Simple Past

The simple past (also called past simple, past indefinite or preterite) is a verb tense which is used to show that a completed action took place at a specific time in the past. The simple past is also frequently used to talk about past habits and generalizations. Read on for detailed descriptions, examples, and simple past exercises.

The simple past for regular verbs is formed using the verb + ed. In addition, there are many verbs with irregular past forms.

• You called Debbie. (CALL + ED)
• Last year, I played soccer in South Africa. (PLAY+ ED)
• Yesterday, I walked to school. (WALK + ED)

Regular verbs ending in a silent e take + d in the simple past and past participle:

example: close=closed

Regular verbs ending in a vowel + y take + ed in the simple past and past participle:

example: play=played

Regular verbs ending in a consonant + y take + ied in the simple past and past participle

(change the y to an i + ed )

Regular verbs ending in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) need to double the last consonant + ed

example: pop = pop + p + ed

*there are a few exceptions to this rule too, but we'll get to those later.

Use the simple past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

We use the simple past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.

The simple past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.

The simple past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as:

• always
• often
• usually
• never
• when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.

The simple past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true.

Anglais pré-collégial © 2023 by Rebecca Peters, Cégep Édouard-Montpetit/Entente Canada-Québec is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/