Simple Past – Grammar & Verb Tenses

ESL Library Simple Past What are verb tenses? Verb tenses show the time that an action takes place. The simple past is a verb tense.

We use the simple past tense for finished past actions. For example: I watched a movie yesterday. I ate dinner two hours ago.

I was busy last week. With regular verbs, we use the verb + -ed to form the simple past. The verb form is the same for all subjects.

For example, the simple past of the verb watch is watched. I walked my dog yesterday. She played the guitar at my party last month.

The students studied last night. With irregular verbs, the verb changes into a different form. We do not use -ed.

Here are some examples of irregular verbs. Listen and repeat. do, did drink, drank eat, ate go, went have, had run, ran say, said sing, sang sleep, slept write, wrote The verb form is the same for all subjects.

For example, the simple past form of the verb eat is ate. You went to Paris two years ago. My dog slept on my bed last night.

We drank coffee yesterday morning. Be is the only simple past verb that changes forms for different subjects. The two simple past forms of the verb Be are was and were.

I was cold yesterday afternoon. My dog was hungry. My new shoes were expensive.

Look at the picture and say or write a simple past sentence. For example: They ate pizza last night. Now you try!

Thanks for watching!