYzMjQ=
- Past simple questions 2
- GapFillTyping_MTYzMjU=
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
- GapFillDragAndDrop_MTYzMjY=
- Past simple negatives 2
- GapFillTyping_MTYzMjc=
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 Team!
Example: 'The official took the bribe money and ended up in jail '
Is it possible to understand without context from this case whether the fact of bribery took place only once ('something that happened once in the past'),or it happened many times by turns as it were ('something that happened again and again in the past').
If this sentence can be understood one way only (under what rule?),then what would another option ( once/again &again) look like?
Thanks in advance
Hello Slava B,
I would say that the definite article here ('the money') tells us that we are talking about a particular bribe rather than money in general. That would suggest one bribe. If the sentence described an ongoing/repeated action then no article would be more likely.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, sir.
It is stated in this section that we use simple past to talk about something that happened again and again in the past.
So can we use 'every day' in a simple past sentence? Such as the sentences. below,
Soon, they became friends. Every day, the boy helped Lina to cut wood.
Thank you sir
Hello Omyhong,
Yes, you can use 'every day' like that -- your sentence is correct. Well done!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, I have just reread my message and see my possible mistakes,but nevertheless I am waiting for your comments )
Hello LETeam!
Which way of expressing is more correct in the following situation: (prehistory of situation) -
I begin to brush teeth and in one second i realize that i have taken hand cream instead of tooth paste by mistake. Then in two minutes I ,full of emotions,meet my friend and say to him what have happened :
1. Listen, I almost brushed my teeth with hand cream just now!
2. Listen,I have almost brushed my teeth with hand cream now!
Question: Which is better or more correcr here,i mean Past simple(1) or Present perfect(2),if only I have used them correctly? As I see it both Tenses are correct,but it depends on how thе situation looks like "from outside" or is progressing in reality...,i.e. if Present perfect is possible here then under what rule do we use it? And another thing: do "just now"(ex.1) and "now"(ex.2) fit in rightly with the sentences and tenses?
And the last question (sorry for several ones at a time !) :
Is my description of the sisituation
"I begin to brush teeth and in one second i realize that i have taken hand cream instead of tooth paste by mistake. Then in two minutes I ,full of emotions,meet my friend and say to him what have happened "
is correct in terms of
Sequence of tenses, and is it possible to use Present simple and Present perfect tenses the way I have done it, i.e can a storyteller use Perfect tenses when meaning past events?
If my "description" is not correct,could you please put it right?
If you answer I will be indebted to you forever ))
Hello Slava B,
The correct form here is past simple because the action is complete/finished. You stopped yourself and so the brushing is entirely in the past, with no present result. You might use the present perfect if you use a verb which has a clear present result:
I hope that's helpful. I'm afraid we don't provide corrections of writing. It is possible to use a range of tenses, including perfect tenses, in stories such as this. The key is whether the action is finished (takes place in a finished time frame) or not and has a present result or not.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello team,
I've just encountered this sentence this morning: "I didn't know you smoked". The situation here is the speaker realises her friend smoke. Because her friend still smokes at the present time so I think it must be "I didn't know you smoke". And is it different with "I don't know you smoke"?
Can you explain it for me?
Thanks in advance.
Hello Quynh Nhu,
Both 'smokes' and 'smoked' are fine here. If you say 'smokes' then it must be true that the person still smokes. If you say 'smoked' then you could be talking about something which was true when you found out but is no longer true now (they stopped smoking at some point) or something which is still true. The difference is perhaps clearer with a different example:
You can read more about the use of various verb forms on these pages:
reporting and summarising
reporting verbs and different clauses
reported speech 1
reported speech 2
reporting questions
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Sir,
It would be better to keep listening system for corrections.
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