Simple Past
I. Forms
Positive: Subject + verb (past form) +
(object)…
Examples:
- You called
Debbie.
- I saw
a movie yesterday.
-
Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
- I studied French when I was a child.
Negative: Subject + did + not + verb (base form)
+ (object)…
- I didn't
see a play yesterday.
- He didn't
wash his car.
- They did
not stay at the party the entire time.
- He didn’t play the
violin.
Question: Did + subject + verb (base form) +
(object)…?
Examples:
-
Did you go
to school?
-
Did you live with your friend?
-
What did she do yesterday?
-
Where did he go on holiday?
Most verbs add
-ed to the base form to make the past simple tense. The past simple tense form
is the same for all persons (except with the verb be):
watch –
I/he/she/it/we/you/they watched
be –
I/he/she/it was, we/you/they were
Examples:
- She knew my name.
-
They hit each other.
-
I met my ex- girlfriend yesterday.
II. Contracted form
Did not
= didn’t
III. Short form of answer of question begun with Did
Positive
answer: Yes, subject + did.
Negative
answer: No, subject + didn’t.
Example:
-
Did you go to school?
Yes, I did.
No, I didn’t.
IV. Uses
The
Past Simple is used to express:
1. Completed Action in the Past
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.
Examples:
- Last year, I traveled to Japan.
- Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
- Did you have dinner last night?
- She washed her car.
2. A Series of Completed Actions
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.
Examples:
·
I finished work, walked
to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
·
He arrived from the airport at
8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met
the others at 10:00.
·
Did you add
flour, pour in the milk, and then add the
eggs?
3. Duration in Past
The Simple Past can be used
with a duration which starts and stops in the past. Duration is a longer action
often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all
day, all year, etc.
Examples:
· I
lived in Brazil
for two years.
· They
sat at the beach all day.
· We
talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
·
A: How long did you wait
for them?
B: We waited for one hour.
B: We waited for one hour.
4. The immediate past action
Without
time expression to describe something that happen a very short time.
Examples:
· Who
left the door open?
· Did
the phone rang?
· Did
you hear it?
· Who
called me?
5. Habits in the Past
The Simple Past can also be
used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same
meaning as "used
to." 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.
Examples:
· He
didn't play the piano.
· Did
you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
· She
worked at the movie theater after school.
· They
never went to school, they always skipped
class.
6. Past Facts or Generalizations
The Simple Past can also be used
to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. As in USE 4
above, this use of the Simple Past is quite similar to the expression "used to."
Examples:
· She
was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
· He
didn't like tomatoes before.
· Did
you live in Texas
when you were a kid?
· People
paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.
7. Impossibilities in Second
Conditional (The would-condition).
Form:
If + … Past Simple…, …’d / would
…
Examples:
- If I were you, I would accept that job.
- If I knew you earlier than this, I would
choose you to be my girlfriend.
- If I were a millionaire, I’d buy some land and
a beautiful house.
==> You
can use were for all form of be in the if-clause of would
condition sentence.
==> IMPORTANT When-Clauses Happen First
Clauses are groups of words
which have meaning but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses begin
with the word "when" such as "when I dropped my pen..." or
"when class began..." These clauses are called when-clauses, and they
are very important. The examples below contain when-clauses.
Examples:
· When
I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.
· She
answered my question when I paid her one dollar.
When-clauses are important because they always happen first
when both clauses are in the Simple Past. Both of the examples above mean the
same thing: first, I paid her one dollar, and then, she answered my question.
It is not important whether "when I paid her one dollar" is at the
beginning of the sentence or at the end of the sentence. However, the example
below has a different meaning. First, she answered my question, and then, I
paid her one dollar.
Examples:
· I paid her one dollar when she answered my question.
· When I saw her
first, she was so young.
8. A future in
the past in adverb clause of time as long as, while, after, until,
Examples:
· She
called me as soon as she arrived home.
· I
had to sit down for a few moments until my dizziness passed.
9. Polite inquiries
The Simple past doesn’t always
refer to past time, it can also use for polite inquires.
Examples:
· I
wonder if you could give me a lift.
==> I wondered if you
could give me a lift. (More polite / tentative)
0. A past action
which interrupts another past action
- While
I was watching TV, the phone rang.
- She
was cooking when her mother arrived.
V. Past Simple Active / Passive
Receiver action + was/ were + Past participle
+ (by…)
Examples:
· Tom
repaired the car. Active
· The
car was repaired by Tom. Passive
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