Simple Past Tense

 1. Definition of Simple Past Tense

The Simple Past Tense is used to talk about:

• actions or events that happened and finished in the past
• activities at a specific time in the past
• past habits or routines (no longer true now)

📌 The time of the action is known or mentioned.

2. Functions of Simple Past Tense

We use the Simple Past Tense to express:

1. Completed actions in the past
2. Past experiences
3. Past habits
4. A sequence of past events

3. Sentence Patterns

A. Positive (Affirmative)

Subject + Verb 2 / Past Form

• Regular verbs → Verb + -ed
• Irregular verbs → Verb 2 (different form)

Examples:

• I visited my grandmother yesterday.
• She studied English last night.
• He went to school early.

B. Negative

Subject + did not + Verb 1

Examples:

• I did not watch TV last night.
• She did not understand the lesson.
• They did not go to the party.

C. Interrogative (Question)

Did + Subject + Verb 1 ?

Examples:

• Did you finish your homework?
• Did she call you yesterday?
• Did they arrive on time?

4. Regular & Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs

Add -ed to the base verb:

• play → played
• clean → cleaned
• study → studied

Irregular Verbs

Change form completely:

• go → went
• eat → ate
• see → saw

5. Signal Words (Time Expressions)

Common signal words for the Simple Past Tense:

• yesterday
• last night / last week / last year
• ago (two days ago)
• then
• in 2020
• this morning (if the time is finished)

Examples:

• I met her yesterday.
• They moved here two years ago.

6. Examples of Sentences

1. I woke up early this morning.
2. She bought a new bag last week.
3. We did not study yesterday.
4. Did you enjoy the movie?
5. The teacher explained the lesson clearly.