Simple past
The simple past, past simple, or past indefinite, in English equivalent to the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses.[1] Regular English verbs form the simple past in -ed; however, there are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms.[2]
The term "
Formation
Regular verbs form the simple past end-ed; however there are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms.[2] The spelling rules for forming the past simple of regular verbs are as follows: verbs ending in -e add only –d to the end (e.g. live – lived, not *liveed), verbs ending in -y change to -ied (e.g. study – studied) and verbs ending in a group of a consonant + a vowel + a consonant double the final consonant (e.g. stop – stopped).[5] For details see English verbs § Past tense.
Most verbs have a single form of the simple past, independent of the
- Basic simple past:
- I/you/he/she/it/we/they helped
- Expanded (emphatic) simple past:
- I/you/he/she/it/we/they did help
- Question form:
- Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?
- Negative:
- I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not (didn't) help
- Negative question:
- Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they not help? / Didn't I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?
Base form
Affirmative (+) S + verb(ed) + c
Negative (-) S + did not ( didn't) + verb + C
Usage
The simple past is used for a single event (or sequence of such events) in the past, and also for past habitual actions:[1]
- He took the money and ran.
- I visited them every day for a year.
It can also refer to a past state:
- I knew how to fight even as a child.
For actions that were ongoing at the time referred to, the
- The dog was in its kennel.
- I felt cold.
However, with verbs of sensing, it is common in such circumstances to use could see in place of saw, could hear in place of heard, etc. For more on this, see
If one action interrupts another, then it is usual for the interrupted (ongoing) action to be expressed with the past progressive, and the action that interrupted it to be in the simple past:[7]
- Your mother called while you were cooking.
The simple past is often close in meaning to the present perfect. The simple past is used when the event happened at a particular time in the past, or during a period which ended in the past (i.e. a period that does not last up until the present time). This time frame may be explicitly stated, or implicit in the context (for example the past tense is often used when describing a sequence of past events).[7]
- I was born in 1980.
- We turned the oven off two minutes ago.
- I came home at 6 o'clock.
- When did they get married?
- We wrote two letters this morning.
- She placed the letter on the table, sighed, and left the house.
These examples can be contrasted with those given at
Various compound constructions exist for denoting past
The simple past form also has some uses in which it does not refer to a past time. These are generally in
- If he walked faster, he would get home earlier.
- I wish I knew what his name was.
- I would rather she wore a longer dress.
For more details see the sections on conditionals, dependent clauses and expressions of wish in the article on uses of English verb forms.
For use of the simple past (and other past tense forms) in indirect speech, see Uses of English verb forms § Indirect speech. An example:
- He said he wanted to go on the slide.
Pronunciation of -ed
The regular verbs ending with -ed are pronounced as follows:[5]
- Regular verb endings with voiced consonants+/d/, e.g. hugged /hʌɡd/.
- Regular verb endings with unvoiced consonants+/t/, e.g. stopped /stɒpt/.
- Regular verb endings with /t/ or /d/ + /ɪd/, e.g. needed /niːdɪd/.
See also
Other tenses:
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-28138-6.
- ^ a b "Past simple". LearnEnglish - British Council. 2010-03-18. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ISBN 978-0-19-965823-7.
- ISBN 978-0-521-29045-6.
- ^ a b "Past simple – regular verbs". Learn English Teens - British Council. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-582-23725-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-582-23725-4.
- iStudyEnglishOnline (2015). Past Simple Uses & Explanations. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015.