Past Simple
A1 Past Simple
Section titled “ Past Simple”I eat → I ate. She goes → She went. Past Simple is the tense for finished actions — done, over, closed, receipt printed. In Mandarin, you slap 了 (le) on the end and maybe say 昨天 (zuótiān). English changes the verb itself. Sometimes predictably (walk → walked). Sometimes like it picked words from a hat (go → went). Welcome to irregular verbs — the rogues’ gallery of English.
When do you use Past Simple?
Section titled “When do you use Past Simple?”Past Simple covers one specific moment in the past — the action started and finished. No connection to now. No “how long.” Just: it happened, it’s over.
| Use | Vibe | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Completed actions | Done, finished, bye | I ate lunch at noon. |
| Past states | Was true before, maybe not now | She lived in Beijing for five years. |
| Past habits | Used to, but not anymore | We played outside every day as kids. |
| Sequence of events | Storytelling | I woke up, brushed my teeth, and left. |
I visited Shanghai last year.
They met at a coffee shop yesterday.
Regular verbs — just add -ed (mostly)
Section titled “Regular verbs — just add -ed (mostly)”The basic rule
Section titled “The basic rule”| Present | Past |
|---|---|
| walk | walked |
| play | played |
| watch | watched |
| clean | cleaned |
Same past form for ALL subjects — no third-person drama:
I walked. She walked. They walked.
That’s right. After all the -s trauma in Present Simple, Past Simple gives you a break. Everyone gets the same verb form.
Spelling rules for -ed
Section titled “Spelling rules for -ed”| Pattern | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Most verbs | add -ed | work → worked |
| -e ending | add -d only | live → lived, dance → danced |
| consonant + y | y → -ied | study → studied, cry → cried |
| vowel + y | add -ed | play → played, enjoy → enjoyed |
| CVC (short vowel) | double final consonant | stop → stopped, plan → planned |
Pronunciation of -ed (three sounds)
Section titled “Pronunciation of -ed (three sounds)”| Sound | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /t/ | after voiceless consonants (k, p, s, ch, sh, f) | walked, stopped, watched |
| /d/ | after voiced consonants & vowels | played, cleaned, called |
| /ɪd/ | after t or d | wanted, needed, started |
Don’t stress this at A1 — but know that -ed isn’t always pronounced the same. Mandarin 了 is one syllable. English -ed has three personalities.
Irregular verbs — the rogues’ gallery
Section titled “Irregular verbs — the rogues’ gallery”Some verbs refuse to add -ed. They change completely. No pattern. No mercy. Memorize them.
Top 30 irregular verbs (learn these first)
Section titled “Top 30 irregular verbs (learn these first)”| Present | Past | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was/were | do | did |
| have | had | go | went |
| say | said | get | got |
| make | made | know | knew |
| think | thought | take | took |
| see | saw | come | came |
| want | wanted (regular!) | use | used (regular!) |
| find | found | give | gave |
| tell | told | work | worked (regular!) |
| call | called (regular!) | try | tried (regular!) |
| ask | asked (regular!) | need | needed (regular!) |
| feel | felt | become | became |
| leave | left | put | put (same!) |
| mean | meant | keep | kept |
| let | let (same!) | begin | began |
| seem | seemed (regular!) | help | helped (regular!) |
| talk | talked (regular!) | turn | turned (regular!) |
| start | started (regular!) | show | showed |
| hear | heard | play | played (regular!) |
| run | ran | move | moved (regular!) |
| like | liked (regular!) | live | lived (regular!) |
| believe | believed (regular!) | hold | held |
| bring | brought | happen | happened (regular!) |
| write | wrote | provide | provided (regular!) |
| sit | sat | stand | stood |
| lose | lost | pay | paid |
| meet | met | include | included (regular!) |
| continue | continued (regular!) | set | set (same!) |
| learn | learned/learnt | change | changed (regular!) |
| lead | led | understand | understood |
| watch | watched (regular!) | follow | followed (regular!) |
| stop | stopped (regular!) | create | created (regular!) |
| speak | spoke | read | read (same spelling, different sound!) |
| spend | spent | grow | grew |
| open | opened (regular!) | walk | walked (regular!) |
| win | won | offer | offered (regular!) |
| remember | remembered (regular!) | love | loved (regular!) |
| consider | considered (regular!) | appear | appeared (regular!) |
| buy | bought | wait | waited (regular!) |
| serve | served (regular!) | die | died (regular!) |
| send | sent | build | built |
| fall | fell | cut | cut (same!) |
| reach | reached (regular!) | kill | killed (regular!) |
| raise | raised (regular!) | pass | passed (regular!) |
| sell | sold | decide | decided (regular!) |
| return | returned (regular!) | explain | explained (regular!) |
| develop | developed (regular!) | carry | carried (regular!) |
| break | broke | receive | received (regular!) |
| agree | agreed (regular!) | support | supported (regular!) |
| hit | hit (same!) | produce | produced (regular!) |
| eat | ate | cover | covered (regular!) |
| catch | caught | draw | drew |
| choose | chose | sleep | slept |
| drive | drove | fly | flew |
| forget | forgot | drink | drank |
| ride | rode | sing | sang |
| swim | swam | wear | wore |
| write | wrote | throw | threw |
(Yes, that’s more than 30 — grouped for reference. Focus on the bold top offenders first: be, do, have, go, say, get, make, know, think, take, see, come, give, tell, feel, eat, drink, write, read, meet.)
The worst offenders in the wild
Section titled “The worst offenders in the wild”Negative sentences — didn’t + base verb
Section titled “Negative sentences — didn’t + base verb”Past Simple negatives use didn’t (did not) for everyone — I, you, he, she, it, we, they. And the main verb goes back to base form:
Subject + didn’t + base verb
Examples: I didn’t go. · She didn’t eat. · They didn’t see it.
I didn’t finish my homework.
Questions — Did + subject + base verb
Section titled “Questions — Did + subject + base verb”Do you like coffee?
Does she work here?
→ Do/Does + base verb
Did you like the coffee?
Did she work here?
→ Did + base verb (for everyone)
Did + Subject + base verb + …?
Short answers: Yes, subject + did. / No, subject + didn’t.
Time signal words — your past tense GPS
Section titled “Time signal words — your past tense GPS”These words scream Past Simple:
| Category | Signal words |
|---|---|
| Specific past | yesterday, last night, last week, last month, last year |
| Ago | two days ago, a week ago, five years ago |
| Specific year/date | in 2020, in 2019, on Monday (if Monday is past) |
| Finished period | when I was young, in college, at that time |
I called her two hours ago.
We moved here in 2019.
Was / Were — the “be” verb in past
Section titled “Was / Were — the “be” verb in past”Be is special (of course). Past forms:
| Subject | Past of “be” |
|---|---|
| I / He / She / It | was |
| You / We / They | were |
I was tired yesterday.
They were at the party.
Negative: wasn’t / weren’t · Questions: Was I…? / Were they…?
Common errors — the greatest hits
Section titled “Common errors — the greatest hits”Using present verb with past time word
Section titled “Using present verb with past time word”Double past with did/didn’t
Section titled “Double past with did/didn’t”Inventing regular forms for irregular verbs
Section titled “Inventing regular forms for irregular verbs”Forgetting was/were
Section titled “Forgetting was/were”Affirmative (regular): Subject + verb + ed
Affirmative (irregular): Subject + past form (memorize)
Negative: Subject + didn’t + base verb
Question: Did + Subject + base verb + …?
Be (past): I/He/She/It + was · You/We/They + were
Try this right now
Section titled “Try this right now”Tell a story about yesterday in five sentences. Use at least two irregular verbs and one time signal word per sentence. Then check: every verb in past form? No double-past after didn’t? Read aloud.
Related pages:
- Questions & Negatives — master did/didn’t/do/does across tenses
- Present Simple — the present-tense foundation
- The Tense System — where Past Simple lives in the 12-tense grid
- Mandarin Speaker Guide — all the L1 traps in one place