Lesson 3.6: Past Simple Tense - Completed Actions in the Past

Past Simple Tense: Actions Finished in the Past!

The Past Simple tense is used to talk about actions that started and finished in the past. The focus is on completed actions at a specific time in the past. The time of the action is usually stated, implied, or understood from the context. It's a straightforward tense for narrating past events, stories, and completed activities.

Key Uses of the Past Simple Tense:

Completed Actions in the Past: Actions that started and finished entirely in the past. The action is over and done.
Specific Time in the Past (Stated or Implied): We often know *when* the action happened, even if it's just generally "yesterday," "last week," "in 2020," or understood from the context of a story.
Series of Completed Actions in the Past: Describing a sequence of events that happened one after another in the past.
Past Habits or Repeated Actions (When Clearly in the Past): Actions that were habitual or repeated in the past, but are no longer current habits.
Short, Completed Actions: For actions that are quick and finished in the past.
Stories and Narratives in the Past: Telling stories or recounting past events.

Forming the Past Simple Tense:

The Past Simple tense has different forms depending on whether the verb is regular or irregular:

Regular Verbs: Add -ed to the base form of the verb. (e.g., walk -> walked, play -> played, study -> studied).
Irregular Verbs: Irregular verbs have different past simple forms that you need to learn (e.g., eat -> ate, sing -> sang, go -> went, be -> was/were, have -> had, see -> saw, break -> broke, etc.). Memorization is key for irregular verbs!

Formula (Regular Verbs): Subject + Verb + -ed
Formula (Irregular Verbs): Subject + Irregular Past Simple Form

Examples of Regular and Irregular Past Simple Forms:

Regular: walk -> walked, play -> played, study -> studied, listen -> listened, watch -> watched, kiss -> kissed, fix -> fixed, cry -> cried, enjoy -> enjoyed
Irregular: eat -> ate, drink -> drank, sing -> sang, go -> went, be -> was/were, have -> had, see -> saw, break -> broke, come -> came, run -> ran, think -> thought, take -> took, give -> gave, make -> made, etc. (There are many irregular verbs!)

Spelling Rules for -ed ending (Regular Verbs):

Most verbs: add -ed (e.g., walk -> walked, play -> played, listen -> listened)
Verbs ending in -e (silent 'e'): just add -d (e.g., love -> loved, smile -> smiled, bake -> baked)
Verbs ending in consonant + -y: change -y to -ied (e.g., study -> studied, cry -> cried, try -> tried)
Verbs ending in vowel + -y: just add -ed (e.g., play -> played, enjoy -> enjoyed, stay -> stayed)
Verbs ending in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) (stressed last syllable): double the final consonant and add -ed (e.g., stop -> stopped, plan -> planned, admit -> admitted) - Same stress rule as for -ing form.

Examples of Past Simple in Use:

Completed Actions in the Past:
- "I walked to school yesterday." (Action of walking finished yesterday)
- "She ate pizza for dinner last night." (Action of eating finished last night)
- "They watched a movie on Saturday." (Action of watching finished on Saturday)
- "He finished his project last week." (Action of finishing completed last week)
Specific Time in the Past:
- "I visited Paris in 2010." (Specific year)
- "She arrived at 5 pm." (Specific time)
- "They moved to this city a year ago." (Specific time reference - a year ago)
- "We had a great time last summer." (Specific time period - last summer)
Series of Completed Actions in the Past:
- "I woke up, got dressed, and had breakfast." (Sequence of actions in the morning)
- "She went to the shop, bought some milk, and came back home." (Sequence of shopping actions)
- "They played football, then went for a swim, and finally relaxed on the beach." (Sequence of activities)
Past Habits or Repeated Actions (Clearly in the Past):
- "When I was a child, I played football every day." (Past habit - no longer a current habit)
- "She studied French at university." (Past repeated action during university years)
- "They used to go to that restaurant a lot." (Past habitual action - "used to" reinforces past habit)
Short, Completed Actions:
- "She smiled at me." (Quick, finished action - a smile)
- "He knocked on the door." (Short, completed action - a knock)
- "The phone rang." (Quick, finished event - a ring)
Stories and Narratives in the Past:
- "Once upon a time, there lived a princess..." (Storytelling - setting in the past)
- "Last weekend, we went to the mountains. We hiked all day and saw beautiful views." (Narrating past weekend events)
- "The accident happened yesterday morning. A car crashed into a tree." (Reporting a past event)

Negative and Question Forms of Past Simple: Using "did"

To make negative and question forms of the Past Simple (for most verbs, including regular and irregular), we use the auxiliary verb "did":

Negative: Subject + did + not + base form of verb (e.g., I did not walk, She did not eat) - Contractions: *didn't* (e.g., I didn't walk, She didn't eat). Note: Use base form after "did".
Question: Did + Subject + base form of verb? (e.g., Did you walk? Did she eat?) - Note: Use base form after "Did".

Examples of Negative and Question Forms:

"I did not go to the party." / "I didn't go to the party." (Negative - past action not done)
"She did not study for the exam." / "She didn't study for the exam." (Negative - past action not done)
"Did you see that movie?" (Question - asking about a past completed action)
"Did he finish his work?" (Question - checking if past action is completed)
"Where did they go on vacation?" (Question with question word "where")
"Why did she leave so early?" (Question with question word "why")

For the verb "to be" in the past simple (was/were), we don't use "did" for negatives and questions. We negate with "not" and invert subject/verb (e.g., "He was not there." "Was he there?").

Time Expressions with Past Simple: Specific Past Time Markers

We commonly use time expressions that clearly indicate a past time with the Past Simple tense. Common time expressions include:

yesterday, last week/month/year, ago (e.g., two days ago), in 2023, in the past, when I was a child, that day, the other day, etc.

Using these time expressions helps to explicitly place the action in the past. However, sometimes the past time is clear from the context of the conversation or story even without a specific time expression.

Key takeaway: The Past Simple tense is used for actions that started and finished in the past, often at a specific time. It is formed with -ed for regular verbs and has irregular forms for irregular verbs. "Did" is used for negatives and questions (except for "to be"). Mastering the Past Simple is essential for narrating past events and telling stories in English. Next, we will explore the Past Continuous Tense!