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Chapter III · Verb tenses
Past Simple
The finished action, with an edge
GoalBy the end you will know when English needs the past simple, how to build and pronounce the -ed, where the irregular verbs come from, and you will never say “Did you went?” again.
This time, good news
With the present you had to choose between two tenses. Here it’s the other way round: the past simple does two jobs with one form.
| What happened | Past simple |
|---|---|
| One time, finished | I worked late yesterday. |
| A habit in the past | When I lived in London, I worked late every day. |
The verb is the same both times: worked. The past simple covers a single finished event and a past habit alike, and the rest of the sentence shows which one you mean — the verb doesn’t.
The main idea: is it closed?
The past simple is for a finished action: closed, with an edge around it. It started, it happened, it ended.
What draws that edge is usually in the sentence itself — a time marker.
I worked yesterday.
worked
I worked in Paris last year.
worked
I worked there in 2019.
worked
The verb is the same in all three — worked. Only the when changes, and the when is what closes the action.
How it's built
One form for every person: no -s, no changes.
Subjectverbed
I worked · you worked · she worked · we worked · they worked
Only the spelling of the -ed changes:
| Case | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Most verbs | Add -ed | work → worked |
| Already ends in -e | Just add -d | live → lived |
| Consonant + y | Change y → ied | study → studied |
| Vowel + y | Just add -ed | play → played |
| One syllable, consonant-vowel-consonant | Double the consonant | stop → stopped |
The -ed that hides three sounds
Few courses teach this, but people notice it when you speak: -ed is always spelled the same, but it sounds three different ways. Which one depends on the last sound of the verb.
| Sounds like… | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /t/ | after a voiceless sound (no vibration in the throat): p, k, f, s, ch, sh | worked · stopped · watched · laughed |
| /d/ | after a voiced sound (the throat vibrates): vowels, b, g, l, m, n, r, v | played · lived · called · opened |
| /ɪd/ (“id”) | only after the sounds /t/ or /d/ | wanted · needed · started · decided |
Irregular verbs: the oldest verbs
This is where most people decide to “memorise the list”. But the list isn’t random, and knowing where it comes from makes it much easier.
Before -ed existed, English marked the past by changing the vowel of the root: sing → sang, drink → drank, give → gave. Then a simpler system — adding -ed — slowly took over verb after verb. The verbs used the most resisted: people said them so often that nobody forgot their old form.
That’s why the irregular verbs are exactly be, go, have, do, get, say, make. They aren’t the strange ones: they’re the most common ones. So in practice you don’t study irregular verbs, you use them: they come up so often that you learn them anyway.
Look at them by pattern, never in a column:
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| Vowel change | fall → fell · find → found · know → knew · grow → grew · throw → threw |
| Rhyme in -ought / -aught | bring → brought · buy → bought · think → thought · catch → caught · teach → taught · fight → fought |
| i → a | begin → began · drink → drank · ring → rang · sing → sang · swim → swam · run → ran |
| Long vowel → short | see → saw · eat → ate · come → came · break → broke · take → took · give → gave · speak → spoke · write → wrote |
| Get shorter (-nd → -nt) | send → sent · spend → spent · build → built · lend → lent · leave → left · feel → felt · meet → met |
| No change | cut · put · hit · hurt · let · cost · read (but it’s pronounced /red/) |
| Others — the most used | go → went · be → was / were · have → had · do → did · get → got · say → said · make → made |
The past is marked only once
You know this idea from the present simple: the -s didn’t disappear in the negative, it moved to the auxiliary. The past works the same way, with the whole past.
The main verb can’t be made negative or start a question on its own. For both it needs do, which in the past is did. And did takes the past with it, so the main verb goes back to its base form:
He wentHe did not go
He wentDid he go?
Common mistake
He didn't went to the party.
He didn't go to the party.
didn't already carries the past. went is one too many — the verb goes back to go.
Common mistake
Did you went to the party?
Did you go to the party?
The same mistake in a question: did moves to the front and takes the past with it, and the verb stays in its base form.
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | subject + past verb | I worked here. |
| Negative | subject + didn’t + base verb | I didn’t work here. |
| Question | Did + subject + base verb | Did you work here? |
The exception: be
All of this has one exception: the most used verb in the language.
be never uses did. It makes its own negative and moves to the front on its own, as in the present — be is its own auxiliary.
| Person | Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| I / he / she / it | was | wasn’t | Was I…? |
| you / we / they | were | weren’t | Were you…? |
Common mistake
I didn't be tired.
I wasn't tired.
That’s the did rule applied to be. be doesn’t follow it: the negative is made on was itself.
Common mistake
Did you be at the party?
Were you at the party?
And the same in a question: it’s were that moves to the front, not did.
Practice
Out loud
Turn each note into a full sentence. Watch out for irregular verbs and for did.
- Iworkyesterday
- shegoto Barcelonalast year
- webuya new car
- theynotcometo the party
- henotunderstandthe question
- ?youseethe film
- ?shecalllast night
- Istudyfor two hourslast night
- Ibetiredlast night
- theynotbeat home
- ?youbeat the party
- shenothavetime
- where?youworklast year
- hetellthe truth
- what?hesay
Show answers
- I worked yesterday.
- She went to Barcelona last year.
- We bought a new car.
- They didn't come to the party.
- He didn't understand the question.
- Did you see the film?
- Did she call last night?
- I studied for two hours last night.
- I was tired last night.
- They weren't at home.
- Were you at the party?
- She didn't have time.
- Where did you work last year?
- He told the truth.
- What did he say?
Fill the gap
Write the verb in the past. If the sentence has didn't or Did, the verb goes in its base form.
Answer first, then tap "Show answer".
- I in Berlin last year.(live)
Show answer
I lived in Berlin last year.
- She to the market yesterday.(go)
Show answer
She went to the market yesterday.
- We the film on Saturday.(watch)
Show answer
We watched the film on Saturday.
- He didn't the bus.(catch)
Show answer
He didn't catch the bus.
- Did you my message?(get)
Show answer
Did you get my message?
- They dinner at eight.(cook)
Show answer
They cooked dinner at eight.
- She her keys at work.(leave)
Show answer
She left her keys at work.
- He late again.(be)
Show answer
He was late again.
- They a house in 2019.(build)
Show answer
They built a house in 2019.
- The children very quiet.(be)
Show answer
The children were very quiet.
Correct the mistake
There is one mistake in each sentence.
Answer first, then tap "Show answer".
- I goed to the cinema. →
Show answer
I went to the cinema.
- She didn't went to work. →
Show answer
She didn't go to work.
- Did you saw my message? →
Show answer
Did you see my message?
- We didn't be hungry. →
Show answer
We weren't hungry.
- They stoped at a café. →
Show answer
They stopped at a café.
- I seen him yesterday. →
Show answer
I saw him yesterday.
- Where you went last night? →
Show answer
Where did you go last night?
- He buyed a new car. →
Show answer
He bought a new car.
And now with no help — write the whole sentence:
Write it
A full sentence for each one, with no hints. Think: is the verb regular or irregular, and do you need did or was / were?
Answer first, then tap "Show answer".
- Your trip to Lisbon was last year. →
Show answer
I went to Lisbon last year.
- She was invited to the party, but she stayed at home. →
Show answer
She didn't come to the party.
- Ask your friend whether the film is one they watched. →
Show answer
Did you see the film?
- After the long trip, you and your family needed to sleep. →
Show answer
We were very tired.
- Ask your friend about their location yesterday. →
Show answer
Where were you yesterday?
- The question made no sense to you. →
Show answer
I didn't understand the question.
The final check: