THE SIMPLE PAST

Solve your problems or get new ideas with basic brainstorming

Get Started. It's Free
or sign up with your email address
THE SIMPLE PAST by Mind Map: THE SIMPLE PAST

1. REGULAR VERBS

1.1. AFFIRMATIVE Subject + verb + -ed : They watched TV yesterday

1.2. N E G A T I V E Subject + didn’t + verb They didn’t watch TV yesterday

1.3. INTERROGATIVE Did + subject + verb ? Did they play football last Sunday?

2. IRREGULAR VERBS

2.1. 1. Many important verbs are irregular. We do not use -ed to form the past simple. All of them have got irregular forms that you have to MEMORIZE.

2.1.1. I bought a book.

2.1.2. He ate a hamburger.

2.2. We form the NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE in the same way as regular verbs.

2.2.1. I didn’t buy a book

2.2.2. He didn’t eat a hamburger

2.3. With the SIMPLE PAST we use expressions of time like:

2.3.1. Yesterday

2.3.2. Last...

2.3.3. Thow years ago

2.3.4. In 1989

3. SPELLING RULES REGULAR VERBS : -ED

3.1. 1. Verbs that end in -e : add -d only live - lived / phone - phoned

3.2. 2. Verbs that end in a consonant + -y: change the -y to -i and add -ed study - studied

3.3. 3. Verbs that end in one vowel and one consonant: double the final consonant and add -ed stop - stopped

3.4. 4. Verbs that end in a vowel + consonant: add -ed Play – played

4. USES

4.1. Completed Action in the Past

4.1.1. Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past

4.2. A Series of Completed Actions

4.2.1. 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.

4.3. USE 3 Duration in Past

4.3.1. The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, etc.

4.4. Habits in the Past

4.4.1. 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

4.5. A Series of Completed Actions