Past Simple Tense

In this tutorial you will learn about the Past Simple Tense and its application with practical example.

                                                               Past Simple Tense

In this tutorial, we will learn about  Past Simple Tenses

Table Of Contents−

Prerequisites

Before starting with this tutorial we assume that you are best aware of the following  topics:

  • Nouns.
  • Pronouns.
  • Verbs.
  • Adjectives.
  • Adverbs.
  • Prepositions.
  • Conjunctions.
  • Interjections.

Past Simple Tense refers to:

  1. An action that has happened in past and we describe in present: We celebrated my birthday joyfully.
  2. A habitual action in past or a past thought: I enjoyed a lot during my summer vacations.
  3. Narrate a story: once upon a time there lived a lion.
  4. A historical event: India won the world-cup twice in 1983 and 2011.

Formula:-

  1. POSITIVE/AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES:
S              +             H.V.      +             V2           +             O.

I                                   ×                            spoke              English.
We                              ×                            spoke              English.
You                             ×                            spoke              English.
They                           ×                            spoke              English.
Boys                           ×                            spoke              English.
He                               ×                            spoke              English.
She                             ×                            spoke              English.
It                                  ×                            spoke             English.
Ravi                             ×                            spoke             English.

*Note: In positive sentences of past simple tense, we do not use any helping verbs.

  1. NEGATIVE SENTENCES:
S              +             DIDN’T  +             V1           +             O.

I                                   didn’t                   speak              English.
We                              didn’t                   speak              English.
You                             didn’t                   speak              English.
They                           didn’t                   speak              English.
Boys                           didn’t                   speak              English.
He                               didn’t                   speak              English.
She                             didn’t                   speak              English.
It                                 didn’t                   speak              English.
Ravi                            didn’t                   speak              English.

  1. INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES:
DID         +             S              +             V1           +             O.?

Did                                        I                             speak                    English?
Did                                       we                          speak                    English?
Did                                       you                        speak                    English?
Did                                       they                       speak                    English?
Did                                       boys                      speak                    English?
Did                                       he                          speak                    English?
Did                                       she                        speak                    English?
Did                                       it                            speak                    English?
Did                                       Ravi                       speak                    English?

  1. INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES:
DIDN’T  +             S              +             V1           +             O.?

Didn’t                  I                       speak                    English?
Didn’t                  we                   speak                    English?
Didn’t                  you                  speak                    English?
Didn’t                  they                 speak                    English?
Didn’t                  boys                speak                    English?
Didn’t                  he                    speak                    English?
Didn’t                  she                  speak                    English?
Didn’t                  it                      speak                    English?
Didn’t                  Ravi                 speak                    English?

Rules:

  1. Second form of the verb will be used with positive sentences only.
  2. Here We use the same form of the verb with all subjects.
  3. We do not use any H.V. in positive sentence, but we use DID as a helping verb in other sentences.
  4. Do not use V2 when we use DID as a helping verb. We use DID+V1 form of the verb.

In this tutorial we have learn about the Past Simple Tense and its application with practical example. I hope you will like this tutorial.