exercise 1 | exercise 2 | exercise 3
exercise 1 | exercise 2 | exercise 3 | exercise 4
exercise 1 | exercise 2 | exercise 3 | exercise 4
Positive statement: I worked, He worked
Negative statement: I did not work (I didn't work), He did not work (He didn't work)
Question: Did you work?
Neg. question: Did you not work? (Didn't you work?)
The past simple is formed by -ed ending. It is the same for all persons, singular and plural.
In the past simple tense we add -d (not -ed) to the verb that ends with -e: like - liked
If it ends with a consonant and -y, we change -y into -i: carry - carried, try - tried.
But: play - played, because it ends with a vowel and -y.
If it has only one syllable and ends with a vowel and a consonant, we double the consonant to keep the same pronunciation: stop - stopped. The same rule applies to the -l ending: travel - travelled.
All the irregular verbs have different past simple forms. For example the past of choose - chose, draw - drew, drink - drank, meet - met, see - saw, think - thought. But the question and negative are made in the same way: I learnt - Did you learn? No, I did not learn.
You can find the answer in the List of verbs. And you can also practise them online in irregular verbs exercises 1, 2 and 3 if you only need to learn the past simple tense or in irregular verbs exercises 4 and 5 which also include the past participle.
Notes
We do not use did with to be and modals.
Were you a student? Was he in London? I was not at home. He was not happy.
Could you sing? Could he come? I could not swim. He could not stay.
The auxiliary did is not used in questions beginning with wh- pronouns (who, which) in case that the pronoun is the subject of the question.
Who met you? (who is the subject)
Which train arrived on time? (which train is the subject)
But: Who did you meet? Which train did you miss? (who and which train are the objects)
The negative question normally expresses a surprise.
Didn't you know it?
1. We use the past simple tense for activities or situations that were completed in the past at a definite time.
a) The time can be given in the sentence:
I came home at 6 o'clock. When he was a child, he didn't live in a house.
b) The time is asked about:
When did they get married?
c) The time is not given in the sentence, but it is clear from a context that the action or situation finished in the past.
He is 20 years old. He was born in Canada. I've been to Iceland. (present perfect) - Did you enjoy it? (past simple)
2. We use the past simple tense for repeated activities.
We walked to school every day. - And did you ever go by bus?
3. The past simple tense is used in stories to describe events that follow each other.
Charles entered the hall and looked around. He took off his coat and put it on a chair. He wasat home.
Positive statement: I was sleeping, You were sleeping
Negative statement: I was not sleeping (I wasn't .... ), You were not sleeping (You weren't .... )
Question: Were you sleeping? Was he sleeping?
Neg. question: Were you not sleeping? (Weren't you .... ?) Was he not working? (Wasn't he .... ?)
The past continuous tense is formed with the past tense of the verb to be and the present participle (-ing form).
We use the past continuous tense for activities or situations in the past that were not completed.
From 10 to 12 I was washing my car. I was in the garage. (I did not finish my work. It was in progress. I started before 10 and finished after 12.)
The sun was setting. The beach was changing its colours. (The sun was still in the sky when I was watching it.)
Compare this sentence with the past simple tense, which is used for completed actions in the past:
From 10 to 12 I washed my car. (I finished my work. (I started at 10 and finished at 12.)
Finally, the sun set. It was dark and we did not see the beach anymore. (The sun completely disappeared.)
We use the past continuous for continuous, uninterrupted actions or situations. If the action is interrupted (something is done in more intervals or we did more things one after another), we must use the past simple, not the continuous.
Tom was watching TV on Sunday. x Tom watched TV in the morning and in the evening.
Yesterday I was working in the garden. x Yesterday I worked in the garden and on my house.
1. Combined with the simple past to express the idea that the action in the past continuous started before the action expressed the past simple and continued after it.
When she saw me, I was looking at the trees. (These two actions happened at the same time. I was looking at the trees for some time and she saw me in the middle of it.)
Compare:
When she saw me, I looked at the trees. (These two actions happened one after another. First she saw me and then I looked at the trees.)
2. With a point in time in the past to describe an action that started before that time and continued after it.
At 8 o'clock Jane was having a bath. (At 8 o'clock she was in the middle of the activity. She did not finish it.)
Compare:
At 8 o'clock Jane had a bath. (She started the activity at 8 o'clock and finished it.)
3. The past continuous tense is used to describe a past situation, while the past simple is used to express actions in stories.
The sun was shining. Jack and Jill were lying on the beach. Jack was reading a book and Jill was sleeping. All of a sudden, Jack raised his head. Jill woke up. Something happened.
4. For an activity happening in the past which was not finished in contrast with the past simple, which describes a completed activity.
I was reading a book yesterday. And today I am going to continue.
I read the book yesterday. I can lend it to you now.
5. The past continuous can be used to show a more casual action, the past simple is for a deliberate action:
I was talking to my neighbour yesterday. We had a nice chat. (I did not do it on purpose. We just met in the street.)
I talked to my neighbour yesterday. And he promised to help me. (I did it on purpose. I needed to ask him for help.)
See also other English tenses , modal verbs , irregular and regular verbs online or if you prefer a printable version, you can go to esl printables, English worksheets where you will find the use and form of all the tenses and some exercises.
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