This tense is perhaps the least 'simple' of all! We use it to talk about something that happened in the past where both the start and end time of the activity are in the past.
For example:
I walked to the shops yesterday. (to walk)
I went to the cinema last night. (to go)
I drove home from the cinema last night. (to drive)
All of these things happened yesterday so the past simple is used. The past simple is also used for events that took place last week, last month, last year or ten years ago.
As you can see from the verbs used some of these are regular and some are irregular.
What is a regular verb?
This is when we take the verb and add 'ed' to form the past tense
walk - walked
wait - waited
What is an irregular verb?
This is where the format of the verb does not take 'ed' and a new word is used instead.
go - went
drive - drove
A lot of the most frequently used verbs are irregular and there are many websites and grammar books which will provide comprehensive listings of these verbs. We also need to know which ones are regular so we can just add an 'ed'! There's a lot to learn with the past simple!
Let's look at some sentences using a selection of the most common regular and irregular verbs in the English language. Do you know what the past tense of each verb is?
ask She ________ me if she could borrow my book.
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be Tim ______ very shy when he was younger.
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become The singer ________ famous.
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bring Anna ________ me some soup when I was sick.
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call I __________ the doctor when I was sick.
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choose Sally ________ a new outfit to wear to my party.
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come Sally _______ to my party in a new outfit!
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drink Sally _______ a glass of wine at my party.
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eat Sally _______ a slice of pizza.
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feel George ______ sick because he had eaten too much cake.
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get I ______ changed after working in the garden.
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go Adam ______ to visit his friends at the weekend.
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have Betty _____ an exam at school last week.
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hear Yesterday, Betty _______ that she passed her exam.
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help I __________ Betty revise for her exam.
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know Betty _________ the answers to most of the questions.
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listen Colin ________ carefully to the instructions.
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look Simon ________ everywhere for his book, but he couldn't find it.
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pay I _______ the bill.
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put Fiona ________ the rubbish in the bin.
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read Thomas ________ a book when he was on holiday.
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say Helen _______ I should read her new book.
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see I ______ Helen's new book in the bookshop.
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send Tom ________ me a postcard when he was on holiday.
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show Elena ________ me around her new house.
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sleep I _________ in the guest bedroom in Elena's new house.
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start Mabel ________ to run when she saw the ice-cream van.
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stay Norman ________ with his grandparents last summer.
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take Norman's grandparents _______ him to the zoo.
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tell Norman _______ his parents about all the things he had done.
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think I ________ about you when I was on holiday.
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try Melanie _______ to read the menu in Spanish.
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use Olive accidentally ______ salted in her tea instead of sugar!
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walk Rachel _______ to school every day when she was a child.
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want Robin ______ chocolate sprinkles on his ice-cream!
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watch We _________ a movie together at the weekend.
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work We ________ together when we were younger.
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write Tom ______ a best-selling book last year.
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