Grammar

Simple past
Simple past

 to talk about things that happened or existed before now.

 The simple past tense indicates that the action occurred at a certain time and then
was completed.
e.g., I visited my grandfather last weekend.
Ali went to London last month.
Simple past

 Usage.
Simple past: structure

 Subject + V2 ➔ with regular verbs ➔ add ed to the verbs.

e.g., visit → visited; play → Played

Ali visited his family last week

subject Verb (past Object Time
tense) expression

 ➔ with irregular verbs ➔ use their past tense form.

e.g., buy → bought; spend → spent.
Simple past: regular verbs

 With regular verbs → add ed

Present form Past form
visit visited
love loved
play played
Simple past: regular verbs → spelling rules
 With regular verbs → add ed
 If a verb ends in (e), we add only d.

Present form Past form

agree agreed
like liked
 If a verb ends in (Y), we have two options:
1- If a verb ends in consonant and (Y), we delete Y and add ied.

Present form Past form

study studied
carry carried
Simple past: regular verbs → spelling rules

2- If a verb ends in a vowel (e.g., a, e, u, o, i) and (Y), we just add ed.

Present form Past form

play played
enjoy enjoyed
Simple past: regular verbs → spelling rules
 If a verb ends in a vowel and a consonant, the consonant is usually doubled
before ed

Present form Past form

stop stopped
plan planned
Simple past: irregular verbs

 Some have the same form as their present form:

Present form past form

put put
cut cut
cost cost
hit hit
Simple past: irregular verbs

 Others have different form:

Present form past form

build built
spend spent
rise rose
drive drove
verb to be (Am/is/are) Were/ was
do/ does did
go went
Simple past: the pronunciation of the ed
endings.
 We have three kinds of pronunciation: /d/, /t/ and /ɪd/.
 /d/ after voiced consonants, except /d/.
 /t/ after unvoiced consonants, except /t/.
 /ɪd/ after /d/ and /t/.

/d/ /t/ /ɪd/

agreed crossed decided
failed asked started
arrived stopped wanted
Simple past: questions (did):

 Ali visited his family last week.

→ To form a question, we use the verb to do (did) + the infinitive form of a verb
(present form):
→ Structure: Did + subject + the present form of a verb + complement
e.g., Did Ali visit his family last week?
Structure: Did + subject (Ali) + verb (visit) + complement (his family last week)
→ To answer:
Yes, he did.
No, he did not or No, he didn’t.
Simple past: Wh-questions:

 Did Ali visit his family last week?

→ Wh questions are used to get some information:
→ Structure: Wh-word (where ,what, when, and etc.)+ did + subject + verb
(present form) + complement.
→ to ask where were Ali last week, you can use (Where):
e.g., Where did Ali go last week?
Structure: where + did + subject (Ali) + verb (go) + complement (last week)
Answer: He went to his family.
Simple past: Wh-questions:

→ to Ask when did Ali visit his family, use (When):

e.g., When did Ali visit his family?
Structure: when + did + subject (Ali) + verb (visit) + complement (his family)
Answer: He visited his family last week.
Simple past: Wh-questions:

→ To ask what did Ali do last week, use (What):

e.g., What did Ali do last week?
Structure: what + did + subject (Ali) + verb (do) + complement (last week)
Answer: He visited his family.
 Simple past: negative

 We use didn’t to make negative with simple past:

 Didn’t come before the main verb.

Subject Negative form Complement

Ali didn’t visit his family last week.
Abdullah didn’t pass the driving test.
I didn’t go to London this summer.
Simple past:
Was and Were
 to talk about situations and states in the past.

Subject Verb to be
I Was
He
She
It
You Were
We
They
Simple past:
Was and Were
 examples:

Subject Verb to be Complement

I was at my mom’s house last night.
He a doctor.
a nurse.
She
it was sunny yesterday.
You were happy last night.
We at the beach last weekend.

They
Simple past:
Was and Were
 For negatives, add Not after the verb to be (was, were):
Subject Negative form Complement
I was not at my mom’s house last
He wasn’t night.
a doctor.
She a nurse.
it was not sunny yesterday.
wasn’t
You were not happy last night.
We weren’t at the beach last
weekend.
They
Simple past: questions with
Was and Were
 For questions, move (was, were) to the beginning of the sentence, then add the
question mark (?):

He was a doctor. Was he a doctor?

Yes, he was.
No, he was not or wasn’t.
She was a nurse. Was she a nurse?
Yes, she was.
No, she was not or wasn’t.

it was sunny yesterday Was it sunny yesterday?

Yes, it was.
No, it was not or wasn’t.
Simple past: questions with
Was and Were
 For questions, move (was, were) to the beginning of the sentence, then add question
mark (?):
Affirmative Interrogative (questions)
You were happy last night Were you happy last night?
Yes, we were.
No, we were not or weren’t.
They were at the beach last Were they at the beach last
weekend. weekend?
Yes, they were.
No, they were not or weren’t.

You (one person) were happy last night Were you happy last night?
Yes, I was.
No, I was not or wasn’t.
Simple past: questions with
Was and Were
 For wh-questions, (Wh-word + Was or were + complement)

Interrogative (Wh questions)

How was your holiday?

How long were you there?