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CHAPTER 5. THE SIMPLE PAST
1. Uses of the simple past
The uses of the Simple Past are somewhat similar to the uses of the Simple Present, except that past states or actions are expressed. In the examples given below, the verbs in the Simple Past are underlined.
For instance, the Simple Past can be used to express actions which occurred at regular intervals in the past.
e.g. Last year I drove to Yarmouth once a week.
In addition, the Simple Past is used to describe situations which existed for a period of time in the past.
e.g. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs inhabited the earth.
George Washington was the first president of the United States.
The Simple Past is also used to express non-continuous actions which occurred at a definite time in the past.
e.g. Columbus reached America in 1492.
I graduated from school last year.
2. Formation of the simple past
a. The verb To Be
The Simple Past of the verb to be is conjugated as follows:
| I was |
| you were |
| he was |
| she was |
| it was |
| we were |
| they were |
See Exercise 1.
i. Questions and negative statements
The Simple Present and Simple Past of the verb to be do not use auxiliaries to form questions and negative statements. Instead, the verb itself is used.
The verb to be forms questions and negative statements in the same way in the Simple Past as in the Simple Present. In order to form a question, the verb is placed before the subject. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Question |
| I was awake. | Was I awake? |
| They were ready. | Were they ready? |
In order to form a negative statement, the word not is placed after the verb. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Negative Statement |
| I was awake. | I was not awake. |
| They were ready. | They were not ready. |
In spoken English, the following contractions are often used:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| was not | wasn't |
| were not | weren't |
In order to form a negative question, the verb is placed before the subject, and the word not is placed after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not immediately follows the verb. For example:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| Was I not awake? | Wasn't I awake? |
| Were they not ready? | Weren't they ready? |
In order to form tag questions, the verb itself is used. In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions.
| Affirmative Statement | Affirmative Statement with Tag Question |
| I was awake. | I was awake, wasn't I? |
| They were ready. | They were ready, weren't they? |
See Exercise 2.
b. Other verbs
English verbs other than the verb to be have the same form in the Simple Past, regardless of the subject.
In the case of regular English verbs, the Simple Past has the same form as the past participle. For example, the Simple Past of the regular verb to work is conjugated as follows:
| I worked |
| you worked |
| he worked |
| she worked |
| it worked |
| we worked |
| they worked |
See Exercise 3.
In the case of irregular English verbs, the form of the Simple Past must be memorized. As illustrated by the examples below, for some irregular verbs, the Simple Past is the same as the past participle; whereas for others, the Simple Past differs from the past participle. A table of 140 common English irregular verbs is provided. For example:
| Bare Infinitive | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| begin | began | begun |
| find | found | found |
| go | went | gone |
| let | let | let |
| take | took | taken |
Like the regular verbs, irregular verbs other than the verb to be do not modify in the Simple Past, but have the same form, regardless of the subject. For example, the Simple Past of the irregular verb to take is conjugated as follows:
| I took |
| you took |
| he took |
| she took |
| it took |
| we took |
| they took |
See Exercise 4.
i. Questions and negative statements
In both the Simple Present and the Simple Past of verbs other than the verb to be, questions and negative statements are formed using the auxiliary to do and the bare infinitive.
For questions and negative statements in the Simple Past, the Simple Past of the auxiliary to do is used. The Simple Past of to do is conjugated as follows:
| I did |
| you did |
| he did |
| she did |
| it did |
| we did |
| they did |
In order to change an affirmative statement into a question, did is placed before the subject, and the form of the verb is changed from the Simple Past to the bare infinitive. In the following example, the regular verb to work is used. The verb to work has the Simple Past worked, and the bare infinitive work.
| Affirmative Statement | Question |
| I worked. | Did I work? |
| You worked. | Did you work? |
| He worked. | Did he work? |
| She worked. | Did she work? |
| It worked. | Did it work? |
| We worked. | Did we work? |
| They worked. | Did they work? |
See Exercise 5.
In order to change an affirmative statement into a negative statement, did not is placed after the subject, and the form of the verb is changed to the bare infinitive. In the following example, the irregular verb to speak is used. The verb to speak has the bare infinitive speak and the Simple Past spoke.
| Affirmative Statement | Negative Statement |
| I spoke. | I did not speak. |
| You spoke. | You did not speak. |
| He spoke. | He did not speak. |
| She spoke. | She did not speak. |
| It spoke. | It did not speak. |
| We spoke. | We did not speak. |
| They spoke. | They did not speak. |
See Exercise 6.
In spoken English, the following contraction is often used:
| Without Contraction | With Contraction |
| did not | didn't |
In order to change an affirmative statement into a negative Question, did is placed before the subject, not is placed after the subject, and the form of the verb is changed to the bare infinitive. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately after the auxiliary did. For example:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| Did I not work? | Didn't I work? |
| Did you not work? | Didn't you work? |
| Did he not work? | Didn't he work? |
| Did she not work? | Didn't she work? |
| Did it not work? | Didn't it work? |
| Did we not work? | Didn't we work? |
| Did they not work? | Didn't they work? |
Tag questions are formed using the auxiliary did. In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions.
| Affirmative Statement | Affirmative Statement with Tag Question |
| I worked. | I worked, didn't I? |
| You worked. | You worked, didn't you? |
| He worked. | He worked, didn't he? |
| She worked. | She worked, didn't she? |
| It worked. | It worked, didn't it? |
| We worked. | We worked, didn't we? |
| They worked. | They worked, didn't they? |
See Exercise 7.
3. The simple past of To Use followed by an infinitive
The Simple Past of the verb to use, followed by an infinitive, generally refers to something which took place repeatedly or continuously in the past, but which no longer takes place.
In the following examples, the Simple Past of to use is printed in bold type, and the infinitives which follow it are underlined. The Simple Past of to use is used.
e.g. The ferry used to operate every day.
We used to live on Duke Street.
In the first example, the use of used followed by the infinitive indicates that in the past the ferry operated every day, but now it does not operate every day. In the second example, the use of used followed by the infinitive indicates that in the past we lived on Duke Street, but now we do not live on Duke Street.
See Exercise 8.
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