Simple Past Tense

The past tense is used to indicate that an action or event happened in the past. It is also used to talk about past habits.

Here's an example:

"I walked to the store yesterday."

In this sentence, "walked" is the simple past tense form of the verb "walk". The speaker is describing a specific event in the past (yesterday) when they walked to the store. The use of "walked" tells us that this action is now complete and happened in the past, rather than being ongoing or happening in the present.

Rules

For regular verbs, add -ed to the base form of the verb:

walk → walked

cook → cooked

study → studied

clean → cleaned

play → played

For irregular verbs, things get more complicated. The simple past tense of some irregular verbs looks same like the root form:

spread → spread

broadcast→ broadcast

burst → burst

cast → cast

slit → slit

For other irregular verbs, including the verb to be, the simple past forms looks like below:

see → saw

build → built

go → went

do → did

fly → flew

eat → ate

swim → swam

rise → rose

is/are→ was/were

Usage

To talk about completed actions in the past:

1) I walked to the store yesterday.

2) She cooked dinner last night.

3) He traveled to Japan last summer.

To describe a past habit or routine:

1) She always went for a run in the morning.

2) They usually watched TV after dinner.

3) He drank coffee every day before work.

Specific duration of time in the past:

1) He studied abroad in Japan for one semester.

2) They played basketball at the park for three hours yesterday.

3) I lived in New York City for five years.

Past facts or generalizations:

1) The dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago.

2) Shakespeare wrote many famous plays and sonnets during his lifetime.

3) People used to communicate using letters before the invention of the telephone.

Form

PositiveNegative"Yes/No" Question
I ranI did not runDid i run?
We ranWe did not runDid we run?
You ranYou did not runDid you run?
He ranHe did not runDid he run?
She ranShe did not runDid she run?
It ranIt did not runDid it run?
They ranThey did not runDid they run?