PAST SIMPLEOnline version A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PAST SIMPLE STRUCTURE by Mauricio Izeta Molina 1 PAST SIMPLE STRUCTURE We use the past tense to talk about: •Something that happened once in the past:- I met my wife in 1983.- We went to Spain for our holidays.- They got home very late last night. •Something that happened again and again in the past:- When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day.- We swam a lot while we were on holiday.- They always enjoyed visiting their friends. •Something that was true for some time in the past:- I lived abroad for ten years.- He enjoyed being a student.- She played a lot of tennis when she was younger. •We often use phrases with ago with the past tense:- I met my wife a long time ago. 2 STRUCTURE POSITIVESUBJECT + VERB (REGULAR or IRREGULAR)+ COMPLEMENTExample: - I went to the cinema yesterday - Maria worked in her office last night - We did our homework for history classNEGATIVESUBJECT + AUXILIAR (DID NOT or DIDN´T) +VERB (INFINITIVE) + COMPLEMENTExample: - I did not understan my class -Peter didn´t go to the gym- They did not eat at a restautant INTERROGATIVEAUXILIAR (DID) + SUBJECT + VERB (INFINITIVE) + COMPLEMENT- Did you watch the last Harry Potter´s Movie?- Did Maria drink coffe this morning?- Did you go to the concert? 3 VERB CHANGES These are the rules to form the simple past to regular verbs.1) Usually we add “ed” in the end of the verb in infinive form.–> visit – visited 2) If the verb finish with “e” just add “d”–> live – lived 3) If the verb finish in consonant + vowel + consonant and the vowel is accented we must duplicate the last consonant and then add “ed”–> stop – stopped 4) If the verb finish with consonant+y, we must change this “y” for “i” and then add “ed”–> study – studied5) If there isn’t consonant + y, is used the general rule (add “ed”)–> play – playedThese are the rules to form the simple past to regular verbsTo form the past simple tense with irregular verbs, CHANGES completely the structure of the verb.
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