The Simple Past Tense

The following lesson will show you how to use the Simple Past Tense in English.

FORMS

The Simple Past Tense has the following forms:

• Affirmative: S + V-ed
• Negative: S + DID NOT + Infinitive
• Interrogative/Question: DID + S + Infinitive

USAGE

The Simple Present Tense is used to express:

• an action that happened at a definite point of time in the past
  
  Examples:
  
  I first watched this movie thirty years ago.
  She started her scientific career in 1985.


• an action that happened over a period of time in the past
  
  Examples:
  
  My brother worked as a receptionist from 1990 to 1997.
  Jenny was a nurse in the army during World War II.


• a habit in the past
  
  Examples:
  
  We often went swimming when we lived in the countryside.
  His father gave him some pocket money every morning.

NOTES

• The past forms of irregular verbs must be learnt by heart.
  
  Examples:
  
  TO RUN -> RAN
  TO BUY -> BOUGHT


• The construction
  
  USED TO/WOULD + Infinitive
  
  is also used to express a habit in the past.
  
  Examples:
  
  I used to read comics when I was a kid.
  He would ask me to help him when he had trouble doing his homework.

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