Simple Past Tense

The Simple Past Tense 

Form : 

Verbal               S + Verb 2 + O (+)

                          S  + did not + Verb bi + O (-)

                          Did + S + Verb bi (?)

Nominal           S + Was/Were + 3C (noun,adjective,adverb) (+)

                         S  + Was/Were not + 3 C (-)

                         Was/Were + S + 3C (?)

  Use the simple past tense to talk about things that happened in the past.  The simple past tense is usually made by adding ed to the verb. 

I opened the door and looked inside. 

We walked to school yesterday. 

She laughed when I told her the joke. 

 If a verb ends in e, just add d to make the simple past tense. 

Who closed all the windows? 

We lived in that house when I was a baby. 

She smiled when she saw me. 

  If a verb ends in y, change the y to i before adding ed. 

I carried my mom’s shopping bag. 

My brother cried when he fell off his bike. 

Dad tried to help me with my assigment. 

  With some short verbs that end in a consonant,  you must double the consonant before adding ed. 

I climbed over the fence and ripped my shirt. 

The stranger grabbed my arm. 

He slammed the door and walked off angrily. 

If the statement is negative you must add "did + not" and use verb bare infinitive 

I didn't watch TV last night

We didn't get some money yesterday  

was and were 

The words was and were are the simple past forms of the verb be.  

  Was is the simple past form of am and is. Use was with singular nouns like  

‘my dad’ and ‘the teacher’, and with the pronouns he, she and it.  

 Were is the simple past form of are. Use were with plural nouns like ‘my  

parents’ and ‘Jenny and Mary’, and with the pronouns we, you and they. 

Ten years ago, I was only a baby. 

When I was younger, I played with teddy bears. 

My friend was ill yesterday. 

John and I were in the garden. 

You were nasty to me! 

You and Sally were not at school yesterday. 

Dinosaurs were prehistoric animals. 

Those were my best jeans. 

N o t e s !

You may use these contractions when you are combining was and

were with not.  

full form  short form  

I was not  I wasn’t 

he was not  he wasn’t 

she was not  she wasn’t 

it was not  it wasn’t 

we were not  we weren’t 

you were not  you weren’t 

they were not  they weren’t 

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