Simple past
3. 1. Simple Past Tense
The simple past tense is sometimes called the preterit tense. We can use several tenses to talk about the past, but the simple past is the one we most often use. So to speak, the simple past tense is correct for most actions and states in the past. There are only a few times when we absolutely need to use other past tenses.
3. 1. 1. Form
§ The simple past tense in regular verbs is formed by adding “ed” to the infinitive:
· “To work – worked”
· “To visit – visited”
· “To sign – signed”
§ Verbs ending in “e” ad “d” only:
· “To love – loved”.
§ The same form is used for all pronouns and persons:
· “I worked, she worked, they worked, it worked”
§ The negative of regular and irregular verbs is formed with “did not or didn’t” and the bare infinitive:
· I did not / didn’t work.
· You did not /didn’t work.
§ The interrogative of regular and irregular verbs is formed with “did + subject + infinitive”:
· Did I work?
· Did you work?
· Did they visit?
§ Negative interrogative: did you not work?
3. 1. 1. 2. Spelling Notes
§ The rules about doubling the final consonant when adding “ing” “see the present continuous lecture” apply also when adding “ed”:
· Admit, admitted
· Stop, stopped
· Travel, travelled
§ Verbs ending in “y” following a consonant change the “y” into “I” before adding “ed”:
· Carry, carried
· Try, tried
§ But “y” following a vowel does not change:
· Obey, obeyed
· Play, played
3. 1. 2. Main Uses of the Simple Present Tense
§ We use the simple past tense to talk about actions and states which happened and finished at specific time in the past. In short, it is about actions and states which we see as completed in the past in the sense that these completed actions correspond to the idea of dead actions which do not have any relationship with the present time either through the action or its results. This tense is used with words referring or indicating to finished times such as “yesterday, three weeks ago, last year, specific point of time in the past “in 2002”, from March to June, for a long time, in the last century, in the past, before, ego, …”. Furthermore, it is used when the action clearly took place at a definite time even though this time is not mentioned “the time is understood through the context”. This kind of actions can be represented diagrammatically as follows:
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See the examples below:
· We passed our BAC exam two years before.
· The Algerian revolution started in November 1954.
· The teacher explained the simple present tense last week.
· I am second year master student and I got my BAC exam before
· I had my breakfast before.
· Last year, I traveled to India.
· Last year, I did not travel to Japan.
§ We use the simple past tense for many kinds of past events and situations. The events can be; short, quick finished actions and happening and longer situations. Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can be a few minutes or millions of years in the past. Also it does not matter how long the event is. It can be a few milliseconds (car explosion) or millions of years (Jurassic period). We use the simple past tense when: the event is in the past, the event is completely finished and when we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event.
· Here are some short and quick finished events with the simple past tense:
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- Peter broke a window last night. - The car exploded at 9:00 am yesterday. - We did not hear the telephone. |
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· Past |
· Present |
· Future |
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+ |
- - - - |
- - - - - - |
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The past action is so long. |
The action does exist in the present |
The action does exist in the future |
· The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. Duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc. Here are some long “over time” events and situations with the simple past tense:
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- I lived in Bangkok for ten years. - I spent all my childhood in Scotland. - The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years. - The Algerian revolution took more than 7 years. - The pre-historic took millions of years. |
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· Past |
· Present |
· Future |
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+ + + + + + + + + |
- - - - |
- - - - - |
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The action is in the past and keeps longer period of time. |
No relationship with the present |
No relationship with the future |
· 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, etc. Here are some repeated actions in the past:
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- Regularly every summer, Janet fell in love. - John was a taxi driver; he drove his car every morning. - They never drank wine. - He always carried an umbrella. |
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· Past |
· Present |
· Future |
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+ + + + + + + + |
- - - - - |
- - - - - |
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The action is in the past and repeated over particular past time but it did not continue to the present time. |
No relationship with the present |
No relationship with the future |
§ The simple past tense is used to describe a series of completed action which may include events in stories and descriptions of past events. Note that when we tell a story, we usually use the simple past tense. We may use the past continuous tense to “set the scene”, but we almost use the simple past for the action. This kind of actions can be represented diagrammatically as follows:
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See the examples below:
· One day the Princess decided that she didn’t like staying at home all day, so she told her father that she wanted to get a job…..
· The wind was howling around the hotel and the rain was pouring down. It was cold. The door opened and James Bond entered. He took off his coat, which was very wet, and ordered a drink. He set down ….”
1. The simple past tense is used in conditional sentences, type 2 for unreal if-clauses in the present.
· If I lived near my office I’d be in time for work.
· If I were you I’d pant some trees around this house.
· I f you revised your lessons very well you would succeed in your final test.
Summary
The simple past tense is used for actions completed in the past. With regular verbs, it is formed by using the base verb with “-ed” and can be singular (I lived, you lived, s/he/it lived) or plural (we lived, you lived, they lived). With irregular verbs, the base verb is not formed with “-ed,” for example, the simple past tense for the base verb “buy” would be “bought”: singular (I, you, s/he/it bought); plural (we, you, they bought). The common way of using the simple present tense is when:
§ To describe actions or events completed at a definite time in the past.
§ To describe actions or events completed in the past where the time is understood but not mentioned (typically in narrative).
§ To ask questions about a definite time in the past.
§ To describe a definite period of time in the past.
§ To describe repeated or habitual actions or behavior in the past (often with adverbs of frequency).
Exercise 1
Complete these sentences in the Simple Past Tense, using the correct verb form this list “play, enjoy, watch, listen, talk, phone, stop, walk, travel, like and stay”. One example is given.
§ I watched the late film on TV last night.
1. We really ………………….. the concert last night. It was great!
2. She ………………… with friends in Algeria last summer.
3. Italy ………………… very well in the last World Cup.
4. Her parents ………………….. by train from Shanghai to Moscow.
5. I ………………….. you four times last night but you were out.
6. We …………………. along the beach yesterday. It was lovely.
7. She …………………. the film but she didn’t like the music.
8. The men ………………….. work at exactly one o’clock.
9. I ……………………. to the new Sting album yesterday. It’s great.
10. They ………………… to us about their trip to Paris. It was very interesting.
Exercise 2
Complete the man’s statement with the Past Simple form of the verbs in brackets:
1. Last night I ………… (go) to my favorite restaurant in West Street. I ……….. (leave) the restaurant at about 11 o’clock. It ………….. (be) a warm evening and I …………….. (decide) to walk along the beach.
2. Suddenly, I …………… (hear) a noise. I ………….. (turn) and ………… (see) three boys aged about eighteen. One boy ………… (come) up to me and ………….. (ask) me the time. When I …………. (look) down at my watch, he ……………hit) me and I ………… (fall) to the ground. Another boy ………. (take) my wallet. I ………….. (shout) for help. Then they …………(run) away.
Exercise 3
Fill in the blanks with the Simple Past form of the verbs:
Benjamin Franklin was born (be born) in Boston in 1706. He ……1…… (be) the fifteenth of the seventeen children of a poor candle maker. He ……2……(go ) to school only one year. He ……3…… (begin) to work when he was twelve. At the age of fourteen he …4…… (decide) to be a writer. He……5…. (copy) the great stories of famous writers and later he …6… (become) the best known writer in his time.
When he …7…….. (be) seventeen, he ……8…… (leave) Boston and …9… (arrive) in Philadelphia with only a few pennies in his pocket. He …10……… (get) a job a publisher of a newspaper and ……11……. (retire) from business as a very rich man at forty-two. Then he ……12………. (spend) the next forty years for his government. He ……13……. (play) an important role in the founding of the USA.
Franklin …14…… (be) also an important scientist and inventor. He ………15……. (make) electricity from a cloud on a kite string. He ……16………… (write) one of the first text books on electricity. He ………17……… (invent) a simple lightning rod and many other practical tools. He ……18……… (make) a study of water and ………19……. (discover) many principles of hydrodynamics. He even ………20……… (invent) bifocal glasses when he was seventy-eight and ……21…… (need) them himself.
Franklin ……22…… (do) all these things and many more because he …23…… (believe) he …24…… (can).