Past Simple
Level A2 · Tenses
Use the past simple for finished actions and events at a specific time in the past.
The past of be is irregular: I/he/she/it → was; you/we/they → were. Negatives: wasn't/weren't; questions invert the subject and was/were, with no did: Were you at home? not Did you were at home?
Regular verbs add -ed; many common verbs are irregular (go → went, see → saw). Negatives use didn't + base verb; questions use Did + subject + base verb.
Spelling of the -ed form:
- most regular verbs just add -ed (watch → watched)
- a single stressed vowel + consonant doubles the consonant (stop → stopped)
- a consonant + y changes to -ied (study → studied)
- verbs already ending in -e just add -d (live → lived)
Pronunciation of the -ed ending:
- after an unvoiced sound it's /t/ (watched, stopped)
- after a voiced sound or vowel it's /d/ (lived, played)
- after a /t/ or /d/ sound it adds an extra syllable, /ɪd/ (wanted, needed)
Did is the auxiliary for negatives and questions, and only did changes — the main verb stays in its base form: she didn't go, not she didn't went.
The other classic mistake is overregularizing irregular verbs by adding -ed anyway: goed, buyed, and seed are all wrong — irregular verbs like go → went, buy → bought, and see → saw simply have to be learned individually.
Typical time words: yesterday, last week, in 2019, two days ago.