Past Simple Tense – Lesson
Welcome! In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the Past Simple tense in English. This tense is used to talk about actions or situations that happened in the past and are finished.
1. When do we use the Past Simple?
- To talk about completed actions in the past.
Example: I visited London last year. - To talk about a series of actions in the past.
Example: She entered the room, turned on the light, and sat down. - To talk about past habits (often with always, often, usually, etc.).
Example: When I was a child, I played outside every day.
2. How do we form the Past Simple?
| Type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | Subject + verb (past form) | I watched a movie. |
| Negative | Subject + did not (didn’t) + base verb | She didn’t go to school. |
| Question | Did + subject + base verb? | Did you see that? |
3. Regular and Irregular Verbs
-
Regular verbs form the past simple by adding -ed to the base form.
Example: play → played, watch → watched -
Irregular verbs have special past forms.
Example: go → went, have → had, see → saw
4. Time Expressions
We often use the past simple with expressions like:
yesterday
last week
in 2010
two days ago
5. Interactive Exercise
Complete the sentences with the correct past simple form of the verbs in brackets.
6. More Practice
- Write 3 sentences about what you did last weekend using the past simple.
- Ask a friend about their last holiday using the past simple.
For more details, see the original PDF material.