The simple past is used for any action or event that is completely finished and happened in the past:
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Single completed action
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Past repeated actions or habits
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Past sequence of actions happening one after the other (in a sequence)
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Single completed action
He bought new skates in 1998.
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Past repeated actions or habits
He skated every Friday in 1998.
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Past actions happening one after the other (in a sequence)
Last night, he arrived home, sat down on a couch and turned on the TV to watch Hockey Tonight.
In a complex sentence, you can use the simple past when:
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one action interrupts another action that was in progress
The telephone rang when he was taking a shower yesterday.
These keywords indicate the past:
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A word |
A combination of words |
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|
ago: |
before: |
last: |
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yesterday |
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|
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A regular verb is a verb that follows a typical pattern.
All regular verbs in the simple past end in -ed.
|
Regular verb simple past endings |
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|---|---|---|
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Most verbs |
+ed |
want → wanted |
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Verbs ending in -e |
+d |
love → loved |
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Verbs ending in consonant -y |
change -y to -ied |
study → studied |
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Verbs ending in vowel -y |
+ed |
play → played |
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Verbs ending in consonant—vowel—consonant |
double last consonant +ed |
plan → planned |
*For more on doubling consonants, see Double Consonants—Spelling Rules.
The verbs are called irregular because:
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Their base form may change when used in the past.
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They do not end in -ed.
There are more than 150 frequently used ones and even more that are used rarely.
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|
to be |
regular verbs |
irregular verbs |
|
I |
was |
talked visited played listened walked watched |
went ran paid swam left flew |
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we |
were |
|
|
to be |
other verbs |
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|
I |
was not wasn't |
did not didn't |
+ |
verb base form |
|
we |
were not weren't |
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|
Other verbs |
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|
I he we you they |
did not |
didn't |
+ |
verb |
|
to be |
other verbs |
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|
was |
I |
did |
subject |
+ |
verb base form |
|
were |
we |
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