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
- 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
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- 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
I am satisfied with the page
Dear Sir,
I would like to ask a question about the usage of simple past tense. When we talk about a past event/what a person did in the past, and the relevant background information is still true now, should we use simple present or simple past?
Eg 1: the terrorist attack last Sunday was/is disgraceful.
Eg 2: The defendant was/is a taxi driver. He was convicted of careless driving 6 months ago.
Hello patph0510,
I think the past simple is the most likely choice here, and we would only use the present tense if we wanted to emphasise that we consider it to be still a current event in some way.
For example:
The existence of slavery in the US was a national disgrace. [past as slavery existed in the past]
The existence of slavery in the US is a national disgrace. [present because the speaker wants to emphasise that the disgrace remains even though slavery ended]
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks for your reply! Am I correct to say that even if the defendant is still a taxi driver, we would use past tense to emphasize the fact that he was a taxi driver when the accident took place?
Thanks
Hello patph0510,
If the person is still a taxi driver then both past and present could be used. I think a newspaper describing an ongoing or very recent trial would probably use the present; someone describing a trial long ago would use the past.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sir
Which answer for the following question is correct?
When I met him, he (type) the report.
_ When I met him, he was typing the report.
_ When I met him, he had typed the report.
Can both "tenses" be used with the word "when"?
Regards
Hello bakh.sh85,
Both of those sentences are possible, as are many others (he typed, he was going to type, he had been typing etc). Without any context, it is not possible to say which form is preferable.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks a lot for your reply, Sir.
Sir,
I came across the following sentence in a grammar book .
"John has become engaged ; it took us completely by surprise."
I would like to know whether we can use 'have taken' instead of 'took' in the second clause. Is there any rule regarding this ?
Hello p t balagopal,
It would be possible to use 'has taken' here but it would depend upon the context.
The phrase 'become engaged' does not sound particularly natural to me, however. We would be more likely to say 'get engaged'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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