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The Past Simple

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Claudia
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6 views

The Past Simple

Uploaded by

Claudia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Past Simple

Hello everybody! I am the dinosaur from the past!

Once upon a time, millions of years ago, long before there were any people, I lived happily with my family. I
ate grass and tree leaves, but there were some dinosaurs that ate other animals.

We dominated the Earth for over 165 million years, but mysteriously died out 65 million years ago. In the
beginning, we walked on two legs; much later we started walking on four legs. Some of us were very speedy,
others were rather slow.

I was a very cheerful and happy dinosaur.

If you would like to tell your friends about me, you will have to use the PAST SIMPLE tense, which is used for
past FINISHED actions. So, let's start learning the past simple tense and look at the mind map!

Firstly, take a look at the blue branch on the right which will explain the affirmative (positive) form of the
Past Simple tense. As you can see, the branch is splitting into 2 smaller branches, thus introducing two
different types of verbs in English: regular and irregular. As it is shown in the map, when the verb is regular,
all you have to do is add –ED to the verb and that's it! (For example, Mike played football yesterday. Linda
visited her sister in New York last month. I watched that film 3 days ago.

If the verb is irregular, you will have to learn it by heart! Memorize the second column of the irregular verbs!
It's illogical, but it's unavoidable! You will find a list of irregular verbs in EVERY English book! For instance,
the past tense of fly is flew (fly/ flew / flown). For the time being we are only interested in the second
column, because it's the Past Simple Tense! But, since you will need the third column as well, to form other
tenses in English, it is advisable to learn both the second and the third column of irregular verbs. BUT
remember: you will only use the 2nd column to express a past finished action! (Examples: Susan went to
Florida on business. GO / WENT / GONE). Remember: the Past Simple Tense has the same form for every
person, both singular and plural.

Secondly, we will focus on the negative form, that is, the light blue branch. The train stands for the negative
form sentence word order. So, the subject comes first, the negative auxiliary verb did not (didn’t) follows
and then the main verb in the infinitive form. (For example: Jack didn't play football yesterday. Or: I didn't
go to the cinema yesterday.) As you can notice, we do not need the 2nd column any more. Neither do we
need to add –ed. We only require the bare infinitive form (infinitive without to).

Thirdly, the question form of the Past Simple Tense can be analyzed looking at the brown branch. The
locomotive, which comes first, stands for the Wh- question word (what, where, how, which, when…). It is
optional (in brackets) because a question need not begin with a question word. Now, the most important
thing when the Past Simple questions are concerned is: we must use the auxiliary verb did when we make
questions! (For example: Where did you go yesterday? Or: What did Jack play?). Bare this in mind!

Further, we shall focus on the cute black sheep, that is, the verb to BE! Likewise, the black sheep is always an
exception; in this case, the verb to BE does not need any auxiliary verb when the question or negative form
is concerned. For questions, we use inversion: Was the film good? For negative forms, we just add not to the
verb (No, it wasn't.)

And finally, let's see when we should use the Past Simple Tense and observe the violet branch. As we have
already stated, it is used for short past finished actions! (Example: Louis brought a photo out of his wallet
and showed it to us. Or: Columbus reached America in 1492.) Then, we use the Past simple tense when we
talk about a past habit. (Example: Before the accident, she played tennis twice a week.) In addition, the Past
Simple Tense is used to list a series of completed actions in the past. (For instance: I woke up at half past
seven yesterday, I had a shower and ate some breakfast.) Last but not least, we use the Past Simple tense
with the following adverbs: 1) LAST (week, month, year, May …), examples: I saw her in London last summer;
2) YESTERDAY, example: Did you watch the film on TV yesterday? ; 3) In 1980, in the autumn of 1995 …,
example: I applied for the job in May 1996; 4) 3 days ago, 5 years ago …, example: Dinosaurs mysteriously
died out 65 million years ago …

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