Simple Past

The past tense of “be”
Present Past Present Past
I am I was We are We were
You are You were You are You were
He is He was They are They were
She is She was
It is It was

Examples:
I was at home yesterday.
John was there last night.
It was hot yesterday.
There was a man here.
They were absent yesterday.
She was a student last year.
We were here last week.
There were some men here.

Statements, Questions and Negatives
He was sick Yesterday
Was He sick Yesterday?
He was not sick yesterday

• FORM
• Verb II (regular) or (irregular)
Statement, Question and Negatives
They walked To school
yesterday
Did They walk To school
yesterday?
They did not walk To school
yesterday.

• FORM
• Verb II (regular) or (irregular)
Statement, Question and Negatives
They went To school
yesterday
Did They go To school
yesterday?
They did not go To school
yesterday.

• Simple Past has 5 different functions :
1. Completed Action in the Past
2. A Series of Completed Actions
3. Duration in Past
4. Habits in the Past
5. Past Facts or Generalizations

USE 1 Completed Action in the Past
Past Present Future
• We 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.

1 2 3
Past Present Future
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?

Past Present Future
USE 3 Duration in Past
• The Simple Past can be used with a
duration which starts and stops in the past.
A duration is a longer action 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.

USE 4 Habits in the Past
Past Present Future
The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit
which stopped in the past. It can have the same
meaning 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.

USE 5 Past Facts or Generalizations
Past Present Future
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 Jakarta when you were a
kid?
• People paid much more to make cell phone
calls in the past.

Study the following verbs
Verbs
1. Regular verbs (kata kerja berarturan)
2. Irregular verbs (kata kerja tdk beraturan)

Present Past Past Participle
learn learned learned
live lived lived
move moved moved
need needed needed
marry marry married
want wanted wanted
study studied studied

Present Past Past participle
stop stopped stopped
permit permitted permitted

2. Irregular verbs
A. ABB
build built built
catch caught caught
deal dealt dealt

b. AAA
cut cut cut
cost cost cost
let let let

c. ABA
come came come
run ran run
overcome overcame overcome

d. ABC
break broke broken
fly flew flown
write wrote written

Study the following time expressions
Yesterday
Yesterday morning
Yesterday afternoon
Last night Last Year
Last evening Last June
Last Thursday Last June 10th
Last Thursday morning
Last week
Last month

a minute ago
Several hours ago
A day ago
Two days ago
A week ago
A week ago today
A week ago yesterday
The day before last
The day before yesterday
The week before last
The month before last
The year before last

Exercise:
Write was or were in each blank space!
1.He ____ in the library this morning.
2. I ____ quite tire last night.
3.The boy ____ at school yesterday.
4.The sun ____ hot yesterday.
5.Mr. Smith ____ sick two days ago.
6.The weather ____ good last week.
7.The children ____ here yesterday.
8.The boys ____ at the meeting last night.
9. It ____ very warm yesterday.
10.There ___ a fire downtown last night.

Change these statements into questions!
1. He was in class yesterday. Was He is class yesterday?
2. They were here last night.
3. The doctor was very tired.
4. There were many people at the party.
5. There was a party here last night.
6. It was very interesting.
7. John was sick last week.
8. John and Mary were here yesterday.
9. They were at the meeting last night.
10.It was warm yesterday.

Change these statements into negatives!
1. The men were in the room. The men weren’t in the room.
2. You were there yesterday.
3. The boy from Chile was there.
4. There were some chairs in the room.
5. It was very cold last night.
6. John was absent from class yesterday.

• Write the correct past tense form of each verb in the
following blank space!
1. (study) John studied French last year.
2. (live) They ______ in New York for one year.
3. (walk) Mr. Smith _____ in the park last Sunday.
4. (watch) We ______ a baseball game on television.
5. (Smoke) I ______ two cigars yesterday.
6. (wash) Mrs. Smith _____ the clothes last Monday.
7. (see) Bob ______ the movie last night.
8. (stop) The car ______ in the middle of Main Street.
9. (listen) We _____ to the radio last night.
10.(rain) It ______ very hard the night before last.

Change these statements into questions!
1. He worked at the office. Did he work at the office?
2. She opened the door carefully.
3. They looked at the pictures.
4. John asked many questions in class.
5. Mr. Smith added the numbers carefully.
6. Mr. and Mrs. Brown invited the students.
7. You lived in Miami for a year.
8. The men moved the furniture into the room.
9. The girls visited Mrs. Smith last week.
10.You worked very hard yesterday.

Change these statements into negatives!
1. I looked at the pictures. I didn’t look at the pictures.
2. They counted the money carefully.
3. We needed some money last week.
4. They watched the baseball game yesterday.
5. John carried the box into the room.
6. Mr. Smith wanted some coffee.
7. The students used the book last night.
8. The Japanese student listened to the teacher.
9. He repeated the question for the student.
10.Mary played the piano at the party.