The Simple Past Tense

a. Use :

The Simple Past Tense is used to talk about completed actions in the past:
--> My brother got a new job in Madrid last week.
--> How did he react when you told the truth?
--> Shakespeare died in 1616.

In addition, the Simple Past is used to describe situations which existed for a period of time in the past.
--> Millions of years ago, dinosaurs inhabited the earth.
--> George Washington was the first president of the United States.

The Simple Past is also used to express non-continuous actions which occurred at a definite time in the past.
--> Columbus reached America in 1492.
--> I graduated from school last year.

It is also used to talk about habits in the past:
--> We always had roast beef on Sundays when I was a boy.
--> We used to walk a mile in the morning when we were in London.
--> We never went abroad for our holidays until the 1970s

It is used to talk about events that happened one after the other:
--> He jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.

It is used in the second conditional
--> She would help him if she knew he was in trouble.
  2. Formation of the simple past:
a. The verb To Be
The Simple Past of the verb to be is conjugated as follows:

I was

you were

he was

she was

it was

we were

they were

Questions and negative statements
The Simple Present and Simple Past of the verb to be do not use auxiliaries to form questions and negative statements. Instead, the verb itself is used.

The verb to be forms questions and negative statements in the same way in the Simple Past as in the Simple Present. In order to form a question, the verb is placed before the subject. For example:

Affirmative Statement	Question
I was awake.	Was I awake?
They were ready.	Were they ready?

In order to form a negative statement, the word not is placed after the verb. For example:

Affirmative Statement	Negative Statement
I was awake.	I was not awake.
They were ready.	They were not ready.

In spoken English, the following contractions are often used:

Without Contractions	With Contractions
was not	wasn't
were not	weren't

In order to form a negative question, the verb is placed before the subject, and the word not is placed after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not immediately follows the verb. For example:

Without Contractions	With Contractions
Was I not awake?	Wasn't I awake?
Were they not ready?	Weren't they ready?

In order to form tag questions, the verb itself is used. In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions.

Affirmative Statement	Affirmative Statement with Tag Question
I was awake.	I was awake, wasn't I?
They were ready.	They were ready, weren't they?

b. Other verbs
English verbs other than the verb to be have the same form in the Simple Past, regardless of the subject.

In the case of regular English verbs, the Simple Past has the same form as the past participle. For example, the Simple Past of the regular verb to work is conjugated as follows:

I worked

you worked

he worked

she worked

it worked

we worked

they worked

In the case of irregular English verbs, the form of the Simple Past must be memorized. As illustrated by the examples below, for some irregular verbs, the Simple Past is the same as the past participle; whereas for others, the Simple Past differs from the past participle. For example:

Bare Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle
begin	began	begun
find	found	found
go	went	gone
let	let	let
take	took	taken

Like the regular verbs, irregular verbs other than the verb to be do not modify in the Simple Past, but have the same form, regardless of the subject. For example, the Simple Past of the irregular verb to take is conjugated as follows:

I took

you took

he took

she took

it took

we took

they took

i. Questions and negative statements
In both the Simple Present and the Simple Past of verbs other than the verb to be, questions and negative statements are formed using the auxiliary to do and the bare infinitive.

For questions and negative statements in the Simple Past, the Simple Past of the auxiliary to do is used. The Simple Past of to do is conjugated as follows:

I did

you did

he did

she did

it did

we did

they did

In order to change an affirmative statement into a question, did is placed before the subject, and the form of the verb is changed from the Simple Past to the bare infinitive. In the following example, the regular verb to work is used. The verb to work has the Simple Past worked, and the bare infinitive work.

Affirmative Statement	Question
I worked.	Did I work?
You worked.	Did you work?
He worked.	Did he work?
She worked.	Did she work?
It worked.	Did it work?
We worked.	Did we work?
They worked.	Did they work?

In order to change an affirmative statement into a negative statement, did not is placed after the subject, and the form of the verb is changed to the bare infinitive. In the following example, the irregular verb to speak is used. The verb to speak has the bare infinitive speak and the Simple Past spoke.

Affirmative Statement	Negative Statement
I spoke.	I did not speak.
You spoke.	You did not speak.
He spoke.	He did not speak.
She spoke.	She did not speak.
It spoke.	It did not speak.
We spoke.	We did not speak.
They spoke.	They did not speak.

Exercise (Simple Present Tense)

Fill in the blanks with the simple present tense.

1. I__________ (like) to eat fruits.

2. They_________(eat) apples.

3. The sun_______(set) in the West.

4. The nurse_________(do) her work carefully.

5. It seldom______(rain) in Mersing.

6. She usually________(get) up at 6.00 a.m.

7. These flowers__________(grow) well in Cameron Highlands.

8. I_________(visit) the dentist once a year.

9. Ah Chong_________(grow) vegetables in his garden.

10. The fishmongers_________(sell) fish every day.

The Simple Present Tense

The simple present is used to describe a present situation:

--> I work in Valencia (I do now and will do for the for seeable future).

--> The Simons sisters are both very talented; Virginia writes and Vanessa paints.

--> I am English (and I always will be English).

The simple present is used to express general truths such as scientific fact, as in the following sentences:

--> The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

--> The moon circles the earth once every 28 days.

--> New technology makes it easier to learn English.

The simple present is used to indicate a habitual action, event, or condition, as in the following sentences:

--> I don’t wear white shoes (it’s my habit not to).

--> My grandmother sends me new clothes each spring.

--> Jesse polishes the menorah on Wednesdays.

The simple present is also used when writing about works of art, as in the following sentences.

--> Lolly Willowes is the protagonist of the novel Townsend published in 1926.

--> The play ends with an epilogue spoken by the fool.

The simple present can also be used to refer to a future event when used in conjunction with an adverb or adverbial phrase, as in the following sentences.

--> Classes end next week.

--> The publisher distributes the galley proofs next Wednesday.

--> The lunar eclipses begins in exactly 43 minutes.

2. Spelling rules for adding s in the third person singular

Some verbs change their spelling when s is added in the third person singular.

a. Verbs ending in y
The English letters a, e, i, o and u are generally referred to as vowels. The other English letters are generally referred to as consonants.

When a verb ends in y immediately preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to ie before the ending s is added. In each of the following examples, the consonant immediately preceding the final y is underlined.

Bare Infinitive	Third Person Singular
study	studies
fly	flies
carry	carries

However, when a verb ends in y immediately preceded by a vowel, the y is not changed before the ending s is added. In each of the following examples, the vowel immediately preceding the final y is underlined.

Bare Infinitive	Third Person Singular
say	says
enjoy	enjoys
buy	buys

b. Verbs ending in o
When a verb ends in o, the letter e is added before the s ending. For example:

Bare Infinitive	Third Person Singular
do	does
echo	echoes
go	goes

c. Verbs ending in ch, s, sh, x or z
When a verb ends in a sibilant sound such as ch, s, sh, x or z, the letter e is added before the s ending. For example:

Bare Infinitive	Third Person Singular
pass	passes
push	pushes
watch	watches
fix	fixes
buzz	buzzes

3. Pronunciation of the es ending
A syllable is a unit of pronunciation, usually consisting of a vowel sound which may or may not be accompanied by consonants.

When a verb ends in a sibilant sound such as ch, s, sh, x or z, the es ending of the third person singular is pronounced as a separate syllable. The reason for this is that these sounds are so similar to the sound of the es ending, that the ending must be pronounced as a separate syllable in order to be heard clearly.

In each of the following examples the bare infinitive consists of one syllable, whereas the form of the verb used in the third person singular consists of two syllables.

Bare Infinitive	Third Person Singular
pass	passes
push	pushes
catch	catches
mix	mixes

Similarly, when s is added to verbs ending in ce, ge, se or ze, the final es is usually pronounced as a separate syllable. In each of the following examples the bare infinitive consists of one syllable, whereas the form of the verb used in the third person singular consists
of two syllables.

Bare Infinitive	Third Person Singular
race	races
rage	rages
praise	praises
doze	dozes

However, when s is added to a verb ending in e preceded by a letter
other than c, g, s or z, the final es is not pronounced as a separate syllable. In each of the following examples, both the bare infinitive and the form of the verb used in the third person singular consist of one syllable.

Bare Infinitive	Third Person Singular
make	makes
smile	smiles
dine	dines
save	saves

4. The auxiliary Do
With the exception of the verb to be, verbs in modern English use the auxiliary do to form questions and negative statements in the Simple Present.
The Simple Present of the verb to do is conjugated as follows:

I do

you do

he does

she does

it does

we do

they do

Auxiliaries are verbs which are combined with other verbs to form various tenses. It should be noted that when an auxiliary is combined with another verb, it is the auxiliary which must agree with the subject, while the form of the other verb remains invariable.

When the auxiliary do is combined with another verb, the other verb always has the form of the bare infinitive.

a. Questions
In order to form a question in the Simple Present of any verb other than the verb to be, the Simple Present of the auxiliary do is added before the subject, and the bare infinitive of the verb is placed after the subject. For example:

Affirmative Statement	Question
I work.	Do I work?
You work.	Do you work?
He works.	Does he work?
She works.	Does she work?
It works.	Does it work?
We work.	Do we work?
They work.	Do they work?

b. Negative statements
In order to form a negative statement, the Simple Present of the auxiliary do followed by the word not is placed before the bare
infinitive of the verb. For example:

Affirmative Statement	Negative Statement
I work.	I do not work.
You work.	You do not work.
He works.	He does not work.
She works.	She does not work.
It works.	It does not work.
We work.	We do not work.
They work.	They do not work.

In spoken English, the following contractions are often used:

Without contractions	With contractions
do not	don't
does not	doesn't

c. Negative questions
To form a negative question, the Simple Present of the auxiliary do is placed before the subject, and the word not followed by the bare infinitive is placed after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately after the Simple Present of the auxiliary do. For example:

Without contractions	With contractions
Do I not work?	Don't I work?
Do you not work?	Don't you work?
Does he not work?	Doesn't he work?
Does she not work?	Doesn't she work?
Does it not work?	Doesn't it work?
Do we not work?	Don't we work?
Do they not work?	Don't they work?