Learn how to use the past simple to talk about the past, and do the exercises to practise using it.
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:
Hi Rikimaru,
Yes to all your questions :) But let me just add that further explanation about whether (a) or (b) is intended may not necessarily be given by the speaker. It depends on whether or not this subtle difference is important to the speakers and conversation, and what level of detail they require. In many cases, I would imagine that, since (a) and (b) mean something very similar, the general meaning (i.e., she played tennis a lot) is sufficient for the conversation.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Timothy555,
Yes, that's right! Past simple and Simple past are the same thing. Both names are commonly used in learning materials and by teachers.
Yes, it's also common to refer to the past simple as the past tense. (Technically speaking, English has only two tenses: present and past. Other perfect or continuous forms that we sometimes call 'tenses' are more properly called aspects.)
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Turki123456,
Both of your sentences are about the past. We know this because there are past tense verbs in each (died). Thus, the correct form is the past simple in each case: loved and was.
Of course, sometimes people still feel love after someone dies, but the convention is to place it in the past.
You can also sometimes hear people use a present form when defining something from history, using it with the sense 'Pablo Picasso is the name of a painter who died in...' In other words, the present is really referring to the name or title rather than the person.
By the way, Picasso was Spanish, not Italian.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Timothy555,
Yes, in general, such a list of actions is understood as a narrative, i.e. a sequence of actions.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, "a sequence of actions" means the actions/events occured chronologically/sequentially (i.e. following the order in which they occurred)?
Hi Timothy555,
Yes, that is correct. :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
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