Tenses

Concept: Simple Past Tense

Definition

• The past tense describes an activity that has taken place in the past.
• The past tense is divided into four subparts: Simple past tense, past continuous tense, the past perfect tense, and the past perfect continuous tense. Today, we will learn about the simple past tense.
• The simple past tense talks about an action or activity which happened in the past.

Examples:

How to Form a Sentence in the Past Tense?

To make a sentence into the simple past tense, add a suffix to the existing verb. You have to add the ‘ed’ to the base form of the verb.

Examples:

If the verb ends in ‘e’, then add a ‘d’ to the verb at the end.

Examples:

For verbs that end in ‘y’, the ‘y’ usually changes to an ‘I’ if it follows a consonant, and ‘ed’ is added after the ‘I’.

Rules to make the Simple Past Tense

1. If a verb ends with one syllable, the final consonant is doubled up before ‘ed’ is added to it.

Examples:

1. Stop – stopped
2. Chat – chatted
2. If the final consonant is w, x, or y, then do not double it.

Examples:

1. Mix – mixed
2. Brew – brewed

Exceptions

1. In simple past tense, the verb remains the same regardless whether the subject is in the singular or plural form (first person, second or third).

Examples:

1. I jumped.
2. We jumped.

2. In the case of some words, the verb changes completely while making it into simple past tense.

Examples:

1. Fly – Flew
2. Think – thought
3. Eat – ate
4. Drive – drove
5. Swim – swam
6. Go – went
7. Know – knew
8. Get – got