Past simple

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:

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Hello frodo123,

'visit' is a regular verb; its past simple form is 'visited'.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

this article lists a few uses of the simple past tense, two of which are "something that happened several times in the past" with example - "When I was a boy, I walked a mile to school every day", and "something that was true for some time in the past" - with example being "She played a lot of tennis when she was younger". Is there any difference between these two uses? sounds the same to me. Thks.

Hi Timothy555,

It's a good question! They are similar, but there is a difference.

For the meaning of something that was true for some time in the past, we don't think of it as divisible into individual, repeated actions. The other examples show this more clearly: I lived abroad for ten years. / He enjoyed being a student. In these examples, we understand 'lived' and 'enjoyed' as long-lasting actions, rather than individual and repeated.

So, how about the tennis example? We can understand She played a lot of tennis as a general action over a longer period of time, just like 'lived' and 'enjoyed' in the other examples, without the more detailed sense of it consisting of repeated individual actions. A speaker might intend this meaning if there's no particular need in the conversation to emphasise the repeatedness of the action or its frequency.

But it's true that we can also understand the tennis example as the first meaning you mentioned, something that happened several times in the past - i.e. a repeated individual action: she played match after match, week after week (for example). We could add the frequency to support this intended meaning:

She played a lot of tennis every weekend when she was younger.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Jonathan, Thanks for your reply. Just to verify two things about your answer. Firstly, you mentioned "A speaker might intend this meaning", by "this meaning", you are referring to the idea of a general action occurring over a longer period of time? Secondly, you also mentioned "we understand 'lived' and 'enjoyed' as long-lasting actions". Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't verbs like "live" and "enjoy" state or stative verbs? If so, why call them "long lasting actions" when such verbs are not dynamic (i.e. action) verbs? Regards, Tim

Hello Tim,

Obviously I'm not Jonathan, but I'm confident that you've correctly understood what Jonathan meant.

We use the past simple with stative verbs and non-stative verbs to talk about past states or actions.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, ok, I think I get what you mean. "She played a lot of tennis when she was younger" obviously means that even though this lady's action of playing tennis when she was younger must have occurred repeatedly (something that happened several times in the past - i.e. a repeated individual action) when she was younger, since we know that she could not have possibly played tennis all the time when she was younger to the point of ignoring other things like eating/sleeping, we are now simply choosing to think of this lady's action as a long general action or state (that is, we are simply choosing to focus on this lady's action of playing tennis as a factual truth or state that lasted for sometime in the past). May I know if I've understood you correctly?

Hi Timothy555,

Yes, that's right :)

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi,

Another query I have is when you say "She played a lot of tennis every weekend when she was younger" - this refers to a past repeated action (i.e. a habit) correct?

In addition, if I were to omit the "every weekend", can I take it that the sentence (i.e. just "She played a lot of tennis when she was younger") may be interpreted to mean either (a) a past repeated action (i.e. a habit), or (b) a general action over a longer period of time (i.e. a state/truth), and that because such a sentence can mean either (a) or (b), further explanation from the speaker/writer, or perhaps the context, will indicate whether the speaker/writer intended to express meaning (a) or meaning (b). Am I right?

Thanks

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! Firstly, this article talks about the Simple Past Tense, correct? Secondly, the title of this article says "Past Simple", however, the article then goes on to say "We use the past tense to talk about..". Does this mean that the "Past Simple Tense" can also be referred to simply as the "Past Tense" (i.e. we can drop the term "simple") and it still means the same thing?

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

Can anybody help me to write a story about Feeling under the weather – (I am sick ) must have to use past simple and past continuous tense. Thanks

It must have been COVID-19 depression... thought I. It took away my freedom putting me in an isolation, which had a depressing influence on me. But when I looked at two sides of a coin, it was not necessarily bad. Actually I was fed up with crazy mass tourism and excessive commercialism and wanted someone to stop it! Surprisingly enough, it happened. I think we are heading off in a new direction and in a transition period at the moment. How exciting it is!! That’s why I got out of feeling under the weather... ;)

Hi, If l list a series of actions in the simple past, for example: "On Sunday my brother and I went to a nice lake. There we met our friends. We swam in the warm water and played volleyball in the afternoon. Too bad that we had to go home in the evening. We didn't want to go to school on Monday." Does it mean, by default, that the actions described above using the simple past tense all happened one after another? Regards, Tim

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

How can we use Past Simple without a specific time reference in the past? I am really confused,as i have come across some native speakers using Past simple without time reference in the past, Please help me to clear this doubt. Thanks in Advance

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, I came across this sentence "The hike was one of the best hikes I've ever done." Correct me if I am wrong, I am guessing "was", was used, because the hike was an event of the past. Would it be correct to say "The hike IS one of the best hikes I've ever done.", to mean that at present / right now / currently, you find this hike one of the best hikes you have ever done? And say 5 years down the road, you will have gone for many more fulfilling hikes, and so this current hike will no longer be seen as one of the best. Then you use the sentence "The hike was one of the best hikes I've ever done." to mean that at some point in the past, you did see it as one of the best hikes, but you no longer feel so. Thank you.

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

What's the difference between 'I have lived here for 20 years' and 'I lived here for 20 years'?

Hello kennyMcCormik300 'I have lived here for 20 years' = You still live in the same place now. (We use the present perfect for actions that started in the past but continue to the present moment.) 'I lived here for 20 years' = You lived in that place in the past. That time is finished and now you live in a different place. (We use the past simple for actions that finished in the past.) Hope that helps. Best wishes Jo LearnEnglish Team

Hello what tense are these I had a car- past perfect/ simple past I have a car I bought a CD that had a famous singer's songs

Hi Samin,

Here are the tenses of those sentences:

past simple (had)
present simple (have)
past simple (bought / had).

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, Would you give the difference in meaning and its (grammatical) usage of "Before and Ago", please! Thank you.

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:

It happened 3 years ago.

He died a long time ago.

I saw her not long ago.

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:

I saw her before you.

I read the book before I watched the film.

I heard of him a long time before I met him.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Please I found in tutorial website that the past simple in negative and yes or no questions form would take infinitive without to ( the question is that I don't know why ???since We can say for instance I didn't want "to" bring something from the market and still that is supposed to be past simple form!!!) So that is shat one of important tutorial websites said for reference: -We make the negative form with didn’t (did not) + infinitive without ‘to’. I didn’t like working in a bank. -Past simple yes/no questions are made from did + subject + infinitive without ‘to’. Did you like living in Japan?

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 to want').

If you have any doubts, please refer to the explanation on this page -- it is correct.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, you mentioned that "We use the Past Tense to talk about...something that happened once in the past...something that happened several times in the past" Firstly, to be specific, you mean to say "the simple past tense" instead of just "Past Tense" right? because "Past Tense" can refer to "Past simple tense, Past continuous tense, Past perfect tense or Past perfect continuous tense". Secondly, out of all the four past tenses (as mentioned above), is it a case where the simple past tense is also known or referred to widely as just the "Past Tense" (that is when a person simply says "the past tense", and assuming no other unique background/context that suggests anything else, we may assume that the person is referring to the simple past tense)?

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

Hi Kirk, Actually it is because the title of this article is "Simple Past" and yet the article goes on to say "We use the Past Tense to talk about...something that happened once in the past...something that happened several times in the past", which was what led me to ask whether by the term "Past Tense", are you referring to the Simple Past in this article? And if so, is it then a case where out of all the four past tenses (e.g. Simple past, past perfect, past continuous and past perfect continuous), only the Simple Past is colloquially referred to most often as just The Past Tense?

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

excuse me, please can i know the different between,(did) and( was and were), they are both in the past can i know the different. and thanks

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

thanks for you answer, but they are both in the bast when ican use was and were,ir did , and thanks

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

Hi Which is correct and why? I have bought two books but I haven't read " either / both " of them. either or both ?! Thanks in advance

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 LearnEnglish Teachers, You say that one of the uses of simple past tense is for "something that happened once in the past" - does this mean the same as "an action that started and finished at a specific time in the past"? Thank you very much.

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 Mr Peter, Thank you very much. This mean that the better explanation for simple past tense use is "something that happened in the past" which mean the same as "an action that started and finished at a specific time in the past (and I can choose to mention or not mention the time)". Is this understanding correct? Many appreciation for your teaching.

I remember that I memorized the form (present, past, present perfect) with the rhythm ♪

One of the uses of the simple past tense as described here reads "something that happened once in the past". I suppose this refers to an action that commenced and ended in the past? However, if so, wouldn't it be clearer to describe this use of the simple past tense as "something that happened and finished at some point in the past"? my point being that if you simply say "something that happened (that is, occurred/took place)", does it also imply that the action finished in the past? Sorry if this seems confusing, I guess in this case I am not really questioning the use of the simple past, but more on the meaning of the word "happen", as used here to describe the use of the simple past.

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

Ok, thank you. But just to clarify, this way of describing the use of the simple past (that is "something that happened and finished at some point in the past") is correct too, and it means the same as the description on this page (that is "something that happened once in the past"), right?

Hello again magnuslin,

Yes, that's correct.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi team, I want to know the difference between: Did she play tennis when she was younger? Did she play tennis when she was young? Can we use either of the sentences?