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:
Hello Abdul Azeez Ibrahim,
It's very common for the past simple to be used without a specific time reference and it is perfectly correct to do so.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Piglet,
Both present and past can be used here and both mean the same as the present perfect (I've ever done) makes it clear that you are referring to the whole of your life up to the present.
If you want to show that the statement is no longer true then you need to use a past perfect: That hike was the best I had ever done.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Samin,
Here are the tenses of those sentences:
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi rajeshvr,
Ago is an adverb. It tells us the distance in time from the present moment to another event. When you use ago you need to include a time reference, which can be a number or a description:
Before is a flexible word. It can be a preposition, a conjunction or an adverb. When it describes location rather than time it can also be an adjective. We use before to say that an event happened earlier in time than another. Whereas ago relates an action to the present, before simply relates one action to another.. With before we do not have to specify the length of time we are talking about, though we may:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Reema,
I'm afraid I can't comment on an explanation that I haven't seen. I expect that what the website meant was that the negative form of 'I wanted' is 'I didn't want' (not 'I didn't
towant').If you have any doubts, please refer to the explanation on this page -- it is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello magnuslin,
As the Past tense page explains, in this grammar's view, there are only two tenses in English -- present and past -- though each has several different forms. On this (Past simple) page, only the past simple is discussed.
I wouldn't assume that someone who says 'past tense' definitely means 'past simple'.
By the way, if you're interested, you can read more about the idea that English has only two tenses in the Wikipedia, where it's explained a bit more.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
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