The Past Simple Tense

1. The Past Simple Tense
 Affirmative
S + V₂/ed
e.g. I went (an irregular verb) to the cinema yesterday.
She visited (a regular verb) her relatives last month.
Exceptions in spelling when adding -ed Example
after a final e only add -d love – loved
final consonant after a short, stressed vowel is doubled admit – admitted
final r is doubled if it is preceded by a stressed vowel prefer-preferred
final r is not doubled if it is preceded by a diphthong appear-appeared
final l is doubled if it is preceded by a short vowel
(stressed or unstressed)
travel-travelled
final y after a consonant becomes i and remains
unchanged if it is preceded by a vowel
hurry – hurried
play - played

2.  Negative
S + did not + V₀ (the infinitive without the particle “to”)
e.g. I did not (= didn’t) go to the cinema yesterday.
She did not(= didn’t) visit her relatives last month.
 Interrogative
did + S + V₀?
e.g. Did you visit your relatives last month?
Didn’t you visit your relatives last month?
Why didn’t you visit your relatives last month?
Who visited your relatives last month?
What happened to your relatives last month?
Were your relatives in the hospital last month?

3. The use of the Past Simple
 The Past Simple denotes an action performed
within a period of time which is already over.
The action is cut off from the present. The
time of the action may be indicated by
adverbials of past time, such as:
 yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I
was a child, when I lived in Japan, in 2011
etc.
!!!Sometimes, the speakers may not actually
mention the specific time, but they do have
one specific time in mind.

4.  Completed action in the past
√ |
Past Present Future
e.g. I saw a movie yesterday.
I didn't travel to Korea last year.

5.  A succession of past actions
√₁ √₂ √₃ √₄ |
Past Present Future
e.g. He arrived from the airport at 8:00,
checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the
others at 10:00.

6.  Duration in the past
| |
Past Present Future
e.g. I lived in Brazil for two years. (But I don’t
live there now)
Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
(But now she doesn’t)

7.  Habits (repeated actions) in the Past
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ |
Past Present Future
!!!Repeated actions in the past which no longer happen
can be expressed by “used to + infinitive” and
“would + infinitive”. To make it clear that we are
talking about a habit, we often add expressions such
as: always, often, usually, never, when I was a child,
when I was younger, etc.
e.g. I studied French when I was a child.= I used to study
French when I was a child.

8.  Past Facts of Generalization
|
Past Present Future
e.g. She was shy as a child, but now she is very
outgoing.
He didn't like tomatoes before.

9. Be attentive!!!
 Used to do
We use 'used to' for something that happened regularly in the
past but no longer happens.
 I used to smoke a packet a day but I stopped two years ago.
 Ben used to travel a lot in his job but now, since his
promotion, he doesn't.
 I used to drive to work but now I take a bus.
We also use it for something that was true but no longer is.
 There used to be a cinema in the town but now there isn't.
 She used to have really long hair but she's had it all cut off.
 I didn't use to like him but now I do.

10. Be attentive!!!
 To be used to doing
We use 'to be used to doing' to say that something
is normal, not unusual.
 I'm used to living on my own. I've done it for
quite a long time.
 Hans has lived in England for over a year so he is
used to driving on the left now.
 They've always lived in hot countries so they
aren't used to the cold weather here.

11. Be attentive!!!
 To get used to doing
We use 'to get used to doing' to talk about the
process of something becoming normal for us.
 I didn't understand the accent when I first moved
here but I quickly got used to it.
 She has started working nights and is still getting
used to sleeping during the day.
 I have always lived in the country but now I'm
beginning to get used to living in the city.