A: What did you do last night, Pete?
B: I went to Brenda's. We made dinner and watched a movie.
Be
The past simple form of be is was and were:
| You We They |
were / were not (weren't) | hungry. |
| I He She It |
was / was not (wasn't) | hungry. |
Form: Other Verbs
Positive & Negative Sentences
| I You He She It We They |
arrived / didn't arrive ate / didn't eat went / didn't go walked / didn't walk slept / didn't sleep studied / didn't study worked / didn't work |
Yes or No Questions
| Did | I you he she it we they |
arrive eat go walk sleep study work |
? |
Short Answers
Did you have a good time?
- Yes, I did.
- No, I didn't.
Did it rain last night?
- Yes, it did.
- No, it didn't.
Did Mark call?
- Yes, he did.
- No, he didn't.
Did the students enjoy the class?
- Yes, they did.
- No, they didn't.
Questions with Question Words
| What | did | I you Chris it |
do | ? |
| Where | go | |||
| When | wake up | |||
| How long | take | |||
Spelling of Verbs in Past Simple
To learn the spelling rules of past simple verbs, we must first recall consonants and vowels:
Consonant Letters:
- b
- c
- d
- f
- g
- h
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- v
- w
- x
- y
- z
Vowel Letters:
- a
- e
- i
- o
- u
To make the past simple form of a verb, we usually add ed or d:
| work | worked |
| start | started |
| want | wanted |
| love | loved |
| hate | hated |
| live | lived |
Some short verbs with one syllable double the last consonant:
| stop | stopped |
| plan | planned |
| hug | hugged |
For verbs that end in a consonant + y, change the y to ied:
| study | studied |
| carry | carried |
| cry | cried |
| marry | married |
| try | tried |
| worry | worried |
Some verbs are irregular. This means they have a special past form:
| see | saw |
| go | went |
| eat | ate |
| put | put |
| hit | hit |
To learn more irregular verbs, use the Smrt Irregular Verb List. To learn more irregular verbs, use the Smrt Irregular Verb List.
Review - Past Simple - Spelling Rules
Use
The past simple describes a past action that is now finished:
Review - Past Simple Tense
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.