Past Simple
The Past Simple tense is used to talk about actions and events that happened in the past and are now finished. It is one of the most common tenses in English and is essential for telling stories, describing experiences, and talking about history.
We use Past Simple when the time is clear or mentioned, such as yesterday, last night, last week, in 2022, or two days ago. For example: "I watched a movie yesterday", "She visited her grandmother last weekend", "They moved to London in 2020."
Past Simple is also used to describe a sequence of completed actions in the past: "I woke up, brushed my teeth, and went to work."
Form of Past Simple
Regular verbs add -ed:
work → worked, play → played, clean → cleaned
Irregular verbs change form:
go → went, see → saw, eat → ate
Negative:
I did not (didn’t) work.
She didn’t go to school.
Questions:
Did you work yesterday?
Did he finish the task?
💡 Tips
- Use time words: yesterday, last week, ago.
- After did/didn’t use base verb.
- Learn common irregular verbs.
Grammar Rules
Positive
Negative
Question
Examples
⚠️ Common Mistakes
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Frequently asked questions
- What is Past Simple?
- The Past Simple tense is used to talk about actions and events that happened in the past and are now finished.
- How do you form Past Simple?
- The key rule: I worked. She went. They played.
- What are examples of Past Simple?
- Example: I watched TV yesterday.
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