You use past simple when you talk about the past. It can be yesterday, last week, the day before yesterday, last year, last night, or this morning.

The Two Ways of Making Past Simple

Regular Verbs

There are two ways in which you can make past simple. The first one is with regular verbs. Regular verbs means that it’s a verb that follows the rule.

The rule for past simple is: verb + ed.

Examples:

Yesterday Fred played basketball. Played = play + ed.

The Grants traveled to Hong Kong in May. Traveled = travel + ed. You can also write travelled with two “l”s (British spelling).

If the verb already has an “e” at the end, just add “d.”

Examples:

Omer lived in Toronto in 2008. Lived = live + d.

He loved the snow in winter. Loved = love + d.

In some verbs the “y” changes to “i:”

She cried when she lost her job. Cried = cry + ed, with the “y” changed to “i.”

Irregular verbs

And then there are the dreaded irregular verbs. Fortunately, irregular verbs are used a lot, so in a normal conversation you will always use them. And if you use them, you won’t forget them.

Here are some examples:

Derrick and Miriam went to a movie last night. “Went” is the past of “go.”

They saw Jack & Jill. “Saw” is the past of “see.”

They thought it was delightful. “Thought” is the past of “think,” and “was” is the past of “be.” (“were” can also be the past of “be”).

To be

As always, “to be” is a bit special. In the past simple there are two different forms: “was” and “were.”

It goes like this:

I was

You were

She was

He was

It was

We were

They were

Examples in a sentence:

It was cold when they were in Prague.

When I was in high school, Lydia was in her first year of college.

For a list of irregular verbs, have a look here.

Exercise 1

Use the past simple of the following verbs (they can be regular as well as irregular):

dance    be     sing     compete      spend     play     break   have   take

1 When President Barack Obama _________ in high school, he _____________ on the school basketball team.

2 When Andrew ______________ in the triathlon, he _____________ his bike.

3 Drew __________ all weekend reading fantasy books.

4 The party was great. We ________ and _________ and we ________ a lot of fun.

5 I ________ one of your pencils. I’ll bring it back tomorrow.

Exercise 2

Same as Exercise 1: Use these verbs:

point     brush    need    fly    forget   tell     give     be        can      want

1 I _________ my teeth after breakfast, but I ________ to comb my hair.

2 We _________ to India for a month after my aunt __________ me money for the trip.

3 The guide ___________ out how beautiful the Golden Temple ___________.

4 She ____________ me she ___________ not come to the picnic.

5 I __________ to go for a drink with my friend, but he _________ to go to the dentist.

You will find the answers underneath, when you scroll down.

 

 

 

 

 

Answers

Exercise 1

dance    be     sing     compete      spend     play     break   have   take

1 When President Barack Obama ____was_____ in high school, he _____played________ on the school basketball team.

2 When Andrew ___competed___________ in the triathlon, he ___broke__________ his bike.

3 Drew _____spent_____ all weekend reading fantasy books.

4 The party was great. We ___danced_____ and __sang_______ and we __had_____ a lot of fun.

5 I _took_______ one of your pencils. I’ll bring it back tomorrow.

Exercise 2
point     brush    need    fly    forget   tell     give     be        can      want

1 I ___brushed______ my teeth after breakfast, but I _forgot_______ to comb my hair.

2 We __flew______ to India for a month after my aunt ___gave_______ me money for the trip.

3 The guide ____pointed_______ out how beautiful the Golden Temple __was_________.

4 She ___told_________ me she ___could________ not come to the picnic.

5 I __wanted________ to go for a drink with my friend, but he __needed_______ to go to the dentist.