Simple Past Tense Definition and Examples

Simple past  tense  verbs—also called past simple or  preterite—show action that occurred and was completed at a particular time in the past. The simple past tense of regular verbs is marked by the ending -d or -ed. Irregular verbs have a variety of endings. The simple past is not accompanied by helping verbs. The simple past tense is often used with an adverbial phrase that specifies a time in the past, such as yesterday, last year, (or) an hour ago, according to Complete English Grammar Rules. An example of a simple past tense verb used in a sentence would be: I went to the park. The speaker completed her action of going to the park, so you use the verb go in the simple past tense. Note how this example uses an irregular verb but in the past simple, which can be a bit confusing until you understand the rules for using these verbs. Regular Verbs As with any subject in English grammar, its easiest to start with regular verbs. A good example sentence—from  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—would be: The four travelers passed a sleepless night, each thinking of the gift Oz had promised to bestow on him. The present tense of the verb is pass. You know its a regular verb because you simply add ed to form the past tense. Other examples of regular simple past tense verbs used in a sentence are: I  solved  the puzzle.He  dumped  the garbage. In the first sentence, you simply add a d to solve to get the past tense of the verb. The second example is just as easy: Simply add ed to dump to form the simple past tense. Singular Plural I dumped. We dumped. You dumped. You dumped. He/She/It dumped. They dumped. In the case of It dumped, presumably a monster—or  Cousin It—dumped something somewhere at some specific time in the past. To Be Verbs The to be verbs—such as is and am—are all irregular verbs. Indeed, to be verbs are the only verbs in English that change form in every tense. Fortunately, the past simple for to be verbs is fairly easy, as the following table shows: Singular Plural I was. We were. You were. You were. He/She/It was. They were. Note that the past singular requires was for the first and third person, while were is used with a second-person pronoun. All forms are the same—were—for the plural tenses. Irregular Verbs Irregular verbs can be a bit tricky in the past tense, but they dont have to be if you familiarize yourself with them.  Study.com, a website that provides video-based academic courses, offers this table listing some of the verbs that are irregular in the past tense. Present Past buy bought come came do did fly flew get got go went have had keep kept pay paid run ran see saw sleep slept take took tell told think thought There is no easy way to learn how to conjugate irregular verbs in the past tense: You simply have to memorize them. The following table illustrates how to conjugate sweep in the simple past tense. Singular Plural I swept. We swept. You swept. You swept. He/She/It swept. They swept. To form the simple past of this irregular verb, you remove the second e from sweep and add a t. Note that though the verb is irregular, it conjugates exactly the same way—swept—in the first, second, or third person as well as in the singular and plural forms. This is the case for all irregular verbs in the past simple tense. Once you know the spelling of the irregular verb in the simple past tense, you can relax because it is the same for the first, second, and third person as well as in the singular and plural forms. Questions, Negative Statements, and Negative Questions A few other instances of simple past tense verbs deserve some discussion. Often, you form questions in the simple past tense by starting the sentence with an irregular verb coupled with a present tense verb somewhere in the sentence. An example would be: Did  you  go  to the store yesterday? Note how you use did, the  past tense of the irregular verb do, to start the sentence together with the present tense of the verb go later in the question. Other examples would be: What did you do?Where did you go?You did what? The last sentence uses the past tense of the verb do without the assistance of another verb. To create  negative statements  in the simple past tense, you often insert the past tense of the word do together with the word not in front of a present tense verb, as in: The research study  did not conclude  that longer school days lead to greater student achievement.I  didnt wait  for Charlie to finish complaining about his cell phone.I  did not hear  my grandfather singing in the shower. To form negative questions, you often start the sentence with did not or didnt coupled with a present or past tense verb, such as: Didnt you look before crossing the street?Did you not  realize the school was closed?Why  didnt  you do your homework last night? Once you master the rules for creating the simple past tense, youll be ready to move on to  other forms of past tense verbs  in English.