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The Simple Past Tense is a tense in English, used to describe events, things that happened or existed in the past. In this article, let's explore the usage, formula, and some other important knowledge related to this tense with Mytour!
Simple Past Tense in English
1. Understanding Simple Past Tense.
2. How to Use the Tense.
3. Formula for Simple Past Tense.
4. Pronunciation Rule for 'ed' Ending.
5. Signs of Recognition.
6. Simple Past Tense Exercises.
1. Using the Simple Past Tense
The Simple Past Tense in English is used for 5 main purposes as follows:
1.1 To describe one or several actions or events that happened and ended completely in the past.
Ex: Yesterday, I visited Mytour twice.
1.2 To describe a series of actions that happened sequentially in the past (often used for storytelling).
Ex: I visited Mytour, discovered and then downloaded 2 interesting games last week.
1.3 To describe an action that was happening when another action interrupted it. In this case, the interrupting action uses the Simple Past Tense, while the ongoing action uses the Past Continuous Tense.
Ex: When I was reading a book last night, my father called.
1.4 To describe a past habit.
Ex: I used to play football after school when I was at Secondary School.
1.5 Used in second conditional sentences.
Ex: If I had 1 billion dollars, I would buy a large house in the center of Hanoi city.
2. Formula for Simple Past Tense
2.1 For the verb 'tobe':
When converted to the Simple Past Tense, the verb 'tobe' is conjugated into two main forms: 'was' and 'were'. 'Was' is used when the subject is in the first person (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it, and singular nouns). In all other cases, when the subject is first person plural (we), second person (you), and third person plural (they and plural nouns), 'were' is used. Thus, we have the following formula:
- Affirmative: S + was/were + O
- Negative: S + was/were + not + O
- Interrogative: Was/Were + S + O?
Ex: We were in Hanoi last year.
We
Were you in Hanoi last year?
2.2 For regular verbs
The formula for the Simple Past Tense with regular verbs is much simpler than the Present Simple Tense, as we only need to add the suffix '-ed' to every verb, regardless of the subject. Along with that, there's only one auxiliary verb to express negation, which is 'didn't'. However, the most challenging issue here is that learners have to memorize about 360 different irregular verbs when converting to the Simple Past Tense.
- Affirmative: S + V-ed
- Negative: S + didn't + V
- Interrogative: Did + S + V?
Ex: I visited the website Mytour last night.
I didn't visit the website Mytour last night.
Did you visit the website Mytour last night?
3. How to Form the Simple Past Tense - V-ed
Usually, the Simple Past Tense of verbs is formed by adding the suffix '-ed' to the base form of the verb. For some special cases, such as verbs ending in 'e' or 'y', we follow the rules below:
- Typically, we just add '-ed' to the verb
4. Pronunciation Rule for the 'ed' Ending
Pronouncing the final sound is often the most challenging yet crucial task when aiming for native-like English. Not only the final consonants of words in English, but also endings like '-ed', 's', 'es' are extremely important for demonstrating one's proficiency. Below, Mytour presents 3 simple and memorable rules for the pronunciation of the 'ed' ending:
- For verbs ending in /t/ and /d/, we pronounce it as /id/
Ex: wanted, needed, ......
- For verbs ending in /ch/, /s/, /x/, /sh/, /k/, /f/, and /p/, we pronounce it as /t/
Ex: watched, washed, booked, .....
- For verbs ending in other consonants and remaining vowels, we pronounce it as /d/
Ex: cried, smiled, agreed, .....
5. Signs to Identify the Simple Past Tense
The Simple Past Tense is often indicated by time adverbs such as:
- yesterday
- last night/week/month/year
- ago
- in + year(s) in the past
6. Simple Past Tense Exercises
With the information provided above, you've surely grasped the most basic knowledge related to the Simple Past Tense in English. To solidify this knowledge further, let's practice the exercises below together!
Exercise 1: Verb Conjugation
1. Anny was a troublesome teenager before she saw her mom cry and decided to turn her life around.
2. Her arts were displayed at the local museum to commemorate her contribution to the community as an environmentalist and a human rights activist.
3. My computer was broken yesterday so I had to borrow my friend's laptop.
4. He bought me a big teddy bear on my birthday last week.
5. My friend gave me a bar of chocolate when I was at school yesterday but I left it at school.
6. Was your friend at your house last weekend?
7. They were not excited about the film last night.
8. My children didn't do their homework last night.
9. Did you live here five years ago?
10. They watched TV late at night yesterday.
11. Did you watch the game yesterday? It was amazing.
Exercise 2: Error Correction
1. At present, I'm working as a teacher in a secondary school and I plan to work here for 2 or 3 years before going to Australia to study.
2. Fire is one of the most important inventions in history.
3. Beyoncé is now very well-known all over the world and she has released several albums in her singing career.
4. In the future, I will come back to Indonesia to work after having a long vacation in Japan.
5. They haven't seen each other for a long time.
6. The person I love the most is my elder brother, who is a very brave person.
7. Mr. Hung taught us the subject 'Applied Linguistics' when we were freshmen in the university.
8. George Clooney, a famous actor, has achieved many prizes in his acting career so far.
9. It was a cloudy day in November 2013, and I had to take the last exam of my student life.
10. Smartphones help us a lot in our daily life.
Exercise 3: Sentence Rewrite, Using the Simple Past Tense and the Given Words
1. I went swimming yesterday.
2. Mrs. Nhung washed the dishes.
3. My mother went shopping with her friends in the park.
4. Lan cooked chicken noodles for dinner.
5. Nam and I studied hard last weekend.
6. My father played golf yesterday.
7. Last night, Phong listened to music for two hours.
8. They had a nice weekend.
9. She went to the supermarket yesterday.
10. We didn't go to school last week.
We hope the theoretical knowledge and exercises on the Simple Past Tense compiled by Mytour above have enriched your English grammar skills, making you more confident in communication as well as in work and study. Additionally, you can refer to Simple Future Tense in English here.
