SIMPLE PAST TENSE
by Josselyn Villarreal
1. The simple past tense emphasizes that the action is finished.
2. Affirmative The main rule is that for every verb in English, there is only one form of it in the past tense.
3. I bought a new car.
4. Negative There is a formula for making simple past verbs negative, and it’s the same for both regular and irregular verbs (except for the verb to be). The formula is did not + root form of verb.
5. The fourth-place winner wasn’t happy at all.
6. Did they live in France?
7. Were people taking many pictures?
8. He didn't come to my party
9. For the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. When the subject of the sentence is singular, use was not or wasn’t. When the subject is plural, use were not or weren’t.
10. Ask a Question The formula for asking a question in the simple past tense is did + subject + root form of verb.
11. When asking a question with the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did. The formula is was/were + subject.
12. The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now.
13. The simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has already happened.
