2. The simple past in English is equivalent to the preterite imperfect and
preterite indefinite of Spanish. We use the simple past for complete
actions in the past. The time period of these actions is not as important
as in Spanish. In the simple past there are regular verbs and irregular
verbs. In the English language, the simple past is known as simple past
or past simple. It is used to refer to a fact that happened in the past and is
usually accompanied by a temporary expression that alludes to the past:
"Yesterday I bought four books"
SIMPLE PAST
3. Affirmative
With regular verb
When the verb is regular, the
affirmations are constructed using the
verb in infinitive and are added the
ending ed (or d if the infinitive ends in
e.)
Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona
Lisa.
The teacher used a pencil to correct
the exams.
With irregular verb
When the verb is irregular, look for it
in the second column (in the list of the
simple past)
I went fishing last weekend.
He bought a car. .
Negative
In order to express a negation in past
tense, it is necessary to use, in both
regular and irregular verbs, the auxiliary
in past tense (did not or did not + the
verb in infinitive):
I did not go to Barcelona last month.
I did not do my homework yesterday.
Interrogative
To ask questions it is necessary to use
the auxiliary did + the subject (I, you,
he, she, it, we, they) + the verb in
infinitive + the complement.
Did you see the thief's face?
Did you visit your grandparents last
week?
TYPES
4. Past simple sentences
The past of regular verbs is formed by writing ed at the end of the verb in its simple
form for all people. When the verb ends in y, the y is deleted and yed is written at the
end: study changes to studied. When the verb ends in e, only one d is written at the
end: live changes to lived. Examples:
You worked very hard last week.
She lived in Japan last year.
They learned how to swim two years ago.
She liked to sit in the sun.
He always walked to school.
I painted my house last weekend.
5. The past of irregular verbs is not formed with any rule and it is
necessary to memorize them.
Examples:
She read the newspaper yesterday.
The telephone rang many times, but no one answered.
She did the work of two people.
He saw her on the street yesterday.
I lost my wallet yesterday.
She sent her child to a summer camp
We ate together last Saturday.
6. Examples of affirmative sentences in
simple past
1.- He closed the window.
2.- They lost the keys.
3.- Alice brushed her teeth
4.- Mike drank all the juice.
5.- Sam and Ernest watched that movie.
6.- Our team won the competition.
7. Negative sentences in simple past
As mentioned earlier, the learning of past tense verbs will only be useful for
structuring affirmative sentences.
In the case of negative and interrogative sentences we will use the
auxiliary "did + not" to make sentences.
To emphasize that in past tense since we used the auxiliary "did" it is not
necessary to put the past simple form of the verb, therefore, this must be
put in its infinitive form as it was shown in the English course Basic:
English verbs, use of the infinitive and common examples.
8. Examples of negative sentences in
simple past
To show the examples we will base the sentences in the negative
form of the example sentences of the previous section:
1.- He did not close the window.
2.- They didn't lose the keys.
3.- Alice did not brush her teeth
4.- Mike didn't drink all the juice.
5.- Sam and Ernest didn't watch that movie.
6.- Our team didn't win the competition.
9. Interrogative sentences in simple past (Questions)
Arriving at the final module of the last simple section we see the correct structure of
a question in its two basic forms:
1.- Questions that begin with the auxiliary "Did" and are answered with: Yes / No.
Examples:
- Did he arrive on time? - Yes, he did.
- Did the package arrive on time?
- No, it didn't
2.- Specific questions with words "Wh-" and are answered with: Specific answer. Examples:
- When did they arrive?
- They arrived three hours ago.
- Why did she leave?
- She left because she forgot something at home.
10. Examples of simple past questions First case (answer
Yes / No)
Did he close the window?
- Yes, he did.
Did they lose the keys?
- No, they didn't.
Did Alice brush her teeth?
- Yes, she did.
Did Mike drink all the juice?
- No, he didn't.
Did Sam and Ernest watch that movie?
- Yes, they did.
Did Our team win the competition?
- No, It didn't.
