How do we make the past simple tense in English?
How to form the past simple of “be”
Positive form
| I was |
| you were |
| he was |
| she was |
| it was |
| we were |
| they were |
For example:
- I was a teacher.
- It was a sunny day.
- They were at home last night.
Negative form
Put not after the verb.
| Full form | Short form |
| I was not | I wasn’t |
| you were not | you weren’t |
| he was not | he wasn’t |
| she was not | she wasn’t |
| it was not | it wasn’t |
| we were not | we weren’t |
| they were not | they weren’t |
For example:
- I wasn’t a good student.
- He was not at school today.
- Shakespeare wasn’t American.
- We weren’t hungry.
Question forms
Invert the subject and the verb, and put a question word (what, who, etc.) at the beginning for wh- questions.
| Yes/No questions | |
| Was I? | |
| Were you? | |
| Was he? | |
| Was she? | |
| Was it? | |
| Were we? | |
| Were they? | |
| Wh- questions | |
| What Who Where When Why How etc. | was I? |
| were you? | |
| was he? | |
| was she? | |
| was it? | |
| were we? | |
| were they? | |
For example:
- Was I right?
- Were you tired after work?
- Was it helpful?
- Where were you on Saturday?
- Who was she?
- Why were we in the park?
- How were they?
Short answers
| Positive | Negative |
| Yes, I was. | No, I wasn’t. |
| Yes, you were. | No, you weren’t. |
| Yes, he was. | No, he wasn’t. |
| Yes, she was. | No, she wasn’t. |
| Yes, it was. | No, it wasn’t. |
| Yes, we were. | No, we weren’t. |
| Yes, they were. | No, they weren’t. |
Note: We sometimes use full forms in negative short answers (e.g. No, I was not.), but this is rare and mainly used in very formal contexts or for emphasis.
How to form the past simple of other verbs
Positive form
For all other verbs, the verb is the same for all subjects.
For regular verbs, add -ed to the base form (the infinitive without to), or just -d if the verb ends in -e. If the verb ends in a consonant + y, remove the -y and add -ied.
Here are some examples:
| play | live | study |
| I played | I lived | I studied |
| you played | you lived | you studied |
| he played | he lived | he studied |
| she played | she lived | she studied |
| it played | it lived | it studied |
| we played | we lived | we studied |
| they played | they lived | they studied |
For example:
- I played Monopoly last night.
- We lived in a big city.
- She studied electrical engineering.
For irregular verbs, there is no rule for forming the past simple.
Here are some examples:
| have | go | do |
| I had | I went | I did |
| you had | you went | you did |
| he had | he went | he did |
| she had | she went | she did |
| it had | it went | it did |
| we had | we went | we did |
| they had | they went | they did |
For example:
- I had lunch at 1 pm.
- He had curly hair as a child.
- Mary went to the gym two days ago. (she went)
- They went to Disneyland last year.
- You did a good job.
- Ethel and I did the dishes. (we did)
Negative form
Put did not between the subject and the main verb.
The contraction of did not is didn’t.
Here we will use play as the main verb.
| Full form | Short form |
| I did not play | I didn’t play |
| you did not play | you didn’t play |
| he did not play | he didn’t play |
| she did not play | she didn’t play |
| it did not play | it didn’t play |
| we did not play | we didn’t play |
| they did not play | they didn’t play |
For example:
- I didn’t play basketball yesterday.
- You didn’t make a mistake.
- They did not like the play.
Question forms
Put did before the subject and put a question word (what, who, etc.) at the beginning for wh- questions.
| Yes/No questions | |
| Did I play? | |
| Did you play? | |
| Did he play? | |
| Did she play? | |
| Did it play? | |
| Did we play? | |
| Did they play? | |
| Wh- questions | |
| What Who Where When Why How etc. | did I play? |
| did you play? | |
| did he play? | |
| did she play? | |
| did it play? | |
| did we play? | |
| did they play? | |
For example:
- Did you play chess at school?
- Did she work here?
- How did you fix the computer?
- What did we do last Monday?
- When did it rain?
Short answers
| Positive | Negative |
| Yes, I did. | No, I didn’t. |
| Yes, you did. | No, you didn’t. |
| Yes, he did. | No, he didn’t. |
| Yes, she did. | No, she didn’t. |
| Yes, it did. | No, it didn’t. |
| Yes, we did. | No, we didn’t. |
| Yes, they did. | No, they didn’t. |
Note: We sometimes use full forms in negative short answers (e.g. No, I did not.), but this is rare and mainly used in very formal contexts or for emphasis.
Advanced grammar point
In old-fashioned English, and even in some formal contexts today, have is often treated similarly to be in past simple negative sentences and questions (we do not use did). You might see these structures in older books.
In other words, for negative sentences, we use hadn’t instead of didn’t have.
Modern English:
– You didn’t have time.
– She didn’t have a house.
Old-fashioned English:
– You hadn’t time.
– She hadn’t a house.
Note: “You had not time” and “She had not a house” are also correct, but they are very rare.
For questions, we simply invert the subject and the verb.
Modern English:
– Did you have time?
– Did she have a house?
Old-fashioned English:
– Had you time?
– Had she a house?