English Past Simple (Explained For Beginners + Examples)

What is the English past simple tense?

The English past simple / simple past is the most common past tense in the English language. It’s used to talk about finished actions that occurred at a fixed time in the past.

See my guide below to learn how it’s used.

Past simple regular verbs

If you want to form a regular verb in the past simple tense, then you add “-ed” to the end of the base form.

• verb + “-ed”

For example:

Steven mowed his lawn on Sunday.

How this is formed and used in a sentence

Typically, past simple verbs don’t change along with the subject.

All of the subjects (pronouns) use the same verb form.

Additonal examples

At the park, I kicked a ball.

I baked a cake in my kitchen.

On Sunday, I prayed at church.

I laughed at the joke.

Past simple spelling changes

Past simple regular verbs end in “-ed” (which is easy to remember), but you should also keep in mind that in some cases, there are changes to the spelling.

Other examples

• lick -> licked
• strive -> strived
• try -> tried

Past simple irregular verbs

Irregular verbs work differently and do not follow the same rules by adding “-ed” to the end of the base form.

Unfortunately, you just have to memorize them as they do not all follow a consistent pattern.

Irregular past simple verb examples

Here’s an example sentence using an irregular past simple verb:

I ran to the store.

The verb “to be”

The verb “to be” is irregular (this includes the past simple).

The good news is that “to be” is the only past simple verb that changes depending on the subject. This means you’ll need to memorize them.

Here’s an example using two different subjects:

We were late, so our mother was worried.

How to use the past simple of the verb “to be”

“To be” in the past simple tense changes depending on the subject.

Other examples

She was a famous dancer.

They were hungry.

I was at the game.

You were in a hurry.

Continue learning English grammar

Now that you’ve learned the past simple, where to from here?

I’ve put together a list of my favorite books for learning English (all levels) which you may find helpful.

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Grammar