Simple Past Tense

Simple Past

Simple Past
Full form +
I lived.
You lived.
She lived.
He lives.
It lived.
We lived.
You lived.
Full form –
I did not live.
You did not live.
She did not live.
He did not live.
It did not live.
We did not live.
They did not live.
Short form –
I didn’t live.
You didn’t live.
She didn‘t live.
He didn‘t live.
It didn’t live.
We didn’t live.
They didn’t live.
Short answers +/-
Yes, I did./No, I didn’t.
Yes you did./No you didn’t.
Yes, she did./No, she didn’t.
Yes, he did./No, he didn’t.
Yes, it did./No, it didn’t.
Yes, we did./No we didn’t.
Yes, they did./No, they didn’t.
To make regular simple past forms:
Most Verbs: + ed   work → worked
Verbs ending in -e +d      live → lived
Verbs ending in consonant +y  y +ied  try → tried
Verbs ending in vowel + y +ed  enjoy → enjoyed
Verbs ending in one consonant + one vowel (except -y -w) double consonant  stop → stopped

Simple Past Irregular verbs are covered in another 5 Minute English lesson.

We use the Simple Past to talk about:
a) finished events – I stopped smoking last year.
b) states in the past – I studied engineering at the university.
Complete the dialog in the Simple Past.
A: Where ________ you ______ last night? (go)
B: I ______ to the movies. (go)
A: What _____ you _____? (see)
B: The latest Helen Mirren movie.
A: Any good?
B: No, I _______ it very much. (like)
Check your answers:
A: Where did you go last night? (go)
B: I went to the movies. (go)
A: What did you see? (see)
B: The latest Helen Mirren movie.
A: Any good?
B: No, I didn’t like it very much. (like)