SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The Simple Past Tense is a verb tense used to describe actions, events, or situations that were completed in the past. It tells about something that happened at a specific time, such as yesterday, last night, or two days ago. This tense is also used to talk about past habits or routines that no longer happen in the present. In addition, the Simple Past Tense can be used to describe a series of events that occurred in order. In short, it expresses anything that began and ended in the past.

1.       1. Formulas

Affirmative (Positive)

S + V2 + O

Examples:

• I went to school yesterday.
• She watched a movie last night.

Negative

S + did not (didn’t) + V1 + O

Use V1 after did not.

Examples:

• I did not go to school yesterday.
• They didn’t eat noodles last night.

Interrogative (Question)

Did + S + V1 + O + ?

Examples:

• Did you go to school yesterday?
• Did she watch the movie?

2. Verb Forms in the Past

Regular Verbs

Add -ed:

• play → played
• watch → watched
• walk → walked
• study → studied

Irregular Verbs

Change into a different V2 form:

• go → went
• eat → ate
• see → saw
• write → wrote
• drink → drank

3.Time Expressions

Common time expressions for the Simple Past:

• yesterday
• last night / last week / last year
• two days ago
• in 2010
• when I was a child

4. Example Sentences

 Affirmative

• She visited her grandmother last week.
• They saw a rainbow yesterday.

 Negative

• She didn’t visit her grandmother last week.
• They didn’t see a rainbow yesterday.

 Interrogative

• Did she visit her grandmother last week?
• Did they see a rainbow yesterday?

Example Paragraph

Yesterday, I woke up early. I went to the market with my mother. We bought vegetables and fruits. After that, we returned home and cooked lunch together. It was a very nice day.

Form	Formula	Example
Affirmative	S + V2	She visited her aunt.
Negative	S + did not + V1	She did not visit her aunt.
Interrogative	Did + S + V1	Did she visit her aunt?