Meaning of simple past tense
The simple past (also termed as the past simple tense, past indefinite tense, or preterite tense) is a verb tense to indicate an action that is completed in the past. It is to speak about something that has already happened.
Simple past tense examples
| Base Form | Past Tense Form | Example Sentences |
| Play | Played | She played the piano every morning last month. |
| Take | Took | He took the bus to school. |
| Travel | Traveled | Jack traveled to Switzerland last year. |
| Write | Wrote | She wrote her journal yesterday night. |
| Go | Went | Jill went to school today morning. |
| Eat | Ate | She ate salad for lunch. |
| Work | Worked | She worked as a banker earlier than her current job. |
| Fly | Flew | She flew to Sydney 2 years ago. |
| Use | Used | He used the latest gadget for his work. |
| See | Saw | She saw him last October. |
Simple Past Forms
To change a verb into a past tense, (for regular verbs only) add -ed to the end of the verb (or just -d if the root form already ends in an e):
- The past tense of the verb “walk” is walked. (walk + ed)
- The past tense of the verb “type” is typed. (type + ed)
- The past tense of the verb “play” is played. (play + ed)
- The past tense of the verb “pull” is pulled. (pull + ed)
- The past tense of the verb “love” is loved. (love + ed)
It is a little complicated to change irregular verbs into past tense though. The simple past forms are more unpredictable for irregular verbs.
- See→Saw
- Build→Built
- Go→Went
- Do→Did
- Rise→Rose
- Am/Is/Are→Was/Were
We usually use the simple past tense to express the following ideas
- The simple past is also frequently used to talk about past habits and generalizations which are no longer true.
Example: She was an introvert as a child, but now she is quite outspoken.
- The simple past can be used to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past.
Example: I saw an opera day before.
- The simple past can be used to list out a series of completed actions in the past.
Example: I finished cycling, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
- The simple past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past, It indicates a duration of time such as years,hours, all day, all year, etc.
Examples: I lived in Colombo for five years.
Let’s practice:
- Make a sentence using the simple past tense.
- Fill in the simple past tense in the following blanks by choosing the right word from the brackets.
- She __________ to draw (Like/Likes/liked)
- She __________melodiously at the concert (sings/sang/will sing)
- He ___________to the market in the afternoon (go/went/will go)
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Read more on Simple Present tense/Indefinite tenses: Click here
Read more on Simple Future tense: Click here
Read more on the 12 tenses of Engish grammar with detailed explanation and easy examples: Click here
Eigooo, the English Training Chat Application
To improve your English, the best way is to practice every day.
Eigooo supports you with a 24/7 chat service with real teachers.
- You can chat with the teacher one-on-one.
- The teacher will make immediate corrections to your messages.
- No need to make a reservation. You can start whenever you want.
- The free trial is ready.
Sign up now and get free messages to try it out
