Past Simple (Regular & Irregular Verbs)

What it means

The past simple talks about actions that started and finished in the past, often at a time we can name: yesterday, last week, in 2020.

How to make it

• Most regular verbs → add -ed: work → worked, visit → visited
• Verbs ending in -e → add -d: live → lived
• Consonant + y → change y to i, add -ed: study → studied
• Short verbs ending consonant–vowel–consonant → double the last letter: stop → stopped
• Irregular verbs have special forms you must learn: go → went, eat → ate, see → saw, buy → bought
• The form is the same for every subject: I went, she went, they went.
• Negative → didn't + base verb: I didn't go.
• Question → Did + subject + base verb: Did you go?

When to use it

• A finished action at a past time: We visited Angkor Wat last year.
• Several actions one after another: She went to the market and bought some fruit.
• With past time words: yesterday, last week, two days ago, in 2020
• Asking about the past: Did you finish your homework?

Compare

• Positive: I ate breakfast. (past form)
• Negative: I didn't eat breakfast. (did already shows the past, so the verb goes back to its base form)
• Question: Did you eat breakfast? (same rule)

Common mistakes

• ❌ I didn't saw him. → ✅ I didn't see him. (after did, use the base verb)
• ❌ Yesterday I go to school. → ✅ Yesterday I went to school. (the verb itself must change)
• ❌ She buyed a phone. → ✅ She bought a phone. (buy is irregular)