Simple Past
A complete A2 guide to the simple past for finished past actions, including regular verbs, irregular verbs, be, negatives, questions, and time markers.
What Is the Simple Past?
Use the simple past for actions and situations that were finished in the past.
I walked to school yesterday.
She visited her grandmother last weekend.
We went to the cinema three days ago.
The simple past often appears with past time expressions.
| Time Expression | Example |
|---|---|
| yesterday | I called you yesterday. |
| last night / last week / last year | They watched a movie last night. |
| two days ago / three years ago | We moved here five years ago. |
| when I was a child | I played soccer when I was a child. |
| in 2020 / on Monday | She started college in 2020. |
Regular Verbs: Add -ed
Many simple past verbs are regular. Add -ed to the base verb.
| Base Verb | Simple Past |
|---|---|
| walk | walked |
| clean | cleaned |
| listen | listened |
| open | opened |
| rain | rained |
It rained last weekend.
We cleaned the kitchen yesterday.
Spelling Rules
| Base Verb | Rule | Simple Past |
|---|---|---|
| live | ends in -e, add -d | lived |
| study | consonant + y -> ied | studied |
| stop | short vowel + final consonant, double final consonant | stopped |
| plan | short vowel + final consonant, double final consonant | planned |
| play | vowel + y, add -ed | played |
Irregular Verbs
Many common past verbs are irregular. They do not end in -ed.
| Base Verb | Simple Past |
|---|---|
| be | was / were |
| go | went |
| have | had |
| do | did |
| make | made |
| take | took |
| see | saw |
| eat | ate |
| write | wrote |
| read | read |
I had a good day yesterday.
They ate dinner at 7:00.
She wrote an email last night.
Be in the Past: Was and Were
The past of am/is is was.
The past of are is were.
| Subject | Past Be |
|---|---|
| I / he / she / it | was |
| you / we / they | were |
I was tired yesterday.
The weather was cold.
You were late.
They were at the mall.
For negatives, use was not / wasn't and were not / weren't.
She wasn't at home.
We weren't hungry.
For questions, put was/were before the subject.
Was he at school yesterday?
Were they busy last night?
Negative Sentences with Did Not
For most verbs, use did not or didn't + the base verb.
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
I walked home. | I didn't walk home. |
She ate lunch. | She didn't eat lunch. |
They went out. | They didn't go out. |
After didn't, do not use the past form.
| Mistake | Better |
|---|---|
She didn't went. | She didn't go. |
I didn't watched it. | I didn't watch it. |
They didn't had time. | They didn't have time. |
Questions with Did
For most verbs, use did + subject + base verb.
| Question | Short Answer |
|---|---|
Did you enjoy the party? | Yes, I did. / No, I didn't. |
Did she take the bus? | Yes, she did. / No, she didn't. |
Where did they go? | They went to Canada. |
Use was/were for questions with be.
Were you tired?
Was the hotel clean?
Do not use did with was/were.
| Mistake | Better |
|---|---|
Did you were tired? | Were you tired? |
Did she was at home? | Was she at home? |
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
I goed to school. | I went to school. | Go is irregular. |
She didn't went. | She didn't go. | Use base verb after didn’t. |
Did you watched TV? | Did you watch TV? | Use base verb after did. |
They was late. | They were late. | Use were with they. |
I were happy. | I was happy. | Use was with I. |
Yesterday I go shopping. | Yesterday I went shopping. | Finished past action. |
Practice: Exercises
Yesterday, I ___ to school.
Summary
Use the simple past for finished actions and situations in the past. Regular verbs usually add -ed, but many common verbs are irregular: go -> went, eat -> ate, write -> wrote.
For negatives and questions with most verbs, use didn't + base verb and did + subject + base verb. With be, use was/were, wasn't/weren't, and was/were + subject.