Past Simple

Exercises

Affirmative Sentences

For regular verbs, add -ed to the verb.
For irregular verbs, use the second form (V2) from the irregular verbs list.

Examples:

• She worked abroad.

• My uncle lived here.

• Harry wrote many books. (irregular)

The verb to be has special past forms:

• I/He/She/It - was

• We/You/They - were

Examples:

• She was angry yesterday.

• We were young and happy.

Negative Sentences

Use did not (didn’t) + base verb.
Did is the past form of do, and it works for all persons.

Examples:

• She didn’t work abroad.

• Harry didn’t write many letters.

• His uncle didn’t live here.

With to be, just add not after was/were:

• I wasn’t tired yesterday.

• They weren’t here two days ago.

Questions

Form questions with Did + subject + base verb.

Examples:

• Did she work abroad?

• Did Harry write many letters?

• Did your uncle live here?

For special questions, add a question word (QW) at the beginning:

• Where did she work?

• What did Harry write?

• When did he live here?

With to be, invert was/were with the subject:

• Was Harry a good writer?

• Were your parents at home last night?

When do we use Past Simple?

Short actions in the past

• She worked abroad two years ago.

• I met my old friend yesterday.

Finished actions (no connection to now)

• He was a famous singer.

• She worked abroad for 20 years. (not anymore)

Actions that cannot happen again

• Mary won a math medal when she was a student.

• My grandmother once sang with Freddie Mercury.

Series of past actions

• She entered, looked around, and screamed.

• I woke up, washed my face, and brushed my teeth.

Time Expressions with Past Simple

We often use Past Simple with words that show when the action happened:

• yesterday

• the day before yesterday

• just now

• last night / last week / last month / last year

• an hour ago / two days ago / five years ago

• in 1992

• at 6 o’clock