lesson 5 SIMPLE PAST

I was on the Titanic, but not with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Damn it!

to be in the simple past

I was, you were, he was, she was, it was, we were, you were, they were

to make questions, invert the subject and the verb

Was I, Were you, was he, was she, was it, were we, were you, were they?

to make negatives, insert not after the conjugated form of to be

I was not, you were not, he was not, she was not, it was not, we were not, you were not, they were not.

Simple Past

Subject + Past Form

The SIMPLE PAST describes an action or situation in the past. When the event is in the past:

My childhood was happy.

The SIMPLE PAST describes an action or situation in the past. When the event is completely finished:

I washed all the dishes.

The SIMPLE PAST describes an action or situation in the past. When we say (or understand) the time / place of the event:

I woke up in Phil's bed.

Examples

I hula danced. I had a dozen lovers in a month. I lived the glam life.

forming the simple past tense

VERB + ED

With regular verbs,

The Simple Past is created simply adding ED

but with some verbs it is a little different: for verbs ending in E:

add D

but with some verbs it is a little different: For verbs ending in consonant + Y

change Y to I and add ED

but with some verbs it is a little different: For verbs ending in one vowel + one consonant (but not W / Y)

double the consonant and add ED

but with some verbs it is a little different: For verbs ending in anything else

add ED

to make a Simple Past question use:

DID + SUBJECT + INFINITIVE without to

to make a Simple Past negative use:

SUBJECT + DID NOT/DIDN'T + INFINITIVE without to

there are many irregular verbs in English that do not add ED in the past form.

Irregular verbs

arise, arose, arisen

emerge

awake, awoke, awoken

stop sleeping

beat, beat, beaten

He has a heart but it doesn't beat anymore.

cling, clung, clung

hold on tightly

creep, crept, crept

move slowly

dive, dove, dived

plunge into water

fit, fit, fit

be the right size or shape

flee, fled, fled

run away

fling. flung, flung

throw forcefully

grind, ground, ground

reduce to small pieces by crushing

kneel, knelt, knelt

support oneself on one's knees

knit, knit, knit & knit, knitted, knitted

work wool with needles

prove, proved, proved/proven

demonstrate the truth

quit, quit, quit

stop an activity / leave the job

seek, sought, sought

try to locate / search for

sew, sewed, sewn

stitch with needle and thread

shave, shaved, shaven

cut hair off with a razor

speed, sped, sped

move quickly

spin, spun, spun

rotate quickly

spit, spat, spat

eject from the mouth

spring, sprang, sprung

move upward or forward; to move or jump suddenly and quickly

to forbid

I forbid you to smoke.

hang, hung, hung & hang, hanged, hanged

Little Monkey hanged Thomas while he hung from a tree.

to lead/lead led led

He leads the gang. They are easily led.

to lend: lend, lent, lent & borrow

Mrs. Sharp borrowed a little thing from Mr. Sharp.Mr. Sharp didn't want to lend it to her. She pretended to understand but she didn't. When night came and the snores of Mr. Sharp got louder, she raised the knife... and cut! Then she could sleep soundly.

to sew: sew, sewed, sewn

Mr. Smith sewed half of his pretty neighbor's body and half of his butcher's body together. Now he has the perfect wife. Or does he have the perfect husband?

stink, stank, stunk

emit bad smell

strike, struck, struck

to hit someone or something; hit with the hand or a weapon

swear, swore, sworn

make a solemn statement or promise; to use rude or offensive language

sweep, swept, swept

clean with a broom

swing, swung, swung

move back and forth suspended

tread, trode, trodden

step on

upset, upset, upset

make someone distressed.

weave, wove, woven & weaved, weaved

make by interlacing threads

weep, wept, wept

cry

withdraw, withdrew, withdrawn

take back or away

wring, wrung, wrung

twist to extract liquid