The Simple Past Illustrated

When to Use the Simple Past: Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind. How To Form the Simple Past: To form the simple past of most regular verbs in English, add –ed (suffix) to the base form of the verb. The base form of a verb is defined as the infinitive without the preposition to infinitive marker. For example: • Infinitive – Base – Simple Past • to want – want – wanted • to follow – follow – followed • to listen – listen – listened • to wish – wish – wished Many verbs need a change in spelling between the base form and the simple past. Those verbs that are spelled with a "silent" e on the end of the word, remove the "silent" e and then add the ¬-ed. For example: • Infinitive – Base – Simple Past • to care – care – cared • to decide – decide – decided • to introduce – introduce – introduced • to realize – realize – realized • to use – use – used Verbs that are spelled with a y on the end of the word change the y to an i and then add the ¬-ed suffix: • Infinitive – Base – Simple Past • to deny – deny – denied • to party – party – partied • to study – study – studied • to worry – worry – worried One-syllable verbs spelled with a single vowel followed by a consonant other than w, x, and y, double the last consonant and then add the ¬-ed suffix. For example: • Infinitive – Base – Simple Past • to bag – bag – bagged • to nap – nap – napped • to pet – pet – petted • to rob – rob – robbed • to shop – shop – shopped Two-syllable verbs spelled with a single vowel followed by a consonant, in which the second syllable is stressed, double the last consonant and then add the ¬-ed suffix. For example: • Infinitive – Base – Simple Past • to concur – concur – concurred • to deter – deter - deterred • to format – format – formatted • to prefer – prefer – preferred • to regret – regret – regretted For those few verbs spelled with a letter c at the end of the word, add a k after the c and then add the ¬-ed suffix. For example: • Infinitive – Base – Simple Past • to frolic – frolic – frolicked • to mimic – mimic – mimicked • to panic – panic – panicked • to picnic – picnic – picnicked • to traffic – traffic – trafficked Uses: We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on. Examples: • I finished my tea, walked to the beach, and returned in one hour. • He arrived in the city at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met them at 10:00. • Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs? The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A: duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc. Examples: • I lived in Peru for two years. • Sheila studied Japanese for five years. • They sat at the beach all day. • They did not stay at the party the entire time. • We talked on the phone for one minute. A: How long did you wait for them? B: We waited for two hour. The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as “used to." 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. Examples: • I studied German when I was a child. • My sister played the violin. • She didn't play the piano. • Did you play oboe when you were a kid? • She worked at the pharmacy after school. • They never went to school, they always skipped class. The Simple Past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. Examples: • She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing. • He didn't like tomatoes before. • Did you live in Texas when you were a kid? • People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past. When-Clauses Happen First Clauses are groups of words which have meaning but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when I dropped my pen..." or "when class began..." These clauses are called when-clauses, and they are very important. The examples below contain when-clauses. Examples: • When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question. • She answered my question when I paid her one dollar. When-clauses are important because they always happen first when both clauses are in the Simple Past. Both of the examples above mean the same thing: first, I paid her one dollar, and then, she answered my question. It is not important whether "when I paid her one dollar" is at the beginning of the sentence or at the end of the sentence. However, the example below has a different meaning. First, she answered my question, and then, I paid her one dollar. Example: • I gave her one dollar when she answered my question.

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