Past Simple

 

We use the past simple when we talk about things that happened and finished in the past:

We played tennis yesterday.
I missed the bus this morning.
The show started at 7.

 

Most verbs form the past simple with -ed at the end. They are called regular verbs.

Present Past
play/plays
miss/misses
start/starts
played
missed
started

 

Many verbs do not form the past simple with -ed. They are irregular.

Present Past
meet/meets
go /goes
leave/leaves
met
went
left

 

They met in 1999.
We went to bed early last night.
The train left at 6.30.

 

We make questions and negative phrases in the past simple like this:

-Did the show start at 8? -No it didn't start at 8. It started at 7.
-Did they meet in 1998? -No they didn't. They met in 1999.
-When did the train leave? -It left at 6.30.