The past simple with regular and irregular verbs,

1. Irregular verbs
They are called irregular verbs because there isn’t a pattern to form the past simple. There are three past simple
forms.
1. The simple form & the past simple are totally different:
Simple form Past simple
Be Was / Were
Buy Bought
Build [bild] Built [bilt]
Drink Drank
Eat Ate [eit]
Go Went
• I bought the newspaper yesterday.
• My grandpa built this house in 1975.
• John drank orange juice last Saturday.
• Kathy ate pizza last night.
2. The simple form & the past simple are similar:
Simple form Past simple
Cost Cost
Cut Cut
Hit Hit
Read [rid] Read [red]
• The new car cost 10.000 dollars last year.
• I cut a slice of bread yesterday morning.
• My dad hit a tree with his car last weekend.
• I read [red] two books last year.
3. Some verbs have two possible past simple forms:
Simple form Past simple
Burn Burnt / Burned
Dream Dreamt / Dreamed
Learn Learnt / Learned
Smell Smelt / Smelled
• Sarah burnt a blanket accidentally last week = Sarah burned a blanket accidentally last week.
• Phillip dreamt about winning the lottery last night = Phillip dreamed about winning the lottery last night.
• My mom learnt new words in English yesterday = My mom learned new words in English yesterday.
• I smelt some flowers last Saturday = I smelled some flowers last Saturday.

2. Regular verbs
They are called regular verbs because they make the past simple by adding d, ed or ied to the verb:
• I danced salsa with my mom yesterday.
• My dad worked too much last Saturday.
• Alexander studied medicine at the university in 2010.
• My grandpa jogged in the park last night.
1. We add d when the verbs end in e:
Simple form Past simple
Bake Baked
Dance Danced
Like Liked
Smile Smiled
• I danced salsa with my mom yesterday.
• My dad prepared pizza for dinner last night.
• My uncle John lived in Canada last year.
• A bank robber escaped from prison last month.
2. When the verbs end in one consonant + y, we change y to ied: Study → Studied / Cry → Cried
Simple form Past simple
Cry Cried
Fry Fried
Study Studied
Tidy Tidied
Try Tried
• I studied biology yesterday.
• Daniel tidied his room last weekend.
• The baby cried this morning because she was hungry.
• Jenny tried to solve a difficult crossword last night.
3. We add ed to the rest of the verbs:
Simple form Past simple
Clean Cleaned
Fix Fixed
Play Played
Visit Visited
Watch Watched

3. • I cleaned my house yesterday.
• Mathew watched a movie last weekend.
• My brother fixed his car last week.
• Clerk played tennis last Sunday.
• It snowed a lot in Europe last December.
• My grandma visited me yesterday afternoon.
4. But when the verbs end in one vowel + one consonant (not w, x, y), we double the consonant & add ed:
Simple form Past simple
Emit Emitted
Hop Hopped
Jog Jogged
Plan Planned
Stop Stopped
• I stopped a taxi yesterday.
• My sister planned her vacation last month.
• Silvia jogged in the park last Saturday.
• Our cat emitted a strange sound last night.
• I hopped down three steps in my house last weekend.
How to pronounce ed
There are three different ed pronunciations: /d/, /t/ or /id/. Everything depends on how the verbs end.
1. If the verb ends in ce, ch, f, k, ke, se, sh, ss, p, pe, x, ze: the pronunciation of ed is /t/.
• Dance → Danced /danst/
• Watch → Watched /wacht/
• Work → Worked /workt/
• Stop → Stopped /stɒpt/
2. If the verb ends in d, de, t or te: the pronunciation of ed is /id/.
• Visit → Visited /vɪzɪtid/
• Invite → Invited /ɪnvaɪtid/
• Need → Needed /nidid/
• Decide → Decided /dɪsaɪdid/
3. The rest of the verbs: the pronunciation of ed is /d/.
• Clean → Cleaned /klind/
• Call → Called /kɔld/
• Study → Studied /stʌdɪd/

4. Negative form
Did not / didn’t + simple form of the verb.
Positive form Negative form
Emitted Didn’t emit
Ate Didn’t eat
Played Did not play
Drank Did not drink
Stopped Didn’t stop
Dreamt / Dreamed Didn’t dream
Studied Didn’t study
Read [red] Did not read [rid]
Bought Did not buy
• I bought the newspaper yesterday. I didn’t buy a magazine.
• My grandma baked a cake last night. She did not bake cookies.
• Tom drank orange juice last Saturday. He didn’t drink coffee.
• You danced salsa last Friday. You did not dance vallenatos.
• John went to the movies last weekend. He didn’t go to a disco.
• My mom watched the news this morning. She did not watch a reality show.
• I read [red] the newspaper this morning. I didn’t read [rid] a magazine.
• My brother jogged around the park last night. He did not jog around the stadium.
Time expressions
Past simple time expressions
Yesterday Last September
Yesterday morning Last Christmas
Last night Last year
The day before yesterday An hour ago [egou]
Last week Two days ago.
Last Friday Three weeks ago.
Last Friday afternoon Four months ago.
Last weekend Five years ago.
Last month Long time ago.
• I bought the newspaper yesterday.
• Yesterday, I bought the newspaper.
• John drank orange juice last Saturday.
• Last Saturday, John drank orange juice.
• My parents went to the movies last weekend.
• Last weekend, my parents went to the movies.
• I spoke to my grandma on the phone the day before yesterday.
• The day before yesterday, I spoke to my grandma on the phone.