Past Simple
Explanation
When to use past simple
We use the past simple anytime we want to talk about something that happened in the past.
We use past simple a lot.
Most stories are in the past simple.
I take the bus to school every day.
This sentence is about every day, which is the present. So we use present simple
I took the bus to school this morning.
This sentence talks about this morning, which is in the past. So we use the past simple.
How to make past simple
To make a sentence in the past just change the verb to the past simple. The subject is not important.
| Present simple | Past simple |
| I play football. | I played football. |
| He goes to the beach. | He went to the beach. |
| They are happy. | They were happy. |
For most verbs, add ed to the end to change to past simple. These verbs are called regular verbs.
Other verbs are different in the past, and you need to learn the past forms of these. These are called irregular verbs.
For more practice on irregular verbs, check the irregular verb page.
Here are some examples of regular verbs and irregular verbs.
Common regular verbs
| Present simple | Past simple |
| want | wanted |
| use | used |
| work | worked |
| call | called |
| try | tried |
| ask | asked |
| need | needed |
| seem | seemed |
| help | helped |
| play | played |
Common irregular verbs
| Present simple | Past simple |
| do | did |
| go | went |
| have | had |
| eat | ate |
| see | saw |
| come | came |
| drive | drove |
| buy | bought |
| say | said |
| lose | lost |
Be verb
The be verb is different to other verbs.
The past simple of the be verb changes with different subjects.
| Subject | Present simple | Past simple |
| I | am | was |
| He/She/It | is | was |
| You/We/They | are | were |