Past Simple Tense

Past Simple Tense The past simple tense is sometimes called the "preterite tense". We can use several tenses and forms to talk about the past, but the past simple tense is the one we use most often. In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the past simple tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:              How do we make the Past Simple Tense? To make the past simple tense, we use: past form only or auxiliary did + base form Here you can see examples of the past form and base form for irregular verbs and regular verbs: V1 base V2 past V3 past participle regular verb work explode like worked exploded liked worked exploded liked irregular verb go see sing went saw sang gone seen sung The structure for positive sentences in the past simple tense is: subject + main verb past The structure for negative sentences in the past simple tense is: subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb did base The structure for question sentences in the past simple tense is: auxiliary verb + subject + main verb did base The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he did etc). And the base form and past form do not change. Look at these examples with the main verbs go andwork: subject auxiliary verb main verb + I went to school. You worked very hard. - She did not go with me. We did not work yesterday. ? Did you go to London? Did they work at home? Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and question sentences. To make a question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these examples: subject main verb + I, he/she/it was here. You, we, they were in London. - I, he/she/it was not there. You, we, they were not happy. ? Was I, he/she/it right? Were you, we, they late? Use: how do we use the past simple tense? How do we use the Past Simple Tense? We use the past simple tense to talk about an action or a situation - an event - in the past. The event can be short or long. Here are some short events with the past simple tense: The car exploded at 9.30am yesterday. She went to the door. We did not hear the telephone. Did you see that car? past present future The action is in the past. Here are some long events with the past simple tense: I lived in Bangkok for 10 years. The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years. We did not sing at the concert. Did you watch TV last night? past present future The action is in the past. Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can be a few minutes or seconds in the past, 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 past simple tense when: the event is in the past the event is completely finished we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event In general, if we say the time or place of the event, we must use t he past simple tense; we cannot use the present perfect. Here are some more examples: I lived in that house when I was young. He didn't like the movie. What did you eat for dinner? John drove to London on Monday. Mary did not go to work yesterday. Did you play tennis last week? I was at work yesterday. We were not late (for the train). Were you angry? Note that when we tell a story, we usually use the past simple tense. We may use the past continuous tense to "set the scene", but we almost always use the past simple tense for the action. Look at this example of the  beginning of a story: "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 at the bar. He sat down in the corner of the lounge and quietly drank  his..." Past Simple Tense Quiz 1 I  goed went gone  to the mall after school.  Click for answer went  2 My brother  seen saw sees  a bear an hour ago.  Click for answer saw  3  Did Are Does  Mike visit his grandmother last night?  Click for answer Did  4 Alex did not  work worked working  last weekend.  Click for answer work  5  Was Were Are  Judy and Liz at last month's meeting?  Click for answer Were  6 We  were was did  not happy after the sad ending.  Click for answer were  7  Are Did Do  you see Jody's new dog yesterday?  Click for answer Did  8 Sorry, I  wasn't didn't am not  hear you at the door.  Click for answer didn't  9 I  studying study studied  English for two years.  Click for answer studied  10 What  do did were  you eat for lunch yesterday?  Click for answer did

Present Simple Tense Quiz

1	Do you  like likes be like  chocolate milk?	Click for answer like
2	He  do does is  not want to come to the movies.	Click for answer does
3	Is Are Am  we too late to catch the bus?	Click for answer Are
4	It  is are am  a beautiful day today.	Click for answer is
5	Sorry, Lisa  am is be  not here at the moment.	Click for answer is
6	Is Are Am  I correct?	Click for answer Am
7	Robert  is does are  not go to my school.	Click for answer does
8	My parents  live lives are live  in a 2 bedroom apartment.	Click for answer live
9	We  do be are do are  European.	Click for answer are
10	You  looks are be  so happy today!	Click for answer are

Present Simple Tense

I sing

How do we make the Present Simple Tense?

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		do		base

There are three important exceptions:

1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

Look at these examples with the main verb like:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I, you, we, they			like	coffee.
	He, she, it			likes	coffee.
-	I, you, we, they	do	not	like	coffee.
	He, she, it	does	not	like	coffee.
?	Do	I, you, we, they		like	coffee?
	Does	he, she, it		like	coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

	subject	main verb
+	I	am		French.
	You, we, they	are		French.
	He, she, it	is		French.
-	I	am	not	old.
	You, we, they	are	not	old.
	He, she, it	is	not	old.
?	Am	I		late?
	Are	you, we, they		late?
	Is	he, she, it		late?

How do we use the Present Simple Tense?

We use the present simple tense when:

• the action is general
• the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
• the action is not only happening now
• the statement is always true

John drives a taxi.
past	present	future
It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.

Look at these examples:

• I live in New York.
• The Moon goes round the Earth.
• John drives a taxi.
• He does not drive a bus.
• We meet every Thursday.
• We do not work at night.
• Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the present simple tense for situations that are not general. We can use the present simple tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the present simple tense - some of them are general, some of them are now:

Am I right? Tara is not at home. You are happy.
past	present	future
The situation is now.

I am not fat. Why are you so beautiful? Ram is tall.
past	present	future
The situation is general. Past, present and future.

Simple present Quiz

English Tense System

In some languages, verb tenses are not very important or do not even exist. In English, the concept of tense is very important.

In this lesson we look at the idea behind tense, how to avoid confusing tense with time, and the structure of the basic tenses, with examples using a regular verb, an irregular verb and the verb be.              

What is Tense?

tense (noun): a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus = time).

Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time - past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.

So, we talk about time in English with tenses. But, and this is a very big but:

• we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
• one tense does not always talk about one time (see Tense & Time for more about this)

Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.

Mood

indicative mood expresses a simple statement of fact, which can be positive (affirmative) or negative

• I like coffee.
• I do not like coffee.

interrogative mood expresses a question

• Why do you like coffee?

imperative mood expresses a command

• Sit down!

subjunctive mood expresses what is imagined or wished or possible

• The President ordered that he attend the meeting.

Voice

Voice shows the relationship of the subject to the action. In the active voice, the subject does the action (cats eat mice). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action (mice are eaten by cats). Among other things, we can use voice to help us change the focus of attention.

Aspect

Aspect expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration. Present simple and past simple tenses have no aspect, but if we wish we can stress with other tenses that:

• the action or state referred to by the verb is completed (and often still relevant), for example:
  I have emailed the report to Jane. (so now she has the report)
  (This is called perfective aspect, using perfect tenses.)
• the action or state referred to by the verb is in progress or continuing (that is, uncompleted), for example:
  We are eating.
  (This is called progressive aspect, using progressive [continuous] tenses.)

Tense and Time

It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time.

For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:

• I hope it rains tomorrow.
  "rains" is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow)

Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:

• If I had some money now, I could buy it.
  "had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)

The following examples show how different tenses can be used to talk about different times.

TENSE	TIME
	past	present	future
Present Simple		I want a coffee.	I leave tomorrow
	She likes coffee.
Present Continuous		I am having dinner.	I am taking my exam next month.
	They are living in London.
Present Perfect Simple	I have seen ET.	I have finished.
Present Perfect Continuous	I have been playingtennis.
	We have been working for four hours.
Past Simple	I finished one hour ago.	If she loved you now, she would marry you.	If you came tomorrow, you would see her.
Past Continuous	I was working at 2am this morning.
Past Perfect Simple	I had not eaten for 24 hours.
Past Perfect Continuous	We had been workingfor 3 hours.	If I had been workingnow, I would have missed you.	If I had been workingtomorrow, I could not have agreed.
Future Simple		Hold on. I'll do it now.	I'll see you tomorrow.
Future Continuous			I will be working at 9pm tonight.
Future Perfect Simple			I will have finished by 9pm tonight.
	We will have been married for ten years next month.
Future Perfect Continuous			They may be tired when you arrive because they will have been working.
	In 30 minutes, we will have been working for four hours.

            

Basic Tenses

For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs). To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are available in the passive voice. So now we have 24 tenses.

24 Tenses		past	present	future*
ACTIVE	simple tenses	past	present	future
	complex tenses formed with auxiliary verbs	past perfect	present perfect	future perfect
		past continuous	present continuous	future continuous
		past perfect continuous	present perfect continuous	future perfect continuous
PASSIVE		past	present	future
		past perfect	present perfect	future perfect
		past continuous	present continuous	future continuous
		past perfect continuous	present perfect continuous	future perfect continuou

Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly the same.

The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the auxiliary verb is usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it does exist for intensification.) The following table shows the 12 tenses for the verb to work in the active voice.

		structure		past	present	future*
		auxiliary	main verb
simple	normal			I worked	I work	I will work
	intensive	do	base	I did work	I do work
perfect		have	past participle	I had worked	I have worked	I will have worked
continuous		be	present participle -ing	I was working	I am working	I will be working
continuous perfect		have been	present participle -ing	I had been working	I have been working	I will have been working

* Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary verb and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included here for convenience and comparison.

         

Basic Tenses: Regular Verb

This page shows the basic tenses with the regular verb work. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).

The basic structure is:

positive:	+		subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
negative:	-		subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb
question:	?		auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

These are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses:

base verb	past	past participle	present participle -ing
work	worked	worked	working

		past	present	future
SIMPLE do + base verb (except future: will + base verb)	+	I did work I worked	I do work I work	I will work
	-	I did not work	I do not work	I will not work
	?	Did I work?	Do I work?	Will I work?
SIMPLE PERFECT have + past participle	+	I had worked	I have worked	I will have worked
	-	I had not worked	I have not worked	I will not have worked
	?	Had I worked?	Have I worked?	Will I have worked?
CONTINUOUS be + ing	+	I was working	I am working	I will be working
	-	I was not working	I am not working	I will not be working
	?	Was I working?	Am I working?	Will I be working?
CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + ing	+	I had been working	I have been working	I will have been working
	-	I had not beenworking	I have not beenworking	I will not have beenworking
	?	Had I been working?	Have I been working?	Will I have been working?

Irregular Verbs List

This is a list of some irregular verbs in English. Of course, there are many others, but these are the more common irregular verbs.

V1 Base Form	V2 Past Simple	V3 Past Participle
awake	awoke	awoken
be	was, were	been
beat	beat	beaten
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
bend	bent	bent
bet	bet	bet
bid	bid	bid
bite	bit	bitten
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
bring	brought	brought
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast
build	built	built
burn	burned/burnt	burned/burnt
buy	bought	bought
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
cut	cut	cut
dig	dug	dug
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamed/dreamt	dreamed/dreamt
drive	drove	driven
drink	drank	drunk
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
fly	flew	flown
forget	forgot	forgotten
forgive	forgave	forgiven
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	got (sometimes gotten)
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grow	grew	grown
hang	hung	hung
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	hidden
hit	hit	hit
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
keep	kept	kept
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
learn	learned/learnt	learned/learnt
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie	lay	lain
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
pay	paid	paid
put	put	put
read	read	read
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
show	showed	showed/shown
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sit	sat	sat
sleep	slept	slept
speak	spoke	spoken
spend	spent	spent
stand	stood	stood
swim	swam	swum
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
throw	threw	thrown
understand	understood	understood
wake	woke	woken
wear	wore	worn
win	won	won
write	wrote	written

          

Basic Tenses: Be This page shows the basic tenses with the verb be. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?). The basic structure is: positive (+): subject + auxiliary verb + main verb negative (-): subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb question (?): auxiliary verb + subject + main verb But for simple past and simple present tenses, the structure is not the same. In fact, it's even easier. There is no auxiliary verb. Here is the structure: positive (+): subject + main verb negative (-): subject + main verb + not question (?): main verb + subject These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to construct the tenses: base past simple past participle present participle present simple be was, were been being am, are, is past present future SIMPLE present simple or past simple (except future: will + be) + I was I am I will be - I was not I am not I will not be ? Was I? Am I? Will I be? SIMPLE PERFECT have + been + I had been I have been I will have been - I had not been I have not been I will not have been ? Had I been? Have I been? Will I have been? CONTINUOUS be + being + I was being I am being I will be being - I was not being I am not being I will not be being ? Was I being? Am I being? Will I be being? CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + being + I had been being I have been being I will have been being - I had not beenbeing I have not beenbeing I will not have beenbeing ? Had I been being? Have I been being? Will I have been being? In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12 basic tenses. SIMPLE past present future singular I was am will be you were are will be he/she/it was is will be plural we were are will be you were are will be they were are will be PERFECT past present future singular I had been have been will have been you had been have been will have been he/she/it had been has been will have been plural we had been have been will have been you had been have been will have been they had been have been will have been CONTINUOUS past present future singular I was being am being will be being you were being are being will be being he/she/it was being is being will be being plural we were being are being will be being you were being are being will be being they were being are being will be being CONTINUOUS PERFECT past present future singular I had been being have been being will have been being you had been being have been being will have been being he/she/it had been being has been being will have been being plural we had been being have been being will have been being you had been being have been being will have been being they had been being have been being will have been being