Presented by The Past Indefinite Tense in English with examples.

Several tenses have already been discussed in previous topics, and in this topic the tense The Past Indefinite Tense, which is the past tense of the group Indefinite, will be studied in detail.

In order to begin studying it in detail, you need to remember that in the English language there are regular and irregular verbs.

These two types of verbs differ from each other in the way they form the past tense forms of the Indefinite group, as well as participle II.

Let's look at how the tense The Past Indefinite Tense is formed, and then - the cases of its use.

1. Affirmative form.
To compose affirmative sentences with regular verbs, it is necessary to add the ending -ed* to the infinitive in all persons. In this case, the particle to is not used. Study the example.
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) lived - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) lived (lived, lived, lived).

To compose affirmative sentences with irregular verbs, you need to refer to the second column of the table of irregular verbs (Past Simple). Study the example.
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) came - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) came (came, came, came).

2. Negative form.
To compose negative sentences with both regular and irregular verbs, the past form of the auxiliary verb to do - did is used in all persons, as well as the negative particle not. Study some examples.
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not choose - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not choose (chose, chose, chose).
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not live - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not live (lived, lived, lived).
Please note that if the auxiliary verb did is used, then the verb is used in the infinitive form (without the particle to).

In colloquial speech and in writing, the abbreviated form did not - didn't is usually used.

3. Interrogative form.
To compose interrogative sentences with both regular and irregular verbs in all persons, the auxiliary verb did is also used, which is placed first in the sentence, that is, before the subject.
Did you choose the book? -Have you chosen a book?
Did she close the door? - Did she close the door?

To compose special questions, you should follow the same word order as indicated above, but put a question word before the auxiliary verb.
Where did they see me? -Where did they see me?
When did you buy this book? - When did you buy this book?

Study the cases in which The Past Indefinite Tense is used.
This tense is used to indicate an action that was or has been done in the past. When translated into Russian, a verb in the past tense can be either imperfect or perfect, depending on the context.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used in those sentences where there are such time circumstances, such as at five o"clock - at five o'clock, yesterday - yesterday, the day before yesterday - the day before yesterday, four years ago - four years ago, last month - last month, in 1986 - in 1986, last time - last time, last week - last week, two hours ago - two hours ago d, etc. Study some examples.

I saw you yesterday - I saw you yesterday.
I had dinner an hour ago - I had lunch an hour ago.
My daughter entered the university in 1999 - My daughter entered the university in 1999.
We moved to St. Petersburg three years ago - We moved to St. Petersburg three years ago.
I read this book last month - I read this book last month.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used in those sentences where we are talking about a series of past events that occurred in a certain sequence. Study some examples.

I bought a gift and went to my friend's birthday party - I bought a gift and went to my friend’s birthday party.
I read a poem, wrote an essay and began to watch TV - I read a poem, wrote an essay and started watching TV.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used in those sentences that express an ordinary, repeated past action. Study some examples.

Mary called me every day when I was in hospital - Mary called me every day when I was in the hospital.
I worked in Moscow last summer - Last summer I worked in Moscow.

* pronunciation of ending -ed.
1. If the ending -ed follows vowels or voiced consonants, with the exception of [d], then it is pronounced as the sound [d].

happen - happened ["hæp(ə)nd]
happen - happened

Answer - answered ["a:nsəd]
answer - answered

2. If the ending -ed follows voiceless consonants, with the exception of [t], then it is pronounced as [t].
astonish - astonished [ə"stɔniʃt]
strike - struck

3. If the ending -ed follows the sounds [d] or [t], then it is pronounced as .
offend - offended [ə"fendid]
offend - offended

Drift - drifted ["driftid]
shift - shifted

When adding the -ed ending, there are some spelling changes to consider.

1. If there is a silent letter e at the end of the verb, then when adding the ending -ed it is discarded.
announce - announced
announce - announced

2. If the stem of the verb ends in y and is preceded by a consonant, then y changes to i.

reply - replied
answer - answered

If the letter y is preceded by a vowel, then the y does not change.
play - played
play - played

3. If the verb ends in a consonant, and it is preceded by a short vowel sound, then when adding the ending -ed, the last consonant is doubled.

stop - stopped
stop - stopped.

We continue to study the tenses of the English language. Let's look at the Past Simple tense - the past indefinite tense in English. Before you get acquainted with the Past Simple table, it is advisable to learn how to use In addition to the sentence structure and cases of using this tense, I will draw your attention in this article to the shortcomings of students, and Past Simple table, will help us with this.

Past Simple is used:

to express an action that happened sometime in the past and is not related to the present. In this case, the moment of the action is either indicated using marker words or implied. For example: We bought a flat (yesterday). We bought an apartment (yesterday).

to describe a series of sequential actions in the past. For example: He woke up up, cleaned his teeth, had breakfast and walked to school.

to express an action that in the past occupied a certain period of time (it is indicated by the words for And during). For example: She didn't speak for an hour.

Marker words(read more about marker words in the article) for Past Simple: yesterday, last week (month, year, autumn), in 2013, 3 days ago. Also indicators of the past tense in English are the words when (when) and where (where)- an indication of a certain time in the past. Therefore, the Past Simple table will be useful to you, in particular, for questions that begin with When? and Where? For example: Where did you go?

Legend for the Past Simple (The Past Indefinite Tense) table:
V– verb – verb
S– subject – subject (who? what?)
Ved– regular verb with ending – ed (“regular” are verbs that form the affirmative form of The Past Indefinite Tense according to the rule - by adding the ending -ed to the main form of the verb e.g. I work - I work ed(I work - I worked))
V2– “irregular” verb in the second form (“irregular” are verbs that form the affirmative form of The Past Indefinite Tense not according to the rule (by adding the ending -ed to the main form of the verb), but by changing the main form. To do this, you need to use a verb, standing in the second column of the table of irregular verbs, e.g. I go - I went (I go - I went).To determine whether a verb is correct or irregular, you just need to learn all the irregular verbs :) (there are 218 of them in English, of which 190 are widely used - 195). Then, when forming a statement in the past indefinite tense, you can confidently add the ending -ed to those verbs that are not in the table of irregular verbs.

THE PAST INDEFINITE TENSE
(THE PAST SIMPLE)

Past indefinite tense

Affirmative form
+

Structure
You(you you) We(We) They(They) He(He) She(she) It(he, she, it - about animals and objects)
Examples	Translation
I lived in a big city.	I lived in a big city.
We listened to music.	We listened to music.
They went to England.	They went to England.
He swam in the swimming pool.	He was swimming in the pool.
Sheliked the movie.	She liked the film.
Itstarted in the morning.

I hope everything is clear with the statement in the past tense. The situation is more complicated with questions - general and special. The video below provides an accessible and simple explanation of how to write questions in Past Indefinite Tense.

Interrogative form
?

Structure
	you(you you) we(We) they(They) he(He) she(she) it(it)	It is important not to deliver the ending -ed, which went to Do+ed = Did
Examples		Translation
– Did you cook yesterday? – Yes, I did. (No, I didn't.)		– Did you cook food yesterday? - Yes. (No.)
– Did they swim last night? – No, they didn’t. (Yes, they did.)		– Did they swim last night? - No. (Yes.)
– Did he enjoy the party? – Yes, he did. (No, he didn’t.)		– Did he like the party? - Yes. (No.)
Did is an auxiliary verb - it only helps to form a question and a negative, but is not translated. It is important to use only did (didn’t) in short answers. Saying: “Yes, I cooked” or “Yes, I swam” is a mistake!

Wh-?
Special questions

(start with special words)

Structure
How many (much, far...)		you(you you) we(We) they(They) he(He) she(she) it(it)
Examples		Translation
What did they do at the weekend?		What did they do on the weekend?
It is important to understand that “did” is not translated, but only shows that it is a sentence in the Past Simple. Thanks to this, the word “do” is translated “did” (and not “do”).
		Where did your friend play tennis?
Why did she like ballet?		Why did she love ballet?
		How much did it cost?

Negative form
—

Structure
You(you you) We(We) They(They) He(He) She(she) It(it)	didn't (didn't)
Examples		Translation
I didn't like Spanish.		I didn't like Spanish.
(I didn’t like – I didn’t like, not “me not liked”)
You didn't understand Spanish.		You (you) did not understand Spanish.
We didn't teach Spanish.		We didn't teach Spanish.
They didn't know Spanish.		They didn't know Spanish.
He didn't speak Spanish.		He didn't speak Spanish.
She didn't learn Spanish.		She didn't study Spanish.
Please note that not a single semantic verb in negation is in the second form and does not have the ending -ed – know, speak, like...

Interrogative-negative form
(Speaking)
?-

Schematically the structure of the sentence in Past Simple can be shown like this:

+
S+V2(ed)

?
Did + S + V?

Wh - ?
Wh + did + S + V?

–
S + didn't + V

? –
Didn't + S + V?

Such a diagram can be printed out and, together with others, pasted into a notebook, for example, a ready-made cheat sheet, where everything is short and concise.

The past indefinite tense of the English language is usually easy for students - some have heard about irregular verbs and, before starting to study this tense, managed to learn the well-known “three columns”, while others are attracted by the presence of only one auxiliary verb did when constructing questions and negations. Sometimes, however, students forget about the ending - ed in the affirmative form. Past Simple table (The Past Indefinite Tense) is simple and will be understandable to anyone, the main thing is to understand it right away and not delay practice.

The Past Indefinite Tense.

Verb conjugations to work work (regular verb) in Past Indefinite:

Verb conjugations to write write (irregular verb) in Past Indefinite:

Education Past Indefinite.

The affirmative form of regular verbs in Past Indefinite is formed by adding a suffix -ed to the base of the verb (spelling rules when adding a suffix -ed were reviewed in newsletter #18).

The affirmative form of irregular verbs in the Past Indefinite is formed in various other ways (see #18).

The negative and interrogative forms of regular and irregular verbs in Past Indefinite are formed using the past tense (Past Indefinite) of the auxiliary verb to do (did) for all persons and the infinitive of the semantic verb without a particle to. In the negative form Past Indefinite, as well as in the negative form Present Indefinite, abbreviated forms are used, formed according to the same rules (see previous newsletter):
I didn't write.

Use of Past Indefinite.

Past Indefinite is used:

1. To express an action that took place in the past. Therefore, this tense is usually used with such time designations (expressed or implied) as yesterday(yesterday), the day before yesterday(day before yesterday), last year (month, week)(last year, month, last week), ago(ago), the other day(the other day):

More than three hundred years ago the Ukraine reunited with Russia.
More than 300 years ago, Ukraine reunited with Russia.

B. Franklin was the originator of the theory of atmospheric electricity.
B. Franklin was the founder of the theory of atmospheric electricity.

2. To express a series of sequential actions that occurred one after another in the past:

Mr. Pickwick took the candle, walked quietly downstairs, reached the hall ..., opened the door of the room and found his missing property on the table.
Mr. Pickwick took the candle, quietly went down the stairs, reached the vestibule..., opened the door of the room and found the thing he had lost on the table.

3. To express repeated actions in the past:

Uncle Podger lifted up the picture, and dropped it; the picture came out of the frame and he tried to save the glass and cut himself.
Uncle Podger picked up the picture and dropped it; the picture flew out of the frame, he tried to save the glass and cut his hands.

Repeated, usual actions in the past can also be expressed by the combination used plus infinitive with to or would plus infinitive without particle to. These combinations are translated into Russian by a verb in the past tense of the imperfect form, often with the adverbs happened, usually.

Don't you remember how you used to speak of life.
Don't you remember how you it happened, talked about life.

The watch would run while and then would stop a while and then run a while again and so on. The clock walked for a while, then stood still for a while, then walked again for a while, etc.

In the next issue we will look in more detail at The Future Indefinite Tense.

Idioms. Idioms are set expressions and phrases.

1. fuss over nothing

Rat race.
Example:
Al the preparations are just fuss over nothing. I"m sure nothing will come out of it.

2. just in case

Just in case.
Example:
She dialed her own number, just in case.

3.in a big way

On a grand scale.
Example:
His house is always full, he is so generous and does everything in a big way.

4. to feather one's nest

Warm up your hands.
Example:
He is not going to feather his nest at our expense.

5. to hope against hope

Hoping for a miracle.
Example:
We all hoped against hope that he would become better.

Anecdote:

Some Things You Just Can't Explain.

A farmer was sitting in the neighborhood bar getting drunk. A man came in and asked the farmer, "Hey, why are you sitting here on this beautiful day, getting drunk?" The farmer shook his head and replied, "Some things you just can"t explain."

"So what happened that"s so horrible?" the man asked as he sat down next to the farmer.
"Well," the farmer said, "today I was sitting by my cow, milking her. Just as I got the bucket full, she lifted her left leg and kicked over the bucket."

"Okay," said the man, "but that"s not so bad." "Some things you just can"t explain," the farmer replied. "So what happened then?" the man asked. The farmer said, "I took her left leg and tied it to the post on the left." "And then?"

"Well, I sat back down and continued to milk her. Just as I got the bucket full, she took her right leg and kicked over the bucket." The man laughed and said, "Again?" The farmer replied, "Some things you just can"t explain." "So, what did you do then?" the man asked. "I took her right leg this time and tied it to the post on the right." "And then?"

"Well, I sat back down and began milking her again. Just as I got the bucket full, the stupid knock cowed over the bucket with her tail." "Hmmm," the man said and nodded his head. "Some things you just can"t explain," the farmer said. "So, what did you do?" the man asked.

"Well," the farmer said, "I didn't have rope anymore, so I took off my belt and tied her tail to the rafter." In that moment, my pants fell down and my wife walked in... Some things you just can"t explain."

Words:
bucket - bucket;
to tie - to tie;
post - pillar, count;
tail - tail;
rope - rope;
belt - belt.

Past Simple is called the simple past tense, but for many it is such a dark forest that they do not know how to approach it. We are sure this is not about you, but still... Why do we (or rather, the English) need this Past Simple Tense? Past Simple (otherwise, Past Indefinite) is pronounced like past simple. The rules of the Past simple are simple: we will soon learn when the past simple is used, how the past simple is formed, why it is necessary to use the Past Simple, rules and examples of the functioning of this tense in the text. Imagine the situation: you are telling a friend what you did last summer. And we went there, and we were there, and we saw that. How can I tell all this in English? You can’t build barricades out of perfect forms, right? This is what the Past Simple is needed for.

Past Simple Tense: rules of use in English

So, let's take a closer look at the Past Simple - when is this tense used?

• An action that you (or someone else) has performed regularly in the past. How often is not important. At least every minute, at least once in a millennium. The main thing is that the action was repeated from time to time in the past. Like here: He often visited us (often visited), when we lived there.
• A constant sign of an object or a characteristic of a person in the past. What was this object or person once like? For example: Jane looked much better (looked much better), when I saw her last time.
• A chain of sequential actions in the past. Often found in fairy tales like “grandmother for grandfather, grandfather for turnip,” i.e. where the actions of the characters are described step by step. A chain of simple actions is also found in our everyday life. Take a look: I entered the hall, switched on the light, opened the wardrobe, and then quickly closed it. He entered, turned on the light, opened the closet - these are sequential actions, very little time passed between them. There is no point in complicating the sentence and trying to convey this chain of actions in any other way than Past Simple.
• One-time action in the past. Yes, yes, this is just about how you went to a resort 10 years ago, and now share your memories. Something that once happened some time ago (no matter yesterday or 140 years ago) is conveyed through the Past Simple.

Underwater rock:

What to do with cultural heritage? For example, Shakespeare wrote such and such a work in such and such a year. After all, we are using the results of Shakespeare’s work, and we are doing it now - in this case, the Past Simple is often confused with the present perfect, which precisely describes the result in the present. However, the simple paste rule here is quite strict. Any invention, any work once written is a fact in the past. And facts, especially indicating the exact date, are the sphere of the Simple times group.

Past Simple: education

How is the Past Simple formed? And it's very simple. It’s not called simple for nothing. Past Simple, formation: V2 (second form of the verb). Do you remember that all English verbs can be divided into regular and irregular?

Past Simple: rules for forming the simple past of irregular verbs

Irregular verbs live their own lives: they have three forms, all three need to be known by heart. To get the Past Simple, we use the second form (V2) of the irregular verb.

For example:

Buy - bought - bought Read - read - read Cut - cut - cut Lie - lay - lain A list of irregular verbs is at the end of any dictionary or reference book. Ideally, this list should migrate from the reference book to your head. Fortunately, there are not many irregular verbs. Relatively. But all other verbs that are not on the list of irregular verbs are called regular. And everything is very easy with them. Past Simple: rules for forming the simple past of regular verbs Regular verbs in the Past Simple take on the ending -ed or -d. We add it to the stem of the infinitive.

For example:

To kick - he kicked (kick - he kicked) To look - he looked (look - he looked)

If the stem of the infinitive already ends in e, then only -d is added:

To dance - he danced (to dance - he danced) To invite - he invited (to invite - he invited) That's all! After all, it’s not for nothing that the Past Simple is called simple, right? But there are also some pitfalls.

Nuance No. 1

If the word ends with the letter y, then it must be changed to i and only then added the ending -ed. We do this manipulation only and exclusively when y is preceded by a consonant.

Compare:

To fly - he flied To obey - he obeyed In the case of obey before y - the vowel e. Well, let’s put the ending -ed and be glad that you don’t need to change anything!

Nuance No. 2

Liked? Then here's your second point. If the verb ends with the combination: short vowel sound + consonant letter, then the consonant is usually doubled. To plan - he planned This is necessary in order to maintain a closed syllable. After all, if we do not double the n in the word planned, it will result in an open syllable, and in an open syllable it is read differently. The end result will be a completely different word! Therefore, do not forget to double the consonant where necessary. But look at these examples: To fear - he feared To look - he looked There is no need to double anything here, because the consonants are not preceded by short vowels; nothing can affect their pronunciation. In British English, the l is always doubled at the end of a word: To quarrel - we quarreled But in American English such a metamorphosis does not occur. To quarrel - we quarrel How to correctly read verbs ending in -ed If putting a verb into the Past Simple is relatively easy, sometimes reading it is not very easy. Try not to neglect correct pronunciation, otherwise it will be very difficult for a foreigner to understand you.

What about questions and denials?

To form a question or a negative, we need the auxiliary verb do. Without it, alas, neither a question can be made nor a denial can be formed. The auxiliary verb do in the Past Simple will have the form did. In a negative sentence, did is placed after the subject and takes on the negative particle not.

Negation in Past Simple: rule of formation

Subject + did not + predicate (infinitive) Tom did not eat porridge. Didn't = didn't. Didn't is a shortened form of did not. In spoken language you are most likely to hear this form. Tom did not eat porridge = Tom didn’t eat porridge. Mark did not come yesterday = Mark didn’t come yesterday

Question in Past Simple: rule of formation

In a question, did will appear in the first position. The pattern of a general question in the past simple would be: DID + subject + predicate (infinitive)? Did Tom eat porridge? The answer to this question can be complete, but is usually short: - Yes, he did. / No, he didn’t.
< strong>Pitfall: A very common mistake when forming questions and negations in the Past Simple: using V2 instead of the infinitive. We have a good understanding of how the past simple is formed - using the ending -ed (for regular verbs) and V2 for irregular ones. Having understood this, we begin to put the second form of the verb everywhere, but in questions and negations this is superfluous! The auxiliary verb do has already taken over the functions of the past simple and turned into did (remember that do is an irregular verb: do-did-done. Accordingly, its V2 is did). Did ALREADY shows the past simple tense. There is simply no need to do any additional manipulations with the semantic verb (predicate)! Did already take care of everything!

Special questions

These are questions that begin with a special question word. Question words: What what? Where where? Who's who? Why why? When when? Whom to whom? How how? Special questions are not as difficult as they seem. If the structure of a simple question looks like this: DID + subject + predicate (infinitive)? Then the scheme of a special question looks like this: Question word + DID + subject + predicate (infinitive)? We simply put a question word at position zero - that’s all! The rest of the word order remains unchanged. The English language would not be English if there were not some exception here. It is. With the question words Who (who?) and What? (what?), if we ask a question to the subject, this scheme does not work. True, it is even simpler. We simply put who or what in place of the subject! That's all! The predicate remains in the past simple. In practice it looks like this: Mary ate ice-cream yesterday. (Mary ate ice cream yesterday.) Who ate ice-cream yesterday? (Who ate ice cream yesterday?) Important: This scheme with who only works when we ask a question to the subject. If we ask a question to a direct object, then the scheme will be standard. Compare: Tom saw Mary two days ago. Who saw Mary two days ago? The question is asked to the subject (Tom). Who is in first position, no auxiliary verb is required. Let's move on. Let's first ask a general question (the answer to which will be “yes” or “no”): Did Tom see Mary two days ago? (put did in first place) And now a special question with who, but not to the subject, but to the direct object (Mary): Who did Tom see two days ago? Since we are not asking the question to the subject, it means, like any interrogative word, who appears in the zero position, did remains in the first position and further according to the standard scheme.)

Past Simple Markers

Markers are our assistants, clue words that help us understand when we need the Past Simple. If we notice such a word in a sentence, this is a very eloquent hint that we need to use the simple past tense.
Okay, we know the markers, but where to put them in a sentence? After all, the structure of an English sentence is quite rigid... Markers containing the words last, every, ago, as a rule, are placed in last place in the sentence: I met Helen three months ago. Emma spent three weeks in Paris last year. Markers often, never, usually, rarely, always and similar ones usually come before the verb: I never saw you working. Tom and I always spent holidays together. Important: If the predicate is not an action verb, but a verb to be, then these markers are placed after it: John was often tired. Marker yesterday can occur at the beginning of a sentence or at the end: Yesterday I bought a new fur coat. I bought a new fur coat yesterday. And here sometimes In general, he can stand wherever he wants. Or rather, where you want: I went to Paris sometimes, but always felt uncomfortable there. Sometimes I went to Paris, but always felt uncomfortable there. What to do if there are no bullets in the sentence? How do we work with an English sentence? First of all, we look at the markers. If you have an ago or last marker, then already at the stage of your first acquaintance with the sentence, without even translating it, you understand what tense you need to use: Past Simple. If there are no obvious markers in the sentence, then we move on to the next stage: translating the sentence. And here you may notice some clues.

For example:

Year indication: in 1956, in 2007. My grandpa died in 2007. Month indication: in August, in September. I caught a cold in January. The word during- for some time. Attention: during can only be used with nouns denoting a certain time period! During summer, during the weekend, during our meeting. Mary was in London during the winter. Marker for. You need to be more careful with this marker. This is one of the most striking indicators of the Present Perfect time. However, if the action has already completed and there is no connection with the present, then for clearly indicates the Past Simple. Compare: I have lived here for 13 years. I lived here for 13 years. (And I still live or am about to leave.) I lived in London for 13 years, but then moved to New York. I lived in London for 13 years and then moved to New York. (No connection with the present; I lived once and then moved). Clarification with when I pierced my tongue when I was 16. This is a fact of biography from the past. Which means Past Simple. If the emphasis is not on the fact, but on the process, then a different tense, Past Continuous, will be used: I was eating when my mom called me. Emphasis on the process - I was eating when my mother called me. Pay attention to the second part of the sentence: when my mom called me. Here we use the past simple again. Why? Because a shorter action or an action that interrupts the process (expressed in this case through the Past Continuous) requires the use of the Past Simple. Translate the sentence correctly and see how the semantic accents are placed! Past Simple is primarily a fact in the past. If an action used to happen regularly, but is no longer happening now, the construction used to + infinitive is used. Using this expression, we can designate habits of the past that we do not have now, or qualities and properties that are currently absent. Take a look: I used to be good at drawing, but now I cannot draw even a straight line. I used to draw well, but now I can’t even draw a straight line. The translation of sentences of this type can begin with the words “once upon a time” or “remembered”. She used to be so pretty! I remember she was so pretty! As a synonym used to we can use would + infinitive- but only to indicate actions in the past, not characteristics! My mom would bake the best cookies, when I was a child. Now you know everything about the Past Simple tense and can express your thoughts with ease. To make your English even more beautiful, read our other articles about the rules and nuances of English grammar.

Speaking any language, it is impossible to be fully understood without knowing the rules for the formation of tense forms. In this case, the English language has a wide variety of options for self-expression. However, the main tense group is the so-called “group of simple tenses” or simple tenses, which logically divides time periods into past, present and future. Today we will focus on the Past Simple (pronounced [past simple]) or simple past tense in English and look at the ways of its formation, as well as examples of use.

The Past Simple Tense (also known as the Past Indefinite Tense) is a tense that is used to express states or actions that happened in the past. The so-called simplicity of this time lies in the fact that when using it, do not focus on the duration, completeness, or sequence of one event in relation to another.

The action simply happened in the past, that's a fact, period. Due to the fact that people constantly strive to simplify language, this tense form often replaces other forms of the past tense in writing, and even more often in speech, so knowledge of this particular group is necessary to explain situations and thoughts at a simple level. Let's take a closer look at how, where and how this form is used in English.

The only part of speech that can be changed when forming the past tense are verbs, which can be regular or irregular.

If at first it is difficult for you to understand whether a particular verb is regular or irregular, refer to the table of irregular verbs: if the verb is not on the list, most likely it belongs to the category of regular ones.

Past Simple: sentence forms

Having understood the types of past tense verbs and how they are formed, you need to learn how to construct sentences with them grammatically correctly.

1. The affirmative form of the Past Simple does not require the use of auxiliary verbs. To construct a sentence in the affirmative form, it is enough to use a verb in the past tense.

In simple words, it is enough to take an affirmative sentence in the present tense and replace the verb in it with the past tense.

1. The negative form the Past Indefinite Tense is formed using the auxiliary verb did and the negative particle not (informally didn’t), which is placed after the subject. An auxiliary verb with a particle is followed by main verb in infinitive. This means that memorized irregular verbs and the ending -ed in negative sentences will not be useful to us.

	Ssubject (Subject)	Auxiliary verb +not	Verb (Verb)	Object (An object)
Present Simple (Present tense)	She	does not (doesn't)	love	him.
Past Simple (Past tense)	She	didn't (didn't)	love	him.

1. The interrogative form is also formed using the auxiliary verb did. It comes first in a sentence, followed by the subject and main meaning. infinitive verb.

For a short positive answer, it is enough to use auxiliary verbs; for a short negative answer, the particle not is needed. If the answer is negative, the auxiliary verb with the particle must be written together (didn’t). The full answer will be in the affirmative or negative form.

For the formation of special questions, the scheme remains practically unchanged. A question word is added to it only at the very beginning. Question words can be anything, here are some of them: what, why, how, how, which, where, where, when.

	? word	Auxiliary verb	Ssubject (Subject)	Verb (Verb)	Object (An object)
Present Simple (Present tense)	Why	do	you	like like	reading?
Past Simple (Past tense)	did	you	like liked it	reading?

An exception is the question word who, whose sentences do not require an auxiliary verb. This is where your knowledge of regular and irregular verbs will be needed.

Special questions cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”, so the answers to them are given in a completely affirmative or negative form.

Past Simple - use

The simple past tense is used very often in English. For correct application in practice, consider all cases of using Past Simple:

1. To express single actions/states or actions in the past, taken as a fact. Such sentences can be about both ordinary everyday situations and historical events. Often such sentences contain special indicator words expressed:

• circumstance of time, these include: yesterday - yesterday, the day before yesterday - the day before yesterday, last night - last night, last week / month - last week / last month, in 1999 - in 1999, then - then;
• by the adverb ago, for example: 5 years ago - five years ago;
• question words when and how.

Examples:

Agatha Christie wrote detective novels. (Agatha Christie wrote detective novels.)	fact
Bruce graduated from the university 3 years ago. (Bruce graduated from university 3 years ago.)
We talked to him about the upcoming performance. (We talked to him about the upcoming performance.)	single action
Steven Spielberg was born in 1946. (Steven Spielberg was born in 1946.)	fact indicating a specific year
She called you 5 minutes ago. (She called you 5 minutes ago.)	single action, presence of the adverb ago
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941.	historical fact
I was excited to take part in the contest yesterday. (I was glad to take part in the competition yesterday.)	condition with time circumstance
I didn’t like your hairstyle then. (I didn't like your hair then.)	action in the past with a time adverbial (I didn’t like it before, but now I like it)
Jane drew portraits in the childhood. (As a child, Jane drew portraits.)	action in the past (I used to draw, now I don’t)
He visited us 2 weeks ago. (He visited us 2 weeks ago.)	single action, presence of the adverb ago
When did you meet each other? (When did you meet each other?)	question about the past the question word when is used

1. To express habits or actions that were repeated constantly/often in the past, but are not repeated now. Indicator words in this case are expressed:

• adverbs everyday - every day, always - always, often - often, sometimes - sometimes, each time - every time;
• the expression used + verb in the infinitive, which translates as “before”.

He always wore black jackets. (He always wore black jackets.)	used to wear it, doesn't wear it now
I didn't use to brush my teeth twice a day. (I didn't brush my teeth twice a day before.)	I haven’t cleaned it before, but now I do
Dad used to smoke up to 10 cigarettes a day. ((Previously) My father smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day.)	It was a habit, but now it's gone
Donald Trump used to host The Apprentice. (Donald Trump hosted The Apprentice.)	drove, but now no longer drives
Mike used to watch The Big Bang Theory. (Mike used to watch The Big Bang Theory.)	I watched it, but I stopped now
They took Chinese classes every day. (They studied Chinese every day.)	they don't do it anymore

1. When there is a story or listing of events that happened one after another in the past.

1. In subordinate clauses of time to express the completeness of an action. Some indicator words for this case:

• as soon as - as soon as, once - as soon as, before - before, untill - until / until, after - after, when - when.

1. When using indirect speech, if the verb in the main clause is used in the Past Simple.

1. To characterize the subject in the past.

1. To report details of any news. To communicate the news itself, the Present Perfect tense should be used, and sentences in Past S should be used to describe it. However, if you are afraid of getting confused with tenses, you can use the simple past tense everywhere in such situations.

1. Past Simple is also used to form a conditional sentence of the second type (Second Conditional), which is used to express events in the present or future tenses, the probability of which is very small or completely unrealistic. The Russian equivalent of the second type of conditional sentence may sound like “if only”. A similar sentence is constructed using the conjunction if (if). Table with education formulas:

Examples of use:

If I had a million dollars, I would found a charitable foundation. (If I had a million dollars, I would start a charity.)	Unreal situation. I don’t have any money right now, I can’t start a foundation.
If I were you, I would not do this. (If I were you, I wouldn't do this.)	Unreal situation. I cannot switch bodies with another person or act for them.
We would go swimming if the weather were fine. (If the weather had been good, we would have gone swimming.)	The weather is bad, the likelihood that we will be able to go swimming is very low.
If I had children, I would spend with them all day long. (If I had children, I would spend all day with them.)	But I don’t have children, such a situation is impossible at the moment.

Please pay attention to two nuances:

• If a sentence begins with a subordinate clause “if”, then a comma is placed at the junction with the second part so that the sentences do not merge and are easier to read;
• In a conditional sentence, the verb to be in the past tense is usually used only in the plural (were), even with the singular pronouns I, he, she, it. The form were in such sentences is subjunctive. Although in everyday speech it is possible to substitute the form was for the singular, when taking tests, choosing was will be considered an error.

1. The Past Simple tense is also used with the construction I wish, which is equivalent to the Russian “It’s a pity that not.” Usually such a construction is used to express the desire for some action to happen or to happen differently. As in the case above, this design also consists of two parts. Education formula table:

Examples of use:

Pay attention to the features to understand how such sentences are constructed:

• If we translate the construction in the form “it’s a pity that not”, negative verbs turn into affirmative ones and vice versa;
• As in the formation of a conditional sentence of the second type, the verb to be is used only in the were form, although deviations from the rule are possible in colloquial speech.

1. Past Simple is used with another construction that can often be found in colloquial language - it is (it’s) time, which is translated as “it’s time.” Table with education formulas:

Examples of use:

These were all cases of using the Past Simple (Past Indefinite) or the simple past tense. They won't be too difficult, especially if you understand the grammar, learn irregular verbs, and practice using Past Simple Tense in different situations based on the examples above.