1. Tenses
A. Simple Past Tense
The simple past is used to indicate an action in the past. It often occurs with adverbs
or adverb phrases of past time.
Examples :
o The steamer sailed yesterday.
o I received her letter a week ago.
o He left school last year.
Sometimes this tense is used without an adverb of time. In such cases the time may
be either implied or indicated by the context.
Examples :
o I learnt Hindi in Nagpur.
o I didn’t sleep well.
o I read three novels 2 weeks ago.
This tense is also used to show past habit ; as,
o He studied many hours everyday.
o She always carried an umbrella.
o The farmers worked hard every Saturday.
The pattern of Simple Past Tense
Verbal :
Non-Verbal
SUBJECT VERB2 OBJECT/COMPLEMENT
SUBJECT (TOBE) WAS/WERE COMPLEMENT
