English grammar is a perplexing subject to study. Before you can
write a sentence, you first have to know the type, function, and meaning of
every word. It is to ensure the clarity of your message. To avoid feeling
overwhelmed, the best way to approach learning English is to study one topic at
a time. In this blog, we will explore the simple past tense.
To understand this topic holistically, we will learn it through simple
past tense examples, uses, rules, and exercises.
What is the Definition and
Meaning of Simple Past Tense?
In general, the simple past tense refers
to actions, events, and habits that happened in the past. As the simple past
tense definition suggests, there is only a single time reference to consider in
this verb tense — it’s the past. For instance, you want to share with a friend
about your day. Use the simple past tense to narrate your story since what you
will tell already happened.
“The shoes I wore broke while I was walking
around the city. I was embarrassed! So, I went to
the mall to buy a new pair. I wore my new shoes immediately. As
I was about to leave, someone called my name. I looked around
and saw Jasmine running towards me. She’s my childhood friend
who I haven’t seen in years. Jasmine invited me for a cup of
coffee. I agreed because I wanted to catch up
with her. We talked for hours, and it was like years did not
go by between us.”
The highlighted
words are examples of verbs in simple past tense. Read on to learn how to use
those verbs in simple past tense sentences.
5 Tips to Best Study and
Learn the Proper Usage of Simple Past Tense
Language learning is
a complex task one cannot accomplish in a day. Attempting to do so would only
frustrate you. The simple past tense may have the word “simple” in it, but
there are many concepts you have to know to understand it fully. It’s not that
simple, after all. However, there are tips you can apply in your learning
journey to make the simple past tense simple to understand.
1. Select an
appropriate material to use
To find study
material, you must first know your level of English proficiency. There are six
English proficiency levels: beginner, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper
intermediate, advanced, and proficient. Aligning books, videos, and other
resources you will use with your proficiency will make it easy for you to
understand the topic. Therefore, when you are starting to learn English, avoid
textbooks used by those who are obtaining a doctorate in linguistics. Instead,
select books for beginners or crash course videos on what is simple past tense.
2. Take note and
summarize as you study
Learning is better
when it is transferred. It is why note-taking is crucial when learning a new
language. More than that, creating summaries of definitions, rules, usage, and
formula strengthens your retention of the tenses. In note-taking, break down big
topics into small chunks. You can also write your own sentences following the
simple past tense rules.
3. Answer a simple past
tense exercise
Always check your
understanding when learning English. This step is important to know how well
you know the topic. Additionally, it helps you identify your mistakes, making
it easy for you to correct them. By the end of this blog, you can answer an
exercise on simple past tense.
4.
Find a study partner or a teacher to guide you
You may have to
enroll in a language class to learn English or find a study buddy to help you
stay on track. Learning with someone is proven to be effective. It’s because
you can practice your English skills, have someone check your work, and gain
feedback from
How Do You Use the Simple
Past Tense?
The simple past
tense form uses V2 or the past tense of the verb. It indicates that an action
already happened. There is three past tense verb conjugation to remember when
converting main verbs into their past forms. Note that the accuracy in verbs is
crucial in constructing simple past sentences.
Past Tense of “Be Verbs”
One type of
auxiliary verb is the “be verb” or helping verb. The “be verbs” are the simple
past helping verb in a sentence. In the simple present tense, these are “am,”
“is,” and “are.” In
the past tense, “am” and “is” becomes “was,” and
the past form of “are” is “were.” Remember
that “was” is for singular subjects, while “were” is
for plural subjects. Moreover, “were” shows
the conditional form of simple past sentences.
Here are five past
simple tense examples using the “verbs”:
1. He was sad.
2. I was embarrassed
when my shoes broke.
3. Lilly was here
yesterday.
4. We were at
my aunt’s townhouse.
5. They were ill
due to food poisoning.
6. If I were you,
I would celebrate that I passed the
exam.
7. If I were you,
I would be watchful of how I acted around
them.
In the first two
sentences, the helping verb “was” shows
the state or feeling of its subject. It conveys that the subjects felt sad, and
embarrassed at a period of time in the past. Sentences three to five show the
condition of the subjects.
Meanwhile, the last
two are conditional
sentences or “if-sentences.” It
indicates an assumption of what the subject would do or feel if in
the situation. Note that there are past tense verbs in those sentences (passed
and acted) to complete the condition.
Past Tense of Regular Verbs
Converting regular
verbs into their past tense form of verbs is easy. The rule of thumb is to add
the letter “d” for verbs ending in the
letter “e.” If
a verb ends in “y,” change the final letter to “ied.” Other
regular verbs add “ed” to their
end. Here’s a list of the past tense of common regular verbs:
·
ask – asked
·
bake -baked
·
walk – walked
·
talk – talked
·
ban -banned
·
carry – carried
·
try – tried
·
rescue – rescued
·
note – noted
·
portray – portrayed
Paste Tense of Irregular
Verbs
Irregular verbs
don’t follow the rule above. As such, it’s hard to determine or create a rule
to follow in converting them into past tense. A common observation is a change
in the middle of the vowel of irregular verbs such as drive-drove, run-ran, and
freeze-froze. Here are more examples of irregular verbs in the past tense form:
·
eat – ate
·
teach – taught
·
begin – began
·
sell -sold
·
catch – caught
·
set – set
·
put -put
·
fly – flew
·
go -went
·
stick -stuck
Here
are 15 examples of sentences in the Simple Past Tense:
Example
of Simple Past Tense Sentences With “Be Verbs”
1. Her child was at
the daycare center.
2. He was upset
about missing the event.
3. My sister and her
friend were late
for their appointment.
4. If I were you,
I would renegotiate the amount they offered to
buy your house.
5. If I were Sandra,
I would be happy that her father gave her a
gift.
Example
of Simple Past Tense Sentences With Regular Verbs
1. I asked my
teacher about our reading activity.
2. My mother baked my
birthday cake.
3. Casper walked home
today.
4. The lawyers talked about
their plan of action.
5. He was banned from
visiting her house.
Example
of Simple Past Tense Sentences With Irregular Verbs
1. I ate leftover
pizza for dinner.
2. Dr. Liz taught Biology
from 1999 to 2006.
3. Kevin began watching
the movie without his brother.
4. We sold a
parcel of land last year.
5. Martha caught her
friend eating her packed lunch.
Structure of the Simple
Past Tense
The simple past
sentence structure is easy to remember. The main verb or root verb is
transformed into its past tense form.
What is the Simple Past
Tense formula?
|
|
|
Subject + (Past Tense of the Main
Verb) + Rest of the Sentence |
The affirmative
sentence shows that the subject did the action (verb) in the past. Meanwhile, a
negative sentence negates an action by using the word “not” in
its structure. The interrogative form of the simple tense used the past tense
of the verb “do,” which is “did.” It
functions to seek confirmation of whether the subject performed the verb.
Therefore, it is answerable by “yes” or “no.“
|
|
||
|
Affirmative |
Subject + (Past Tense of the Main Verb) +
Rest of the Sentence |
We exercised our
right to vote. |
|
Negative |
Subject + did not + Main Verb+ Rest
of the Sentence |
She did not attend the
meeting. |
|
Interrogative |
Did +
Subject + Main Verb +
Rest of the Sentence |
Did you get my message? |
What are Simple Past Tense
Usage?
Generally, the
simple past tense shows actions in the past. But to understand the whole
function of this verb tense, read the its five usage and simple past tense
sentences in English below:
Shows Action
Occurred Once in the Past
We use the past
tense to show that the subject performed the action once in the past. For
example, you experienced hiking in Santa Cruz Trek. You express it as, “I hiked at Santa Cruz Trek.” Even
without a time expression, it is understood that you performed hiking once in
the past. Here are more simple past tense example sentences:
·
I carried the
groceries from the garage to the kitchen.
·
Meryl Streep portrayed her
character well in the movie.
·
He cooked beef
stew on Monday.
·
My family moved to
Singapore in 1980.
·
My sister chose to
celebrate her birthday at Disney land.
Indicates
the Duration of an Action in the Past
The simple past
tense functions to indicate how long an event lasted. Following this rule, the
action must start and end in the past. A time reference is required to show the
duration of an action. Here are five examples of past simple tense sentences
that shows duration:
·
My brother studied here
for four years, from 2010 to 2014.
·
He rented an
apartment downtown from June to December.
·
World War II lasted for
six years.
·
I used my cell
phone for three years before replacing it.
·
John watched replays
of football yesterday for an hour.
Expresses
Habitual or Repeated Events in the Past
The simple form of
the past tense conveys that the subject repeatedly did an action but stopped
sometime in the past. They do not have that habit now or in the present. Read
the examples of simple past tense sentences following this usage below:
·
My grandfather always read the
newspaper when his eyes were healthy.
·
Bea ordered the same meal at
this restaurant. It was her favorite.
·
He celebrated every
birthday here until he moved to another city.
·
Carl and I studied at
the library every weekend last semester.
·
I went to
Colorado thrice for business conferences.
Conveys
States or Conditions that Existed in the Past
Compared to
progressive or continuous tenses, the simple past tense uses stative verbs.
Those are verbs that show emotions, thoughts, opinions, and perceptions. Here
are examples of simple past tense showing states or conditions:
·
The Italian sculptor admired the
works of Michelangelo.
·
My father hated having
to walk a mile to school when he was young.
·
Before instant messaging and cell phone calls, people wrote letters
and waited for days for a response.
·
Wolly mammoths used to live
in caves a long time ago.
·
She loved reading
until it became a requirement.
35 Simple Past Tense
Sentence Examples
Here are more simple
past tense sentence example sentences following different sentence structures
and usage:
Affirmative Sentences
1. He cried when
his pet died.
2. Paige dealt with
the consequences of her actions.
3. She identified the
cause of the problem quickly.
4. The staff fixed the
clothes at the department store.
5. I got two
tickets for the show.
Negative Sentences
6. He did
not grow a beard.
7. They did
not guess the correct answer to the riddle.
8. Lilly did
not keep her promise.
9. James did
not bike to school.
10. She did
not lend her cousin money.
Interrogative Sentences
11. Did the
main character have a perfect simple life in
the story?
12. Did Pearl book a
hotel in advance?
13. Did you light a
scented candle?
14. Did he connect your
computer to the printer?
15. Did they sing your
favorite song?
Shows Action
Occurred Once in the Past
16. I was in
New York when the 9/11 attack happened.
17. He corrected his
mistake.
18. The lawyer spoke to
the police.
19. Marry framed her
graduation picture.
20. The vase fell
off the table.
Describes
the Duration of an Action in the Past
21. I listened to
her story for an hour.
22. Ben Lecomte swam across
the Atlantic Ocean in 73 days in 1998.
23. The search for
the missing dog lasted for
five days.
24. They were married for
a decade.
25. Gail finished her
artwork after a month.
Expresses
Habitual or Repeated Events in the Past
26. He gave her
flowers every Valentine’s day.
27. Kevin ground
coffee beans every morning until he switched to drinking tea.
28. Daisy marched around
the room when throwing tantrums as a child.
29. My friends rode the
train every day.
30. She occasionally sent gifts
to her friends before they lost contact.
Conveys
States or Conditions that Existed in the Past
31. The coffee tasted bitter
before Jen added sugar.
32. December felt colder
than the rest of the months.
33. My grandfather owned a
Cadillac in the ’70s.
34. Kayla disliked how
often she brought lunch to school.
35. He wanted to
be an astronaut when he grew up.
What are Common Mistakes
English Students make when learning to use Simple Past Verbs & Words?
There are three
common mistakes English learners tend to commit when using the simple past
tense:
1. Using Improper Past Tense of Irregular Verbs
The past tense of
the irregular form of verb is confusing since they have a special rule for
conjugation. First, there are irregular verbs with the same base or root form
and past tense. Examples are cut, hit, put, cost, hurt, and
let —these are irregular verbs with the same root form and
past tense. Second, some irregular verbs change their vowels into “a” to
form their past tenses such as come-came, swim-swam, and
run-ran. Lastly, the most common endings of irregular verbs are “-t,” and “-ght.” Some
verbs following this are keep-kept, sweep-swept,
leave-left, buy-bought, catch-caught, and fight-fought.
2. Confusing Simple Past Tense With Past Perfect Tense
Both simple past and
past perfect tenses talk about actions in the past. That’s why English learners
often confuse one for the other. However, the past perfect tense shows actions
that were “perfected” or completed before another action in the past. To
express this, it used the auxiliary verb “had,” with
the past tense of the verb. Meanwhile, simple past tense only uses the past
tense of the verb, and indicating time periods, expressions, or adverbs of time
is optional.
3. Switching Tenses When Narrating
One activity English
learners do to improve their skills in storytelling or writing. It is why there
are essays or speaking activities as forms of assessment. The rule of thumb
when doing this is to use one tense of the verb. For instance, your teacher
would ask you to share your favorite childhood memory. In this event, it is
proper to use the simple past tense and avoid switching to the present tense.
How
Can Language Learners Avoid Making Common Mistakes?
There are twelve
tenses in English, and it’s normal to confuse one for the other and commit
mistakes. However, every mistake is avoidable and can be corrected. Start by
memorizing the formula of the tenses to avoid mixing it up with other tenses. As
for the simple tense, always use the past tense of the verb, nothing more and
nothing less.
The next step would
be to familiarize yourself with regular and irregular verbs. List down at least
ten verbs a day and use them in sentences. By doing this, you can avoid the
grammatical mistake of improper verb tense conjugation. Instead of saying, “I
selled my phone yesterday.” you can correctly express it
by changing the wrong verb to “sold.”
The best way to
start learning is by reading and observing. Pick up an English book or blog and
observer the proper grammar and usage of tenses. You can do this by revisiting
the examples listed above. Through this, you can imitate the formula of the
tenses to avoid making mistakes.
The Simple Past Tense:
Checking Your Understanding
Below we have
provided present continuous tense examples with answers.
Simple Past Tense Exercises:
Activity 1. Place the correct past tense of the regular verb to
complete the sentences below:
1. The teacher
___________ her students to form a group of five. (instruct)
2. The dog
____________ the ball after I threw it. (fetch)
3. He _____________
on his parents until he was eighteen. (depend)
4. We _____________
our waste to fight climate change. (recycle)
5. Mina
______________ a small amount that she hasn’t paid yet. (borrow)
Activity 2. Place the correct past tense of the irregular verb
to complete the sentences below:
1. The chef
___________ five eggs when he created a whipping cream. (beat)
2. We __________ the
news about your success. (hear)
3. They argued that
Joseph Wilson Swan __________ the light bulb first. (build)
4. My father
________ Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin. (teach)
5. I was not sure if
he ___________ the lesson. (understand)
Answers:
Activity 1. Sentences with regular verbs and simple
past tense.
1. The teacher instructed her
students to form a group of five.
2. The dog fetched the
ball after I threw it.
3. He depended on
his parents until he was eighteen.
4. We recycled our
waste to fight climate change.
5. Mina borrowed a
small amount that she hasn’t paid yet.
Activity 2. Sentences with irregular verbs simple past tense.
1. The chef beat five
eggs when he created a whipping cream.
2. We heard the
news about your success.
3. They argued that
Joseph Wilson Swan built the
light bulb first.
4. My father taught Biochemistry
at the University of Wisconsin.
5. I was not sure if
he understood the
lesson.
Common Verbs in the Simple
Past Tense
Familiarize yourself
with some of the verbs in the simple past tense in this table:
|
|
Simple Past Tense |
Irregular Verbs |
Simple Past Tense |
|
Main/Base Verb |
Past Tense |
Main/Base Verb |
Past Tense |
|
touch |
touched |
win |
won |
|
supply |
supplied |
take |
took |
|
change |
changed |
bet |
bet |
|
listen |
listened |
forbid |
forbade |
|
pack |
packed |
hide |
hid |
|
receive |
received |
tell |
told |
|
search |
searched |
write |
wrote |
|
trick |
tricked |
feel |
felt |
|
accept |
accepted |
choose |
chose |
|
order |
ordered |
lead |
led |
·
I packed my
suitcase.
·
It felt wrong to
leave.
·
The magician tricked the
children.
·
They chose the
wrong option.
·
We searched for
the cheapest flight.
·
Peter wrote a letter to his
sister.
·
He accepted defeat
and moved on.
·
June never touched your
phone.
·
Bret won the lottery.
·
She changed her
mind at the last moment.
Frequently Asked Questions for Simple Past Tense:
What is simple past
tense with examples?
The simple past tense meaning is
actions or events that happened at some point in the past. Here are simple past
sentence examples for your reference:
I washed the
clothes last weekend.
Willy led the
camping activities for the kids.
We invited 50
people to the event.
How do you convert
main verbs to simple past-verb forms?
Converting the main verbs into their
past tense form differs for regular and irregular verbs. For regular verbs, we
generally add “d,”
“ed,” or “ied” at the
end of the action word. As for irregular verbs, there is no rule to follow, but
the common observation is changing the vowel at the middle of the root verb,
such as lay-laid,
grind-ground, drive-drove, and blow-blew.
What are the uses of
simple past tense?
The simple past tense has four uses,
those are to: (1) show an action that happened once in the past, (2) indicate
the duration of action, (3) express habitual or repeated actions, and (4)
convey past states or conditions.
What is the simple
past tense formula?
The simple past tense follows this
sentence structure: Subject + (Past Tense of the Main
Verb) + Rest of the Sentence.
Adapted from : https://blog.lillypad.ai/simple-past-tense-examples/
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