Past Simple
From TEFL World Wiki
The past simple is used to talk about events in the past; it's often used to tell a story.
He walked into the room and looked around. There was a knock on the door. He opened it and saw...
Form
We make the past tense of regular verbs by adding -ed to the infinitive form fo the verb. There is no change for the third person singular:
{subject} + {past form}
I worked hard.
She walked to the supermarket.
They laughed at the joke
Irregular verbs follow no rule to make the past simple tense. Each irregular verb has its own past simple, and these can only be learnt by heart.
| Present | Past |
| eat | ate |
| find | found |
| see | saw |
| tear | tore |
Usage
We use the past simple when we talk about an action or event which started in the past and finished in the past.
I drank two cups of coffee for breakfast this morning.
The Big Bang happened over ten thousand million years ago.
See Also
What I Did at the Weekend - an activity where students recount a story
