Simple Past Tense?

How do we make the Simple Past Tense?

To make the simple past tense, we use:

 past form only

or
 auxiliary did + base form

Here you can see examples of the past form and base form for irregular verbs and regular verbs:

V1 V2 V3
   
base past past participle

work worked worked

regular The past form for all
explode exploded exploded
verb regular verbs ends in -ed.
like liked liked

The past form for

go went gone
irregular irregular verbs is
see saw seen
verb variable. You need to
sing sang sung
learn it by heart.

You do not need the past participle

form to make the simple past tense. It  
is shown here for completeness only.

The structure for positive sentences in the simple past tense is:

subject + main verb

    past

The structure for negative sentences in the simple past tense is:

subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb

    did base

The structure for question sentences in the simple past tense is:

auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

did       base

The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he did etc). And
the base form and past form do not change. Look at these examples with the main verbs go and
work:
   subject auxiliary verb   main verb  

I     went to school.
+
You     worked very hard.

She did not go with me.

-
We did not work yesterday.

Did you   go to London?

?
Did they   work at home?

Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was,
we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and question sentences. To make a
question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these examples:

  subject main verb    

I, he/she/it was   here.

+
You, we, they were   in London.

I, he/she/it was not there.

-
You, we, they were not happy.

Was I, he/she/it   right?

?
Were you, we, they   late?

How do we use the Simple Past Tense?

We use the simple past tense to talk about an action or a situation - an event - in the past. The event
can be short or long.
Here are some short events with the simple past tense:

The car exploded at 9.30am yesterday.

She went to the door.
We did not hear the telephone.
Did you see that car?

past present future

The action is in the past.

Here are some long events with the simple past tense:

I lived in Bangkok for 10 years.

The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years.
We did not sing at the concert.
Did you watch TV last night?

past present future

The action is in the past.    

Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can be a few minutes or seconds in the past,
or millions of years in the past. Also it does not matter how long the event is. It can be a few
milliseconds (car explosion) or millions of years (Jurassic period). We use the simple past tense when:

 the event is in the past

 the event is completely finished
 we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event

In general, if we say the time or place of the event, we must use the simple past tense; we cannot use
the present perfect.

Here are some more examples:

 I lived in that house when I was young.

 He didn't like the movie.
 What did you eat for dinner?
 John drove to London on Monday.
 Mary did not go to work yesterday.
 Did you play tennis last week?
 I was at work yesterday.
 We were not late (for the train).
 Were you angry?

Note that when we tell a story, we usually use the simple past tense. We may use the past continuous
tense to "set the scene", but we almost always use the simple past tense for the action. Look at this
example of the beginning of a story:
"The wind was howling around the hotel and the rain was pouring down. It was cold. The door
opened and James Bond entered. He took off his coat, which was very wet, and ordered a drink at
the bar. He sat down in the corner of the lounge and quietly drank his..."
This page shows the use of the simple past tense to talk about past events. But note that there are some
other uses for the simple past tense, for example in conditional or if sentences.

Simple Present Tense

I sing

How do we make the Simple Present Tense?

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

    do   base
There are three important exceptions:

1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.

2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

Look at these examples with the main verb like:

  subject auxiliary verb   main verb  

I, you, we, they   like coffee.

+
He, she, it   likes coffee.

I, you, we, they do not like coffee.

-
He, she, it does not like coffee.

Do I, you, we, they   like coffee?

?
Does he, she, it   like coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

  subject main verb    

I am   French.

+ You, we, they are   French.

He, she, it is   French.

- I am not old.

You, we, they are not old.

 He, she, it is not old.

Am I   late?

? Are you, we, they   late?

Is he, she, it   late?

How do we use the Simple Present Tense?

We use the simple present tense when:

 the action is general

 the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
 the action is not only happening now
 the statement is always true

John drives a taxi.

past present future

It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.

Look at these examples:

 I live in New York.

 The Moon goes round the Earth.
 John drives a taxi.
 He does not drive a bus.
 We meet every Thursday.
 We do not work at night.
 Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that are not
general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to
be" in the simple present tense - some of them are general, some of them are now:

Am I right?
Tara is not at home.
You are happy.
 past present future

The situation is now.

 

I am not fat.
Why are you so beautiful?
Ram is tall.

past present future

The situation is general. Past, present and future.

 

This page shows the use of the simple present tense to talk about general events. But note that there
are some other uses for the simple present tense, for example in conditional or if sentences, or to talk
about the future. You will learn about those later.