The simple past tense, also known as the preterit tense, is used to describe completed actions that occurred at a specific time in the past. It is formed using 'did' for negative and interrogative sentences, with the main verb remaining in its base form. Common mistakes include using the past form of the verb in the negative, such as saying 'I didn’t played' instead of 'I didn’t play.'

1. SIMPLE PAST TENSE
WHAT IS SIMPLE PAST TENSE?
 The simple past tense is sometimes called the preterit tense.
 The past simple is used to talk about completed actions that happened at a
fixed time in the past.
past now future
I lived in Singapore for five years.
HOW TO FORM
Did + not Subject Did + not Past verb Rest of sentence
- I / You / We / They - worked yesterday.
- He / she / it - worked yesterday.
- I / You / We / They did not work yesterday.
- He / she / it did not work yesterday.
Did I / You / We / They - work yesterday?
Did He / she / it - work yesterday?
COMMON MISTAKES FORMING SIMPLE PAST TENSE
When using the negative form of the past simple, “didn’t” plus the main verb in
the base form is used. The main verb is never in the past simple.
√ I didn’t play tennis last night.
× I didn’t played tennis last night.
REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDED READING
 Azar, B. S. (1996). Basic English Grammar. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
Regents.
 Azar, B. S. (2003). Fundamentals of English Grammar: Chartbook: a
Reference Grammar. White Plains, NY: Longman.
 Azar, B. S., & Hagen, S. A. (2009). Understanding and using English
grammar: Workbook. White Plains, N.Y.: Pearson Longman.
 Ansell, M. (2000). Free English Grammar Second Edition.

2.  Barduhn, S., & Hall, D. (2016). English for Everyone–English Grammar
Guide. New York: DK Publishing.
 Murphy, R., Smalzer, W. R., & Nguyễn, T. T. (2000). Grammar in Use:
Intermediate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Murphy, R., & Čhakramāt, S. (2002). Essential grammar in use (Vol. 20010).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.