Past simple formula
The positive form is the same for every subject. Negatives and questions use did and the base verb, so the past form appears only once.
Be is different: was for I, he, she and it, and were for you, we and they. Its negatives and questions don't use did: "She wasn't at home." "Were you tired?"
| Form | Regular verb | Irregular verb |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | She worked late. | She wrote a letter. |
| Negative | She did not (didn't) work late. | She did not (didn't) write a letter. |
| Question | Did she work late? | Did she write a letter? |
Regular and irregular forms
Regular verbs add -ed (play, played), or -d after a final e (live, lived). A consonant + y changes to -ied (study, studied). A single stressed vowel + consonant doubles the consonant (stop, stopped; plan, planned).
The -ed ending has three sounds: /t/ after voiceless sounds (watched, looked), /d/ after voiced sounds (played, lived), and an extra syllable /ɪd/ after t and d (wanted, needed).
Irregular verbs must be learned. Common ones include go/went, see/saw, buy/bought, think/thought, teach/taught, take/took, write/wrote, put/put and cut/cut.
When to use it
A finished action at a past time: "I met her in 2022."
A series of actions in a story: "He opened the door, switched on the light and sat down."
Past habits and states: "We lived in Kanpur when I was young." You can also use used to for these.
Signal words include yesterday, last week, last year, two days ago, in 2010, when I was a child and at 5 o'clock.
Ago counts back from now: "I left school three years ago." After a period of time, before counts back from a past moment, not from now: "She said she had seen him two days before."
Past simple or present perfect?
If you say or imply when it happened, and that time is over, use the past simple.
| Past simple | Present perfect |
|---|---|
| "I lost my phone last week." (finished time) | "I've lost my phone." (no time, result now) |
| "Did you see the match yesterday?" | "Have you ever seen a live match?" |
| "She lived in Delhi for two years." (she doesn't now) | "She has lived in Delhi for two years." (she still does) |
Common mistakes
Wrong: I didn't went to class yesterday.
Right: I didn't go to class yesterday.
After did or didn't, use the base verb.
Wrong: Did she called you?
Right: Did she call you?
Did already shows the past, so the main verb stays in its base form.
Wrong: He teached us maths.
Right: He taught us maths.
Teach is irregular: its past form is taught.
Wrong: I came to Canada before two years.
Right: I came to Canada two years ago.
To count back from now, put ago after the time period.
Using this in IELTS and PTE
IELTS Writing Task 1 charts with past dates need the past simple throughout ("Exports fell sharply between 2005 and 2010"). In IELTS Speaking Part 2, many cue cards ask you to describe a past event, trip or person, so the past simple carries most of your answer. PTE Retell Lecture and Summarize Spoken Text often report past events too. Irregular forms and did + base verb are the forms to check most carefully.
5 questions
Exercise
Try each one, then open it to check your answer.
1. Complete this: "We ___ (buy) a new laptop last month."
bought
Buy is irregular: its past form is bought.
2. Make this negative: "She enjoyed the party."
She didn't enjoy the party.
Use didn't plus the base verb, so enjoyed becomes enjoy.
3. Form a question: where / you / go / last weekend?
Where did you go last weekend?
Did comes before the subject, and the verb stays in its base form.
4. Choose: "I (was / were) very nervous before the interview."
was
I takes was.
5. Which -ed sound is in "needed"?
/ɪd/, an extra syllable
Verbs ending in t or d add a syllable in the past.
Frequently asked questions
What is the formula of the past simple tense?+
Positive: subject + past form (worked, went). Negative: subject + did not + base verb. Question: Did + subject + base verb?
What is the difference between the past simple and the past continuous?+
The past simple is for a complete, finished action ("I cooked dinner"). The past continuous is for an action in progress at a past moment ("I was cooking at 7 p.m."), often interrupted by a past simple action.
What is the difference between the past simple and the present perfect?+
The past simple goes with a finished time ("I saw him on Monday"). The present perfect has no finished time and connects to now ("I've seen him a few times").
How do I learn irregular past forms?+
Learn the most frequent ones first, in groups that change the same way (sing, sang; drink, drank), and practise them in sentences about your own life.
Keep going
More grammar lessons
© 2026 BandLadder. Written and checked by the BandLadder team. You may quote or cite this page with credit to BandLadder and a link to it; republishing it in full needs our written permission. Content use policy