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
- 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:
Hello Guan Lin,
Yes, this article refers to the past simple (also known as 'simple past').
As far as I know, 'the past tense' can refer to any of the four forms you mention, but I'm not completely sure what the author of this page meant. I'm sorry -- I can't make anything other than guesses about his intentions here.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ali mohamedali,
'did' is the past simple form of the verb 'do' and 'was' and 'were' are the past simple forms of the verb 'be'.
Both of these verbs are used in many, many different ways. Both of them can be the main verb in a sentence, e.g. 'I did my homework' and 'I was tired after work'.
They can also be auxiliary verbs. For example, 'did' is used to form the negative of a past simple verb: 'I didn't eat lunch today' ('didn't' is the auxiliary verb and 'eat' is the main verb).
Does that help? If you have another specific question, please feel free to ask again.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again ali mohamedali,
I'm not sure I understand your question. We use 'was' after singular nouns and the pronouns 'I', 'he', 'she' and 'it'. We use 'were' after plural nouns and the pronouns 'you', 'we', and 'they'. For example, 'I was very tired after the match, but my friends were not.'
You can use 'did' after any noun or pronoun, for example, 'I did my homework but they did the laundry.'
I hope this helps you.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Dawoud
'I haven't read either of them yet' is the correct form. When the meaning is negative, we use 'either of' instead of 'both of'.
Best wishes
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello VegitoBlue,
A specific time may be given, but is not necessary. For example, I might say this without a specific time reference:
I was born in England, not Ireland.
Happened in the past tells us that the action does not continue to the present. As the information on the page makes clear, it can be a single event, a repeated event or an event with duration.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello magnuslin,
There are various ways to define this use of the past simple but I think the description on the page is accurate and accessible for our users.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again magnuslin,
Yes, that's correct.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Charneet kaur
Both sentences are grammatically correct. What do you think the difference is? I'd suggest you focus on the words 'young' and 'younger'. There is a slight difference of meaning, though in some contexts this difference in meaning might not be so important.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tim
We don't use this terminology on LearnEnglish, but if you'd like to read more about it, I'm sure you can find some information by doing an internet search for 'indefinite aspect' or 'indefinite tenses'.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tim
Your understanding is mostly correct, but I wouldn't say it's true that a time expression usually accompanies a past simple verb. That is sometimes the case, but it is in no way required. Often the context will make the time period clear, but not always, and there is nothing wrong with that.
A past simple verb simply expresses that the action is entirely in the past -- as you say, it began and ended in the past.
Actually, a past simple verb can express other ideas (e.g. unreal present events, as in a second conditional), but I don't think that's what you're asking about here.
Best wishes
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tim,
Yes, you are right about all three points!
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Fey,
We form negatives in simple past with the verb do, in the form of did (not). The exception to this is the verb be, which forms questions by inversion in all tenses and not just simple past. You can read more about the verb be here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/verb-be
Can is a modal verb. These have their own grammar structures. Note that modal verbs do not occur in the infinitive; there is no form with to. You can read more about modal verbs in this section:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/modal-verbs
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Shanthini,
No, I'm afraid that sentence is not grammatically correct. I'm not sure what you want to say and what the context is, so I don't want to guess what the correct way to phrase it would be.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Praveen,
The verb phrase is caught is grammatical, but I think you would probably need an article (a, the) before rabbit. However, without knowing the context it is impossible to be sure.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Praveen,
If the action was performed just a moment ago, so you have the result in your hands or on your table, then the present perfect is the most likely form:
The rabbit has been caught.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ne9en7even
Yes, it is!
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Dawoud,
The correct answer is the second one (rained) as the time period is a finished one, not one continuing into the present.
Please note that we generally from elsewhere such as this which may be from tests or homework. We are happy to explain our own material, of course.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Anubhav,
Both sentences are grammatically correct. In 2, you could change 'had collected' to 'collected' and it would also be correct. In 1, it's a little strange to say 'the other day', which we usually use to talk about a non-specific day in the past, in combination with 'when she found out ...', which speaks about a specific time, but the sentence is not incorrect.
Both sentences refer to a finished past time that has no connection with the present, so the present perfect ('has been') would not be appropriate.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Naomi03
In this sentence, 'are exported' is a passive verb in the present simple tense. You're right that the ending '-ed' is a past tense marker, but it also has other meanings and uses -- in this case, for example, it a past participle.
You can find an explanation of all of this on our Active and passive page. If you have any other questions after reading that, please let us know.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sad,
In the UK, at school can mean either of these:
In school generally only has the second meaning.
When you want to ask about, for example, what was done during the day, then either can be used:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sad,
There is nothing grammatically wrong with either sentence. I think the most likely way to phrase it would be 'We learn to write at school', but it really depends on the context and to what question the person is responding, if any.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sad,
Both of these are fine:
There is no difference in meaning or strength.
The sentence 'We write at school' is, as I said, grammatically correct. I think it's very unlikely anyone would say it in conversation but it's possible to think of a context in which it would make sense:
The teacher doesn't give us writing homework. Usually, we have lists of words to learn at home. We write at school.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello fdrewaserera,
I'm not sure there is a 'why' to explain this. It's simply a feature of how the verb system words in English. The present perfect has a retrospective meaning: it looks back on the past from now and thus requires an open time reference. It is never used with a completed time reference.
I can say
However, if I add a completed time reference then I need to use a past form:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team