REPUBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELA UNIVERSIDAD SANTIAGO MARIÑO ESTUDIANTE: AMBAR CHACON MATERIA: INGLES I

1. SIMPLE PAST TENSEDEFINITION, CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES, EXERCISES AND MORE…
If you want to learn how to use
THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE
correctly, you must have to see this…
MADE BY: AMBAR CHACON

2. DEFINITION OF SIMPLE PAST
 The Past Simple tense, also called the Simple Past, past indefinite or preterite , is used for past actions that
happened either at a specific time, which can either be given by a time phrase (yesterday, last year, etc.) or
understood from the context. Regular Verbs add -ed to the base form, or -d if the verbs ends with -e. Irregular
verbs can change in many different ways. The verb form is the same for all persons:
EXAMPLES OF THE PAST SIMPLE TENSE:
 I liked, you liked, she/he/it liked, we liked, they liked.
 NOTE: After the auxiliary verb, Did/Didn't, it returns to the base form:
Did you take it?
She didn't like it.

3. SIMPLE PAST USES
USE 1
Completed Action in the Past
 Use the simple past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker
may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.
Examples:
 I saw a movie yesterday.
 I didn't see a play yesterday.
 Last year, I traveled to Japan.
 Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
 Did you have dinner last night?
 She washed her car.
 He didn't wash his car.

4. USE 2
A Series of Completed Actions
 We use the simple past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
4th, and so on.
Examples:
 I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
 He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00.
 Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?

5. USE 3
Duration in the Past
 The simple past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer
often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.
Examples:
 I lived in Brazil for two years.
 Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
 They sat at the beach all day.
 They did not stay at the party the entire time.
 We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
 A: How long did you wait for them?
 B: We waited for one hour.

6. USE 4
Habits in the Past
 The simple past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same
as "used to." To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as: always,
often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.
Examples:
 I studied French when I was a child.
 He played the violin.
 He didn't play the piano.
 Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
 She worked at the movie theater after school.
 They never went to school, they always skipped class.

7. USE 5
Habits in the Past
 The simple past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. As in USE 4
above, this use of the simple past is quite similar to the expression “USED TO.“
Examples:
 She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
 He didn't like tomatoes before.
 Did you live in Texas when you were a kid?
 People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.

8. HOW TO FORMULATE THE SIMPLE PAST
 For regular verbs, add -ed to the root form of the verb (or just -d if the root form already ends in an e):
Play→Played / Type→Typed / Listen→Listened / Push→Pushed / Love→Loved
 For irregular verbs, things get more complicated. The simple past tense of some irregular verbs looks
exactly like the root form:
Put→Put / Cut→Cut / Set→Set / Cost→Cost / Hit→Hit
 For other irregular verbs, including the verb to be, the simple past forms are more erratic:
See→Saw / Build→Built / Go→Went / Do→Did / Rise→Rose / Am/Is/Are→Was/Were
 The good news is that verbs in the simple past tense (except for the verb to be) don’t need to agree in
number with their subjects.
Example: Wolfgang polished his medal. The other winners polished their medals too.

9. HOW TO MAKE THE SIMPLE PAST NEGATIVE
 Fortunately, there is a formula for making simple past verbs negative, and it’s the same for both regular
and irregular verbs (except for the verb to be). The formula is:
Did not + [root form of verb].
(You can also use the contraction didn’t instead of did not.)
Example: Wolfgang did not brag too much about his hula hoop skills. Wolfgang’s girlfriend didn’t see the
contest.
 For the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. When the subject of the sentence is singular, use
was not or wasn’t. When the subject is plural, use were not or weren’t.
Example: The third-place winner was not as happy as Wolfgang. The fourth-place winner wasn’t happy at
all. The onlookers were not ready to leave after the contest ended. The contestants weren’t ready to leave
either.

10. HOW TO ASK A QUESTION IN SIMPLE PAST
The formula for asking a question in the simple past tense is:
did + [subject] + [root form of verb].
Example:
Did Wolfgang win the gold medal or the silver medal?
Where did Wolfgang go to celebrate?
Did the judges decide fairly, in your opinion?
 When asking a question with the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. The formula is:
was/were + [subject].
Example:
Was Wolfgang in a good mood after the contest?
Were people taking lots of pictures?

11. COMMON VERBS
IRREGULAR VERBS
INFINITE
TO BE
TO HAVE
TO DO
TO SAY
TO GET
TO MAKE
TO GO
TO TAKE
TO SEE
TO COME
PASTTENSE
WAS/WERE
HAD
DID
SAID
GOT
MADE
WENT
TOOK
SAW
CAME
NEGATIVE
WASN´T / WEREN`T
DID NOT HAVE
DID NOT DO
DID NOT SAY
DID NOT GET
DID NOT MAKE
DID NOT GO
DID NOT TAKE
DID NOT SEE
DID NOT COME
REGULAR VERBS
INFINITE
TO ASK
TO WORK
TO CALL
TO USE
PASTTENSE
ASKED
WORKED
CALLED
USED
NEGATIVE
DID NOT ASK
DID NOT WORK
DID NOT CALL
DID NOT USE

12. EXAMPLES
DID YOU PLAY SOCCER?
DID HE COOK FRENCH FRIES?
DID SHE LISTEN THE ALBUM?
DID IT RAIN THIS MORNING?
DID WE EAT HOT DOGS?
DID THEY DRINK COFFE?
YES, YOU PLAYED SOCCER.
YES, HE COOKED FRENCH FRIES.
YES,SHE LISTENED THE ALBUM.
YES, IT RAINED THIS MORNING.
YES, WE ATE HOT DOGS.
YES, THEY DRANK COFFE.
NO, YOU DIDN`T PLAY SOCCER.
NO, HE DIDN`T COOK FRENCH FRIES.
NO, SHE DIDN`T LISTEN THE ALBUM.
NO, IT DIDN`T RAIN THIS MORNING.
NO, WE DIDN`T EAT HOT DOGS.
NO, THEY DIDN`T DRINK COFFE.
QUESTION AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE

13. MORE VERBS